The Shochiku company discontinued its support in December, 1954, and the team name returned to the Taiyo Whales.

The year was also highlighted with pitcher Gentaro Shimada, just 2 weeks before his 21st birthday, throwing the first no-hitter and perfect game in Whales history, becoming the youngest player to do so until Roki Sasaki did so in 2022.

The team enjoyed far more popularity during this period than in previous years, but continued to post only meager results in the standings, with their best placing being in 1979, when they finished second behind the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

The BayStars remained a non-contender during the early 1990s, but gradually assembled the players that would contribute to the team's championship in 1998.

The team's consistent hitting, impeccable defense, (players from the BayStars won five golden glove awards in 1998) and solid pitching staff (rounded by closer Kazuhiro Sasaki) contributed to an epic 1998 season.

Players who made up the Machine Gun Offense included Bobby Rose, Takuro Ishii, Motonobu Tanishige, Glenn Braggs (who left in 1996), and Takanori Suzuki.

A major cause of this was due to the collapse of Yokohama's pitching staff, as while the offense was good, the fact that Yokohama Stadium was more of a hitter friendly park, due to its outfield dimensions, would need them to have good pitching, alongside other factors, including Sasaki leaving for the Seattle Mariners in 2000, not being able to give a new contract to Rose, Tanishige leaving for the Dragons, and Takashi Saito leaving for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He replaced Kiyoshi Nakahata, who resigned at the end of 2015 to take responsibility for the club's poor performance.

[1] In 2016, Yokohama DeNA BayStars finished the regular season in third place (69–71–3), 19.5 games behind the league leader Hiroshima Toyo Carp (89–52–3).

In 2017, the BayStars again finished the regular season in third place (73–65–5) 14.5 games behind the league leader Hiroshima Toyo Carp (88–51–4).

The BayStars advanced to the 2017 Japan Series against the Pacific League Champion Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

Keizo Kawashima hit the walk-off RBI single for SoftBank in the eleventh inning for the title.

Hawks' pitcher Dennis Sarfate, with two saves and a Game 6 win, was named the Japan Series Most Valuable Player (MVP).

On March 13, 2023, Trevor Bauer agreed to an incentive-laden one-year, $4 million contract with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

This, alongside the already existing power bats of Shugo Maki and 2024 CL Batting Champion Tyler Austin, and Katsuki Azuma taking over the ace spot after Shota Imanaga left for Major League Baseball, powered the BayStars to a 3rd place finish, alongside a fall from grace by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp by late August and September, qualifying them to the Central League Climax Series.

They would sweep the Hanshin Tigers in the First Stage, then beat the Central League pennant winning Yomiuri Giants in 6 games to advance to the 2024 Japan Series, setting up a rematch with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Manager Coaches (Patrol) None Current: Former: They have been represented by various star-themed characters such as:[4] The Baystars farm team plays in the Eastern League.