Age profile by club
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Players in each age band
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Every age on this page is the age for this season. Whether the birthday has already come round is not taken into account.
Players whose birth year is not in the records are left out of the age bands.
Players in each role
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| Team | Starters | Relievers | Catchers | Infielders | Outfielders | Designated hitters and others | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yomiuri | 8 | 14 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 38 |
| DeNA | 7 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 33 |
| Chunichi | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 28 |
| Yakult | 6 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 27 |
| Hanshin | 6 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 26 |
| Hiroshima | 5 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 26 |
Players with no fielding record are placed in the designated hitters and others column.
Largest age band in each role
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| Team | Starters | Relievers | Catchers | Infielders | Outfielders | Designated hitters and others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yomiuri | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 30 to 34 | 24 and under | 24 and under | — |
| DeNA | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 24 and under | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | — |
| Chunichi | 24 and under | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | — |
| Yakult | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 24 and under | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 |
| Hanshin | 30 to 34 | 25 to 29 | 30 to 34 | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 24 and under |
| Hiroshima | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | 25 to 29 | — |
Players aged 30 or over and 24 or under
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| Team | Starters | Relievers | Catchers | Infielders | Outfielders | Designated hitters and others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yomiuri | 1 / 2 | 4 / 2 | 2 / 0 | 3 / 2 | 2 / 3 | 0 / 0 |
| DeNA | 2 / 2 | 1 / 0 | 0 / 2 | 4 / 1 | 1 / 2 | 0 / 0 |
| Chunichi | 3 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 0 | 4 / 0 | 3 / 2 | 0 / 0 |
| Yakult | 1 / 0 | 2 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 3 / 3 | 1 / 1 | 0 / 0 |
| Hanshin | 4 / 0 | 4 / 1 | 1 / 0 | 2 / 0 | 1 / 1 | 1 / 1 |
| Hiroshima | 2 / 0 | 2 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 1 / 1 | 3 / 0 | 0 / 0 |
Each cell holds the players aged 30 or over, then the players aged 24 or under. Only the current counts are listed.
How to read the age profile
Only the players holding a place in the top team are counted here. This is not the full roster including the farm system, so the totals come out smaller than a club's registered player count. Every age is the age for this season, and whether the birthday has already come round is not taken into account.
Some clubs have their counts leaning to the younger bands and others have them gathered at 30 and over. This page does not decide which is better; it lists only the counts as they stand. In the table of players aged 30 or over and 24 or under, the first figure is the 30 to 34 band and the 35 and over band added together, and the second is the same as the lowest band. The tables by role show that within one club the lean can differ between pitchers and fielders. Starters and relievers come in different numbers to begin with, so compare the counts within the same role column.
How the roles are decided
Pitchers are split into starters and relievers by the number of outs they take per appearance. Fielders are split into catchers, infielders and outfielders by the position they played the most games at. When two positions are level on games, the one that comes first in the position order is used. Players with no fielding record go in the designated hitters and others column, and while the fielding records for the season have not arrived they go in the not known column.
Frequently asked questions
Which players are counted?
Only the players whose guide figure, derived from their record, comes out above the minimum guaranteed pay for the top team. Players who barely appeared for the top team are not included. The guide figures themselves are listed player by player on the pay guide page.
As of when are the ages?
They are the ages for this season, taken from the season year and the year of birth, so they do not change depending on whether the birthday has come round. The order and the counts can move from day to day, but the ages themselves stay the same through the season.
What are the designated hitters and others and not known columns?
A player with no fielding record cannot have a role decided from a position, so those players are gathered in the designated hitters and others column; players used only as pinch hitters land there too. The not known column appears on days when the fielding records for the season have not arrived yet. Neither column is filled in by guesswork.