Last year's Rookie of the Year lost three games, ERA 5.73 and batting king fell eight times, and Orix's No. 1 ranking and 16.5 games away from 'Super-Ace' disappeared.

Jul 01, 2024

Yamashita, who won his ninth victory of the season against Seibu on August 5 last year. Yamashita, who won nine games last year and left due to injury, won the Pacific League Rookie of the Year award. Photo Capture = Orix Buffaloes SNS

Last year's Pacific League batting king, Don Gu, has been suffering from severe poor batting this season. As of July 1, he has a batting average of 193. Photo Capture = Orix Buffaloes SNS

Right-hander Yamashita for Orix Buffaloes??Peita (22). On June 30, he started an away game against the Chiba Lotte Marines and pitched three innings and was replaced. It was the shortest inning steel plate since he made his debut in the first division as a starter in the opening game last year. Japanese media said it was difficult to control the ball due to strong winds of 10 meters per second. He struggled by throwing 37 pitches in the first inning alone. The home stadium of Chiba Lotte, Marine Stadium, is adjacent to Tokyo Bay, so it is usually windy.

Until the third inning, he gave up three four outs on six hits and allowed three runs. He threw 79 pitches and turned over the mound to the bullpen. It was three runs, but the game was worse.

He struck out leadoff hitter Hiromi Oka in the bottom of the first inning and got off to a good start. I dropped a fork ball from the full count and pulled out the bat. Oka hit 10 hits in the previous five games. He is a .300 hitter with only three players in the Pacific League.

He shook after throwing eight pitches against the first batter. Katsuya Kakunaka, the second, was hit with an infield hit, and Kyota Fujiwara, the third, was sent out with a dune. He then struck out No. 4 Neftali Soto with a swing and miss and allowed a walk to No. 5 Gregory Polanco. With the bases loaded with two outs, Kyoto Ueda hit a timely hit to the left. The body fastball thrown from 0-2.1S hit.

He gave up two hits and one walk, including a double in the second inning, but allowed no runs. He overcame the crisis by blocking the opponent's stolen base.

Luck didn't keep up. With no outs in the third inning, he sent out Soto and Polanco 4 and 5 with consecutive hits. With one out and runners on the first and third bases, he allowed additional runs with a sacrifice hit. 0-3. No. 8 Tomoski struck out Atsuki to end the inning.

Orix, who gave up the initial flow, suffered a 0-7 Youngbong defeat. In the 10th inning of overtime the previous day, pinch hitter Yutaro Sugimoto hit a two-run home run to win 5-3, but the lineup froze in a day. Coach Satoshi Nakajima said "It was like a different team from yesterday." Orix, who suffered his 10th Youngbong defeat of the season, fell to fifth place.

Yamashita, who throws 160km/h fastballs, is the ace of the future, which was highly anticipated as a main pitcher this season. However, he is struggling as he has not settled down in his second year of his first-team debut. He started five times and never pitched six innings. He lost three games with a 5.73 ERA. He has not won since the game against the Seibu Lions on August 5 last year.

I hoped to fill the gap between Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LA Dodgers), who left for the Major League, and Sachiya Yamasaki, the left-hander who moved to the Nippon Ham Fighters, but the expectations were too high.

Yamashita allowed eight runs in four innings against the Softbank Hawks on April 19 and was eliminated from the first team. 두달 만인 6월 16일 인터

Expectations were high as main pitchers this season, but they took the mound in five games and lost three games without a win. He was replaced after allowing three runs in three innings against Chiba Lotte on June 30. After making his debut in the first team last year, he was substituted for the shortest time.

Photo capture=Orix Buffaloes SNS

Orix beat SoftBank to reach the top of the Pacific League for the third consecutive year in 2021-2023. In 2022, he beat Yakult to lift the Japan Series trophy. Photo Capture = Orix Buffaloes SNS

He returned to the game against Yakult Swallows in the league (exchange match) and allowed one run in five innings.

He played in 16 games last year and won 9-3 with a 1.61 ERA. He won the Rookie of the Year award even though he was out for the season due to injury in mid-August.

Last year's Pacific League batting champion, Dongu Yuma, started as the 8th-1st baseman against Chiba Lotte on the 30th. He drew a walk in his first at-bat in the third inning, and the other two at-bats were only hit. No hits in two at-bats.

The batting slump is so serious that the center hitter, who finished first in the regulation last year in his fifth year of joining the team, is in the eighth batting order this year. He had a batting average of 1992-30 hits until the 30th. 4 home runs-23 RBIs. Last year, Dongu played in 113 games and recorded a batting average of 37 runs-123 hits, 16 home runs-49 RBIs.

Orix stood at the top of the Pacific League for the third consecutive year between 2021 and 2023. It has destroyed SoftBank's stronghold. In 2022, he beat Yakult Swallows and lifted the Japan Series trophy.

Last year's fourth hitter Masataka Yoshida (Boston Red Sox) and Yamamoto and Yamasaki were out this year. It was inevitable to weaken power, but he started the season with the goal of winning four consecutive league titles. The reality was cold.