Last week we took a look at the six Central League teams and where they stand at this point in the season as compared to what had been expected at the beginning of the year. Now let's check the status of the Pacific League clubs and see who is up and who is down.

HOKKAIDO NIPPON HAM FIGHTERS — Except for the flu, Trey Hillman may be wishing he were still managing the Fighters who have six .300 hitters: outfielders Yoshio Itoi (hitting .336 through Thursday) and Atsunori Inaba (.317), first baseman Shinji Takahashi (.324), second baseman Kensuke Tanaka (.303), shortstop Makoto Kaneko (.311) and third sacker Eiichi Koyano (.305).

The most outstanding player in Sapporo is, of course, ace hurler Yu Darvish with a record of 14-5 and a stunning 1.70 ERA (through Friday).

Hillman said three years ago Darvish had a chance to be the best pitcher in the world, and the 23-year-old right-hander may be approaching that status right now.

Sapporo fans are excited, as Nippon Ham looks for a third Japan Series appearance in four years, guided this time by skipper Masataka Nashida.

FUKUOKA SOFTBANK HAWKS — Rookie manager Koji Akiyama took over for the retired Sadaharu Oh and has impressively led the Hawks not only out of last place, but also into the A-Class. The most improved Hawks player has to be center fielder Yuya Hasegawa, who seemingly came out of nowhere to shore up the Fukuoka defense, and he's done it offensively as well, hitting .314.

Veteran sluggers Nobuhiko Matsunaka (.272, 20 home runs, 69 RBIs) and Hiroki Kokubo (.281, 16, 64) remain the kingpins of the offense, and the Hawks made a wise move in getting utility man Jose Ortiz back to Japan after the season began. The former Orix and Lotte player is hitting .287 with 14 homers.

Left-hander Toshiya Sugiuchi is the team's best starting pitcher at 11-3 with a 2.54 ERA, and American righties D.J. Houlton and Brian Falkenborg have made huge contributions. Starter Houlton is 8-6, 2.80, while setup man Falkenborg is 6-0 with 27 hold points and a super 1.44 ERA.

Though six games behind Nippon Ham in the PL standings, Softbank is comfortably in second place and heading for postseason play.

TOHOKU RAKUTEN GOLDEN EAGLES — Rakuten is right there as a challenger for the third PL playoff slot. After a hot start, manager Katsuya Nomura's club slumped but is back on the arms of right-handed starting pitchers Masahiro "Ma-kun" Tanaka (10-4. 1.82) and Hisashi Iwakuma (10-5. 3.10).

Outfielder Teppei Tsuchiya leads the league in batting with a .347 average, infielder Daisuke Kusano is hitting .313, and 40-year-old designated hitter Takeshi Yamasaki continues to pound with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs.

American Todd Linden, acquired in midseason, has seven homers and is batting .273 as the Eagles' leadoff man, and he has made a big difference.

The club's weakness has been the absence of a reliable closer, but we shall see if that can be overcome.

Did I say Sapporo is excited about the Fighters?

Sendai fans must be ecstatic about their Eagles, who are in their fifth season.

SAITAMA SEIBU LIONS — The defending Japan Series champions have been stung by the loss of American closer Alex Graman who saved 31 games in 2008 but has missed this entire season following arm surgery.

Right-handed starters Hideaki Wakui (13-4 with a 2.25 ERA) and Takayuki Kishi (11-2, 3.28) have carried the mound load, while third baseman Takeya Nakamura leads both leagues with 36 home runs and 99 RBIs.

Shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima (.299, 15, 69) is having his usual fine season, but manager Hisanobu Watanabe has had trouble getting the Lions to play consistent baseball, and the absence of Graman is huge, as Seibu tries to hang in there as a Climax Series contender.

ORIX BUFFALOES — This was supposed to be a team that would at least maintain its 2008 A-Class status with four veteran foreign sluggers, each capable of hitting 40 home runs: Jose Fernandez, Tuffy Rhodes, Alex Cabrera and Greg LaRocca. However, the last three suffered broken-bone injuries that led to long periods on the disabled list. None of them have hit 20 homers so far this year.

Also, manager Daijiro Oishi may have been overconfident since he took over for the resigning Terry Collins in May of 2008 and seemed to have an easy time leading the Buffs to a second-place finish last fall. This year, it has been anything but easy.

Starting pitchers Chihiro Kaneko (9-6, 2.73 ERA), Shogo Yamamoto (8-3, 3.51) and Mamoru Kishida (6-2, 2.71) have delivered, but no other players are having better-than-average seasons, and the injuries to the heavy hitters have taken their toll. Orix is destined to finish fifth or sixth when the final bell rings.

CHIBA LOTTE MARINES — What can be said here?

It's no secret the Marines are limping through the season after the front office declared it would not renew the contract of popular manager Bobby Valentine, and the disjointed organization has not been able to overcome off-the-field distractions.

The best offensive players are MLB returnee second baseman Tadahito Iguchi (.271, 13, 51) and outfielder Saburo Omura (.302, 17, 58).

Relief pitcher Brian Sikorski (6-5 with 20 hold points, eight saves and a .2.32 ERA) made the All-Star team, but the remainder of the mound staff has been flat, and the Marines find themselves battling with the Buffaloes to avoid a last-place standing.

* * * * *

No column next week, the fifth Sunday of the month, but we will be back on Sept. 6.

* * * * *

Contact Wayne Graczyk at: [email protected]