Eight ERA pitchers with a home run cut to half, and eight super-strong 「'Go-to-taser' conflicting views, is it really a matter of official ball?

Jul 09, 2024

Yakult home run hitter Murakami. Until last week, he had 15 home runs, ranking first in the Central League, and hit the best home runs in both leagues. There are only four hitters in both leagues this season, when super-strong pitching and hitters were driven. Photo capture = Yakult Swallows SNS

No matter how strong it is in the era of 'throwers and batters', if you look at the record of pitchers in the Central League, your mouth will open. There are seven players who have exceeded half of the entire season's schedule and maintain an ERA of one point. Hiroshima Carp right-hander Osehra Daichi even has a 0.94 record. He started 13 games and pitched 86 innings, and pitched two complete games, including a "no hit, no run". He allowed 29 scoreless innings in four games he started in June.

Hiroto Saiki (Hanshin Tigers) will follow with 1.11 and Masato Morishita (Hiroshima) with 1.41. Iori Yamasaki (Yomiuri Giants, 1.61), Hiroki Tokota (Hiroshima, 1.66), Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Chunichi Dragons, 1.94) and Katsuki Azuma (Yokohama BayStars, 1.96) are ranked fourth to seventh.

Softbank Hawks left-hander Livan Moinello has 1.61 points, ranking first in the Pacific League in ERA. Monello, who is in his eighth year of joining Softbank, has switched from a reliever to a starter this season.

In the first half of the year, there were already two 'no hit'. Prior to Osera, Yomiuri Giants ace Shosei Dogo achieved the milestone.

On the other hand, home runs have plummeted.

Last year, Yomiuri hit 164 home runs, the most in both leagues. But this year, he hit 44 in 79 games. It decreased to 0.56 from 1.15 per game last year. It was about half last year. Most clubs are similar. The Orix Buffaloes have 0.39 and the Seibu Lions have 0.42.

Yakult Swallows' Murakami Munetaka hits 15, ranking first in the Central League. In the Pacific League, Softbank Kondo Kenske and Yamakawa Hotaka are ranked first with 13 hits. There are two hitters in each of the two leagues.

The Japan Baseball Organization (NPB) emphasizes that there is no problem with the repulsion of the official ball (unification ball) in the all-time 'Tarzer'. Explain that the rebound coefficient is within the allowable value. A tight pitching match is interesting, but a game without a score is frustrating. As a result, there are continuous talks about 'official ball that does not fly'.

Hiroshima right-hander Osera pitched in 13 games this season with a 0.94 ERA. Seven Central League pitchers, including Ossera, maintain a one-point ERA. Photo capture = Hiroshima Carp SNS

Two senior Japanese baseball players diagnosed 'thugotazer' with conflicting perspectives.

Former Yokohama coach Kiyoshi Nakahata (70) said on Sports Nippon, a sports magazine, that `When you look at TV broadcasts or stadium broadcast booths, a ball that you thought was a home run is often caught in front of the fence.' 'We have no choice but to doubt the repulsive power of the official ball. This is what some players, including Murakami, who hit 56 home runs in 2022, have raised since the beginning of the season.

Former coach Nakahata, a former Yomiuri hitter, served as the acting coach of the Japanese national team at the Athens Olympics and the head coach of Yokohama.

While NPB said there was no problem with the official ball, former coach Nakahata pointed out that the condition of the ball may vary depending on how it is stored, such as humidity. "I'm not the only one who thinks the ball is weird," he said, explaining the atmosphere of the scene.

Former coach Nakahata, who expressed regret over the home run, the flower of baseball, asked NPB to form an investigation committee as soon as possible to thoroughly investigate the official ball. According to the results of the investigation, they asked to discuss the timing of the future reaction force investigation and how to store it.

Former Chunichi coach Hiromitsu Ochiai (71), who won three hits as a player, appeared on a TV program last weekend and asserted that `the decrease in the number of home runs and the lower batting average have nothing to do with the official ball.' He interpreted that both the batter and the pitcher's skills improved, but the pitching power grew faster. He explained that the reason for the batter's skill was that he could not keep up with the pitcher. He said "When I was running as a player, I used to say it was faster than 140 kilometers per hour, but 150 kilometers have become common these days. 예전에는 횡으로 변

Hanshin right-hander Saiki is ranked second in this category with a 1.11 ERA as of the 8th. He won three shutouts this season. He was selected as an All-Star in the Central League through fan voting. Photo capture = Hanshin Tigers SNS

The angry pitches used to be the mainstream, but these days pitchers deal with batters with fastballs and breaking balls that fall into the bell."

It is a completely different trend from Korean professional baseball. As of the 8th, the KBO League, which opened a week earlier than Japanese baseball, has 20 batters with more than 20 home runs and six batters with more than 20 home runs. KIA Tigers foreign pitcher James Nail has a 2.66 ERA and is the top in this category. There are only two pitchers with an ERA of 2 points.

The powerful 'thugotazer' is shaking up the Japanese professional baseball.

huelva@sportschosun.com