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The story
On September 22 (September 23 Japan time), the Chunichi Dragons announced the signing of outfielder Ryan Ward (28), who captured the home run and RBI titles — and MVP honors — at Triple-A Oklahoma City, the Dodgers’ top affiliate. A left-handed slugger drafted by the Dodgers in the 8th round back in 2019, he’s racked up 168 home runs over his minor league career. Reaction on 5ch was split: while many threads showed excitement about him contributing right away, others raised concerns over his roughly .200 average against left-handed pitching and his relatively short 5’10” (177.8cm) frame.
What people said
The 28-year-old Ward was picked in the 8th round (251st overall) of the 2019 draft and has 168 career home runs in the minors — a left-handed power hitter. In 2025, he won the home run and RBI titles and was named MVP at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Well, the DH is coming in next year, so…
Bosler and Kuri Rodo also got multi-year contracts.
Looks like we're losing Mora and Sano.
It's already confirmed Sano's staying
Once the season actually starts, that's when they go into their offseason.
September 21, 2026, 9:57 PM
On the 21st, the Chunichi Dragons wrapped up all 69 games at their home park, Vantelin Dome Nagoya.
The stadium added new terrace seating called the "Home Run Wing" this season. The distance from home plate to the fence was cut by up to 6 meters, and the fence height was lowered from 4.8 meters to 3.6 meters.
As a result, home runs at the venue jumped sharply this season. Chunichi's team home run total at the stadium doubled to 70 (over 70 games), up from 35 in the same span last season.
Chunichi's overall team home run total also rose, from 83 last season to 116 (as of the 21st) — second in the league behind DeNA.
On the other hand, home runs allowed by Chunichi's pitching staff increased too. At Vantelin Dome Nagoya, home runs allowed went from 29 last season to 59 this season.
https://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2026/09/21/articles/20260921s00001173329000c.html
But their losing record got worse too.
Last year: 15 games under .500 → This year: 18 games under .500 (as of now)
35 more homers hit, only 30 more allowed.
That's a net positive
And defensively he sounds like a weaker-armed version of Hosokawa.
That's not a pro baseball player, is it
His WAR is -1.9 though
Chunichi position player WAR, as of 9/22
3.5 Muramatsu
2.5 Ishii
1.8 Ishikawa Ko
1.6 Fukunaga, Sano
1.3 Hosokawa
1.1 Tanaka
0.7 Itayama
0.4 Okabayashi, Hanada, Tsuchida
0.3 Abe, Kinoshita, Kanbayashi
0.2 Fukumoto
0.1 Kawagoe, Ukai
0.0 Oda, Kato, Ajitani, Higuchi
-0.1 Ishibashi, Chino, Tsujimoto, Takahashi Shu
-0.2 Rodriguez
-0.3 Bright
-0.4 Oshima, Yamamoto
-0.5 Caliste
-1.9 Bosler
At the end of the day, you need a handful of league-elite standouts to make it work, and Chunichi's got none
Hosokawa's only at 1.3?
He's treated like a star on this team though
Typical collection of guys who'll never win a title or a single award
Minor league numbers since 2024
vs RHP: .291, OPS .946
vs LHP: .202, OPS .652
This season at AAA:
vs RHP: .272 (82-for-301)
vs LHP: .183 (19-for-104)
Guys like this are genuinely hard to use.
Even in a big chance late in the game, once they bring in a lefty it's over
The rotation looks shaky too.
Wouldn't be shocking if guys like Ohno or Yanagi fall apart next year
Catching is a mess too.
Ishii's already stretched past his limit
It'd help if the young guys who got hyped up before the season had actually broken out.
But with Nakanishi and Sakurai both ending up on the same dead-end path as Nakachi, and a washed-up Ohno still being your best option, there's no upside left
They called him a 'Kobayashi who can actually hit,' but his catching skills are worlds apart
That's by Chunichi Dragons standards though.
The bar's just different than for other teams
I've never once seen that kind of fantasy actually pan out
Background and Key Points
Heading into the late stages of the 2026 season, the Chunichi Dragons once again find themselves mired near the bottom of the league with a losing record, and a lack of power hitting — compounded by a worsening team ERA — has long been seen as a core weakness. Their home stadium, Vantelin Dome Nagoya, was renovated this season with the fence pulled in by up to 6 meters, and as a result the team’s home run total doubled from 83 last season to 116. At the same time, home runs allowed also climbed, from 29 to 59, so the numbers shifted on both the hitting and pitching sides. Ward hits close to .300 against right-handers but only around .200 against lefties, and on the thread plenty of posters questioned how effective he’ll really be as an answer to left-handed pitching. That combination — a strong minor league résumé paired with a lingering weakness against lefties — is what’s driving the mixed reaction of hope and concern.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyō G) thread “[Great News] Chunichi Dragons Poised for a Comeback Title Run! Dodgers’ Ward Signed”.
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