Strikeouts accumulate every game.
Murakami Munetaka (23), the “monster hitter” of the Yakult Swallows, left empty-handed again. On the 25th, he played as 4th and 3rd base in an away game against the Yokohama Baystars, and went 0-3 at bat.
He returned with a swing strikeout in his first at-bat in the second inning, and picked a walk in the fourth inning. He was out with a fly ball to center field in the 6th inning, and in the last at-bat in the 8th inning, he struck out again with a swing and withdrew.
He added two strikeouts to bring his total to 30 this season. Central League and Pacific League, both leagues are the overall first place in strikeouts. He even made a mistake on defense in the bottom of the first inning.
His batting average for the season fell to 1067 (11 hits in 66 at-bats). He is 26th out of 28 Central League hitters who have filled the required number of at bats. The number 4 hitter of Yakult, who is aiming to win the league for the third year in a row, has no presence at all. 안전놀이터
He went 1-for-15 with a batting average of 6.7 in his last 5 games. He struck out 11 during this period.
Last year, Murakami was the best hitter in Nippon Professional Baseball. He won three gold medals in batting average (3.18), home runs (56 home runs), and runs batted in (134 RBIs). At the age of 22, he became the youngest player to win three batting titles in Japanese professional baseball history.
He broke various home run records. He set the record for the most home runs by a Japanese batter in a single season, and hit home runs in 5 consecutive at bats for the first time in the world. He won the Central League home run title for two consecutive years and was named MVP for two consecutive years.
In 20 games last season, he recorded a batting average of .286 and 4 home runs. This year, he has stopped at 2 homers. Some point to the WBC (World Baseball Classic) team participation as the cause of the sluggish performance.
The team’s batting line is also hitting bottom due to the sluggishness of the fourth hitter.
As of the 25th, Yakult’s team batting average is 108.9. It is the only team in the 10% batting average among 12 teams in both leagues. Since the opening game, he has never had a double-digit hit. Yakult, who lost 3-5 on the 25th, suffered three consecutive losses and fell to third place.