The 2021 Orix Buffaloes season was the 85th season of the franchise in Nippon Professional Baseball, their 17th season after their merger with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, and also their 17th season in Kyocera Dome Osaka. It was the Buffaloes' first season under new manager Satoshi Nakajima. For the first time since 1996 (or 2001 if one counts the history with the Kintetsu Buffaloes), the Buffaloes made the Japan Series, but lost to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in 6 games.
| 2021 Orix Buffaloes | |
|---|---|
| Pacific League champions | |
 | |
| League | Pacific League |
| Ballpark | Kyocera Dome Osaka/Hotto Motto Field Kobe |
| Record | 70-55-18 (.560) |
| League place | 1st |
| Parent company | Orix |
| Manager | Satoshi Nakajima |
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Regular season
editAfter finishing in last place 2 years in a row, the Buffaloes managed to turn things around, going 70-55-18 for a .584 winning percentage. The Buffaloes also were the best at interleague, at 12-5-1, for a .761 win percentage in interleague.
Pacific League standings
edit| Pos | Team | GP | W | L | T | .Pct | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orix Buffaloes | 143 | 70 | 55 | 18 | .560 | — | 38-22-12 | 32–33–6 |
| 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 143 | 67 | 57 | 19 | .540 | 2½ | 33-32-7 | 34–25–12 |
| 3 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 143 | 66 | 62 | 15 | .514 | 5½ | 31-33-8 | 35–29–7 |
| 4 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 143 | 60 | 62 | 21 | .492 | 8½ | 31-29-11 | 29–33–10 |
| 5 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 143 | 55 | 68 | 20 | .447 | 14 | 25-36-10 | 30–32–10 |
| 6 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 143 | 55 | 70 | 18 | .440 | 15 | 30-34-7 | 25–36–11 |