At the annual convention of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) it was announced on Tuesday that Dutch outfielder Wladimir Balentien was named MVP of the Central League. The slugger of the Yakult Swallows set a new home run record with 60 long balls this season. Overall he batted .330/.455/.779 with 60 home runs, 17 doubles, 94 runs and 131 RBI in 130 games. His Swallows nonetheless ended up in sixth place in the Central League with a 57-83 record (four ties).
Meanwhile Masahiro Tanaka of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles picked up MVP honors in the Pacific League. He pitcher went a perfect 24-0 with an ERA of 1.27 in 28 games. He struck out 183 and walked 32 in 212 innings. As soon as NPB and MLB find an agreement over an update of the posting system, it is expected that the 25-year-old will be posted, hoping to make the move from Japan to the United States.