The 2022 Pennant Race

Central League

Champion Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Pacific League

Champion ORIX Buffaloes

A season archive covering the standings and game results. Rows follow the official final standings.

Final standings (official)

Central League

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RankTeamGWLTPCTGB
1Tokyo Yakult Swallows Champion14380594.576—
2Yokohama DeNA BayStars14373682.5188.0
3Hanshin Tigers14368714.48912.0
4Yomiuri Giants14368723.48612.5
5Hiroshima Toyo Carp14366743.47114.5
6Chunichi Dragons14366752.46815.0

Pacific League

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RankTeamGWLTPCTGB
1ORIX Buffaloes Champion14376652.539—
2Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks14376652.539—
3Saitama Seibu Lions14372683.5143.5
4Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles14369713.4936.5
5Chiba Lotte Marines14369731.4867.5
6Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters14359813.42116.5

Season highlights

Central League Longest win streak: Tokyo Yakult Swallows, 8 in a row Best games over .500 (in-season peak): Tokyo Yakult Swallows at +28 Days in first place: Tokyo Yakult Swallows (128 days)

At the end of August, eventual champion Tokyo Yakult Swallows stood at 97.8% in this model.

Eventual champion Tokyo Yakult Swallows bottomed out at 1.4% in this model (as of Apr 24, 2022).

Pacific League Longest win streak: Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, 11 in a row Best games over .500 (in-season peak): Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles at +18 Days in first place: Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (96 days)

At the end of August, eventual champion ORIX Buffaloes stood at 15.9% in this model.

Eventual champion ORIX Buffaloes bottomed out at 0% in this model (as of May 6, 2022).

Days in first place are counted per day with games played.

Games over .500

Balance = wins minus losses. The horizontal zero line is the .500 mark. The ▼ marks along the top of the plot show the days the lead changed hands, colored for the new leader.

Central League Games over .5002022 seasonnpbc.mediaInterleague−20±0+20AprMayJunJulAugSepOctS +21DB +5T −3G −4C −8D −9S best balance +28GCGCGSCSGS
Central League Games over .5002022 seasonnpbc.mediaInterleague−20±0+20AprMayJunJulAugSepOctS +21DB +5T −3G −4C −8D −9S best balance +28GCCSCG
Pacific League Games over .5002022 seasonnpbc.mediaInterleague−20±0+20AprMayJunJulAugSepOctB +11H +11L +4E −2M −4F −22E best balance +18EHEHEHLHLHLHBH
Pacific League Games over .5002022 seasonnpbc.mediaInterleague−20±0+20AprMayJunJulAugSepOctB +11H +11L +4E −2M −4F −22E best balance +18EHEHELHLHLBH

Standings over time

Daily standings ordered by winning percentage (wins over decisions) at the end of each day. Teams tied on percentage share the same rank, so lines can overlap. Official tiebreakers such as head-to-head records are not applied to the daily series.

In this season, the official final standings, which reflect postseason results and official tiebreakers, differ in part from the win-loss based order. The standings table at the top of the page shows the official ranking.

Central League Standings over time2022 seasonnpbc.media123456AprMayJunJulAugSepOctS #1DB #2T #3G #4C #5D #6
Central League Standings over time2022 seasonnpbc.media123456AprMayJunJulAugSepOctS #1DB #2T #3G #4C #5D #6
Pacific League Standings over time2022 seasonnpbc.media123456AprMayJunJulAugSepOctB #1H #1L #3E #4M #5F #6
Pacific League Standings over time2022 seasonnpbc.media123456AprMayJunJulAugSepOctB #1H #1L #3E #4M #5F #6

Win-loss calendar

A tall dark cell is a win, a short light cell a loss, and a thin line a tie - the heights keep the chart readable even without color. Doubleheaders split the day's cell vertically.

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Central League Win-loss calendar2022 seasonnpbc.mediaWinLossTieTokyo Yakult Swallows80 - 59 - 4Yokohama DeNA BayStars73 - 68 - 2Hanshin Tigers68 - 71 - 4Yomiuri Giants68 - 72 - 3Hiroshima Toyo Carp66 - 74 - 3Chunichi Dragons66 - 75 - 2AprMayJunJulAugSepOct

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Pacific League Win-loss calendar2022 seasonnpbc.mediaWinLossTieORIX Buffaloes76 - 65 - 2Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks76 - 65 - 2Saitama Seibu Lions72 - 68 - 3Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles69 - 71 - 3Chiba Lotte Marines69 - 73 - 1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters59 - 81 - 3AprMayJunJulAugSepOct

Pennant odds over time

Estimates from re-running the current board's model on each day's data. Probabilities do not guarantee outcomes.

Central League Pennant odds over time2022 seasonnpbc.mediaInterleague0%20%40%60%80%100%AprMayJunJulAugSepOctS 100%C 0%D 0%DB 0%G 0%T 0%
Central League Pennant odds over time2022 seasonnpbc.mediaInterleague0%20%40%60%80%100%AprMayJunJulAugSepOctS 100%C 0%D 0%DB 0%G 0%T 0%
Pacific League Pennant odds over time2022 seasonnpbc.mediaInterleague0%20%40%60%80%100%AprMayJunJulAugSepOctB 100%E 0%F 0%H 0%L 0%M 0%
Pacific League Pennant odds over time2022 seasonnpbc.mediaInterleague0%20%40%60%80%100%AprMayJunJulAugSepOctB 100%E 0%F 0%H 0%L 0%M 0%

Interleague records

Interleague results only (rows in league and official-standings order, not by winning percentage).

Central League

TeamW - L - T
Tokyo Yakult Swallows14 - 4 - 0
Yokohama DeNA BayStars9 - 9 - 0
Hanshin Tigers12 - 6 - 0
Yomiuri Giants8 - 10 - 0
Hiroshima Toyo Carp5 - 13 - 0
Chunichi Dragons7 - 11 - 0

Pacific League

TeamW - L - T
ORIX Buffaloes8 - 10 - 0
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks9 - 9 - 0
Saitama Seibu Lions9 - 9 - 0
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles9 - 9 - 0
Chiba Lotte Marines10 - 8 - 0
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters8 - 10 - 0

Season rules and notes

  • Rows follow the official final standings (not necessarily in order of winning percentage).
  • Beyond the league schedule, "オールスター" (All-Star Series) was held this season (2 games, 2022-07-26 to 2022-07-27). The standings and charts on this page cover the league schedule only.
  • Beyond the league schedule, "CS ファーストS" (Climax Series First Stage) was held this season (5 games, 2022-10-08 to 2022-10-10). The standings and charts on this page cover the league schedule only.
  • Beyond the league schedule, "CS ファイナルS" (Climax Series Final Stage) was held this season (7 games, 2022-10-12 to 2022-10-15). The standings and charts on this page cover the league schedule only.
  • Beyond the league schedule, "日本シリーズ" (Japan Series) was held this season (7 games, 2022-10-22 to 2022-10-30). The standings and charts on this page cover the league schedule only.

This page is reference material. Where it differs from the official records, the official records take precedence.