TOKYO — Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) announced their main awards for the 2017 season: Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Rookie of the Year.
In the Pacific League 36 year old reliever Dennis Sarfate, the closer for the SoftBank Hawks and the Japan Series MVP, was named the MVP. Sarfate had saved a record 54 games during the regular season.
Sosuke Genda, shortstop of the Seibu Lions, was named Rookie of the Year. At age 24, Genda played in all of the regular season games in his first season.
In the Central League Yoshihiro Maru, 28, center fielder of the League Champions Hiroshima Carp, was named MVP. Maru, a left handed hitter, finished the regular season with a .308 batting average, 92 RBIs and 23 home runs.
Yota Kyoda, the shortstop for the Chunichi Dragons, earned Rookie of the Year honors. A 23 year old first year player at the top level, Kyoda played 141 games out of 143.
NPB is a member of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
