Yesterday, Sports Info Solutions officially announced its annual Fielding Bible Award winners for Nippon Professional Baseball.

This was my third consecutive year on the panel of voters. This year, the other participants were Jason Coskrey, an excellent writer at The Japan Times, and Yuta Sekiguchi, better known online as Bouno05, the creator of Sabermetric modules such as the NPB Pitch Profiler and Bat Profiler.

I used a combination of the eye test and advanced defensive metrics, including Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), Total Zone Runs (TZR), and Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR), to inform my decisions. This is how I voted at each position and why.

First Base

My Top 3: Akira Nakamura, Riku Masuda, Tyler Nevin

Actual Winner: Tyler Nevin (Seibu Lions)

SoftBank’s Nakamura is among the most mobile first basemen. The veteran made scoops reliably and earned significant playing time in a stacked Hawks lineup largely thanks to his defense. All three metrics agreed that he was around average to above-average, which, for first base, is quite good. I also gave Yomiuri’s Masuda strong consideration. He rated extremely well by both TZR and UZR, but logged only 589 innings, ninth-most in NPB.

Seibu’s Nevin was the actual winner, having nearly doubled Masuda’s innings and also grading well by TZR. His negative DRS kept him out of my top two, but he definitely made some highlight plays and is a deserving winner.

Second Base

My Top 3: Naoki Yoshikawa, Takumu Nakano, Mikiya Tanaka

Actual Winner: Naoki Yoshikawa (Yomiuri Giants)

Even at a position as deep as second base, Yomiuri’s Yoshikawa stands out for his effortless grace, whether he’s ranging to his right and firing a jumping throw, sliding into the outfield before spinning and tossing to first, or executing a quick flip to start a double play.

The 30-year-old outperformed Hanshin’s Nakano in nearly every metric despite logging 322 fewer innings. I also think he deserves credit for playing half his games on the fast turf at Tokyo Dome, as opposed to Koshien’s all-dirt infield.

Chunichi’s Tanaka and Seibu’s Takizawa were also strong contenders, with the latter likely the correct pick here if not for his candidacy in the multi-position category.

Third Base

My Top 3: Ryoya Kurihara, Teruaki Sato, Kazuma Okamoto

Actual Winner: Teruaki Sato (Hanshin Tigers)

If everyone is healthy, SoftBank’s Kurihara is clearly Japan’s best defensive third baseman. As such, I still voted for him in the top spot despite his limited 80-game season.

But Hanshin’s Sato was the de facto winner. The 26-year-old was the only regular who held his own at a generally weak fielding position. He’s not elite, but the home run king absolutely made improvements from previous seasons. He had significantly fewer errors this year (20 in 2023, 23 in 2024, 6 in 2025), making him a worthy winner.

The MLB-bound Okamoto also cracked my top three after grading well across multiple metrics, albeit in only 69 games.

Shortstop

My Top 3: Sosuke Genda, Yuta Izuguchi, Atsuki Tomosugi

Actual Winner: Atsuki Tomosugi (Lotte Marines)

While Seibu’s Genda may have lost a step from his prime, most viewers would agree that his ability to make difficult plays look routine and the overall eye test are still the best in the business. Yomiuri’s Izuguchi is the top choice by TZR and UZR, but his DRS lagged behind, creating a notable discrepancy.

The player with universal support across metrics is Lotte’s Tomosugi. I don’t think the 24-year-old is particularly flashy, but he led all shortstops in DRS while ranking fourth in innings. I placed him third, but have no complaints about him taking the award.

Left Field

My Top 3: Misho Nishikawa, Tatsuru Yanagimachi, Seiya Watanabe

Actual Winner: Misho Nishikawa (Lotte Marines)

Lotte’s Nishikawa looked far more like a seasoned Gold Glover than a rookie as he paced the competition with 22 DRS while also ranking in the top two in TZR and UZR, quickly introducing the league to his superb range and plus arm.

SoftBank’s Yanagimachi and Rakuten’s Nakashima could have challenged him, but their split time across multiple outfield spots made Nishikawa a runaway winner in my book. Also, shoutout to fellow rookie Watanabe on Seibu, who was highly rated by DRS and UZR.

Center Field

My Top 3: Ukyo Shuto, Manaya Nishikawa, Koji Chikamoto

Actual Winner: Ukyo Shuto (SoftBank Hawks)

Shuto’s speed and athleticism are unmatched, and he anchored center field for the champion Hawks with ease, piling up highlight-reel catches along the way. The 29-year-old led all players, regardless of position, with +15.3 TZR on top of having a plus arm.

Perhaps controversially, my runner-up was Seibu’s Nishikawa over Hanshin’s Chikamoto. While Chikamoto graded higher in TZR and UZR, Nishikawa held a clear edge in DRS and is better at tracking balls hit deep to cut off extra bases.

Right Field

My Top 3: Chusei Mannami, Shota Morishita, Daisuke Nakashima

Actual Winner: Chusei Mannami (Nipponham Fighters)

Though he didn’t have as many iconic highlight-reel assists as in previous years, Mannami continues to be the gold standard in the outfield with his strong routes, quick instincts, and cannon arm that always forces runners to second-guess themselves on the bases. I always get Betts/Cespedes vibes when I watch the 25-year-old Fighter.

As with left field, Rakuten’s Nakashima could have taken the right field crown, too, if he had logged more innings. Hanshin’s Morishita made big strides defensively this season, while Lotte’s Fujiwara continues to excel when he’s not manning center.

Hiroshima’s Suekane is one of the few players whose good defensive metrics I ignored, as he just does not pass the eye test for me.

Catcher

My Top 3: Seishiro Sakamoto, Yudai Koga, Yuudai Yamamoto

Actual Winner: Seishiro Sakamoto (Hanshin Tigers)

Hanshin’s Sakamoto not only led all backstops in innings but also graded as an elite framer across multiple numbers. He helped his pitching staff immensely with +18.3 framing value and 217 extra strikes gained. The 31-year-old also gunned down 31% of would-be base stealers.

Yakult’s Koga and DeNA’s Yamamoto also stood out. Koga threw out an impressive 50% of attempted base stealers with +8.5 ARM Runs compared to the next best at +3.3. Yamamoto, who was last year’s winner, remained NPB’s second-best framer.

Pitcher

My Top 3: Takahiro Matsuba, Hiroki Tokoda, Livan Moinelo

Actual Winner: Masato Morishita (Hiroshima Carp)

I admittedly don’t pay much attention to pitcher defense, so I essentially looked down the DRS leaderboard and selected three guys who control the running game well and are good at fielding bunts.

What jumped out about Chunichi’s Matsuba was his league-best tempo with runners on base, which I would consider defense-adjacent. It probably played a small role in his ability to outperform his peripherals.

Hiroshima’s Morishita took home the award, which is totally understandable as he led all pitchers in UZR and ranked second in double plays started.

Multi-Position

My Top 3: Natsuo Takizawa, Yuya Gunji, Daisuke Nakashima

Actual Winner: Natsuo Takizawa (Seibu Lions)

Seibu’s Takizawa not only claimed the multi-position award but also earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. At just 5-foot-5, he maximized every inch of his frame, posting an astounding 30 DRS, +18.2 TZR, and +14.7 UZR while splitting time between second and short. Unreal.

Nipponham’s Gunji impressed in a completely different way as a super-utilityman, capably handling four positions – catcher, first, third, and left – and even logging a few innings in center. While I typically don’t like labeling an outfielder as a true “multi-position” player, Rakuten’s Nakashima was so exceptional with 17 DRS in total that he once again warranted consideration.

Special thanks to Mark Simon, editorial lead at Sports Info Solutions, for inviting me to the panel again and for facilitating the process of recognizing defensive excellence in NPB.