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The story
The question “Who’s the best defensive shortstop in NPB history?” sparked a lively debate on the Nandemo Jikkyo board (a general live-discussion board on 5ch). Someone posted aggregated shortstop defensive stats spanning 1950 to 2020, showing Makoto Kosaka atop the all-time defensive runs rankings, while others pointed out that Yasumitsu Toyoda comes out on top once multiple metrics are combined. Among active players, opinions split over whether Saitama Seibu’s Sosuke Genda or Shuhei Takizawa is better, and names like Hayato Sakamoto and Kazuo Matsui also came up, turning the thread into a debate spanning legendary greats and current stars alike.
What people said
No way.
Even now he's only slightly better than current Genda.
If that's the case, peak Genda would still be better.
Doubt it — probably nobody does.
Genda's still better even now though
Defensive runs per 1000 innings shown alongside. "Est. Inn" = estimated defensive innings.
Rank Player Runs /1000 Est.Inn Years Active Basic Fielding Stats Fielding% Est.RF
1st Makoto Kosaka 221.7 22.9 9677 innings 13 yrs 1997-2010 1901 PO 3756 A *93 E .984 5.26
2nd Kenji Koike 174.8 15.0 11621 innings 14 yrs 1961-1974 2527 PO 4107 A 230 E .966 5.14
3rd Hayato Sakamoto 168.6 11.0 15257 innings 14 yrs 2007-2020 2687 PO 5419 A 173 E .979 4.78
4th Yoshio Yoshida 151.6 10.4 14578 innings 17 yrs 1953-1969 2969 PO 5242 A 327 E .962 5.07
5th Chusuke Kizuka 144.5 18.6 7760 innings 10 yrs
Sakamoto ranks this high on defense alone?
Guess that settles it — Sakamoto's the greatest shortstop ever then.
I thought it'd be Matsui.
Yeah, I thought it'd be Matsui too.
For reference, Yasumitsu Toyoda is #1 overall on the combined shortstop metrics.
He's not actually that good — he just racked up a ton of innings.
Were you on a baseball team, by any chance?
For second base, Kanya Tanaka is way ahead of everyone else, right?
He's way behind Ogawa though
Maybe Morimichi Takagi
Isn't it Ryosuke Kikuchi?
I played through college
Well then, I can't really argue with that.
How do I put it… I remember his throws being kind of shaky.
His arm was strong — it was more his control that was off.
He's too frail — won't even last a full season.
What metric are you using?
WAR and RC Win
Why are Sou's throws so clean?
Guess that's why he's got an S-rank arm stat in Power Pros lol (the baseball video game's player-rating system)
Wasn't he a first baseman?
On defense alone, he's a step below Kosaka.
He was amazing for a stretch, but it didn't last long.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
There are several metrics for quantifying defensive skill, and both the “defensive runs” figure and the Range Factor (RF) posted in the thread can shift rankings depending on how they’re calculated. Evaluations of the same player can flip depending on which metric is used — in the thread itself, opinions diverged over whether Yasumitsu Toyoda or Hayato Sakamoto deserved the “best overall” spot. Defensive stats are also heavily shaped by innings played, meaning players who held the same position for a long time tend to rack up bigger cumulative numbers, which makes it hard to crown the best defender on career totals alone. In recent years metrics like UZR and DRS, which account for batted-ball direction, have come into use, but no such data exists for players from earlier eras, so cross-era comparisons need to be read with that caveat in mind.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Who’s the best defensive shortstop in NPB history.”
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