In addition, home run-run king Murakami-Okamoto, KBO League is dominated by foreign hitters, but NPB is led by domestic hitters (Min Chang-ki's Japanese baseball)
Sep 12, 2024
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Mel Rojas Jr. (KT Wiz), who returned after the Mexican league, easily surpassed '30 home runs-100 RBIs'. Home run and RBI No. 4. I had a disastrous two-year failure with the Hanshin Tigers, and I'm back in the KBO League. Davidson hit 43 home runs to become the home run king, and hit 19 home runs at the Hiroshima Carp last year.
Japanese professional baseball, where 'throwers' are raging. Domestic batters continue to perform more prominently than foreign players. There are some teams where foreign players are playing as the main force, but Korean batters lead various races.
Okamoto in 2020, Okamoto-Murakami in 2021, Murakami in 2022, Okamoto in 2023.
The two have shared the home run title in the Central League for the past four years. Before Okamoto Kazuma (Yomiuri Giants) and Murakami Munetaka (Yakurt Swallows) came out, foreign hitters won the home run title for three years from 2017 to 2019. Alex Guerrero (Chunichi Dragons) stood tall in 2017 and Neftali Soto (Yokohama Baystars) in 2018-2019.
Soto, who flew to Japan in 2018, fired 41 that year. He hit 43 in his second year, winning his second consecutive home run title. He moved to Chiba Lotte Marines last winter and played as the main hitter. He has 19 home runs-82 RBIs in the changed league.
In 2020, Okamoto, a sixth-year professional, and Murakami, a fourth-year professional, hit 39. He became the joint home run king. The following year, Murakami shook Japan. He hit 56 home runs, surpassing legendary home run king Sadaharu Oh (Wang Jeong-gi, chairman of Softbank Hawks) and setting a new Japanese single-season home run record.
The two representing Japan are Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers) and Masataka Yoshida (Boston Red
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Last year, Okamoto beat Murakami. It was the third home run king and the first place in three years. He made 41 shots to overwhelm Murakami, the runner-up who hit 31. He exceeded his first 40 home runs in his career.
Makishugo (Yokohama), a third-year college graduate, took the top spot in RBIs. He hit 20 home runs for three consecutive years since his debut season and posted 103 RBIs. Maki was the only player in both leagues to have triple-digit RBIs last year. Okamoto followed with 93 and Murakami with 84.
Chunichi's away game at Nagoya Dome on the 11th. Murakami, who played as a fourth-third baseman, hit a one-run home run over left-center in the ninth inning. Chunichi right-hander Sobue Daisuke hit a fastball 145km/h high from 2B2S. 25th home run of the season.
Murakami has been sluggish lately. After 11 consecutive home runs, he hit his 24th home run against Chunichi on the 10th. Chunichi's second at-bat in the fourth inning
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Okamoto and Taylor Austin of Yokohama, who hit 22 side by side, are right behind Murakami. Okamoto has no homers in four games and Austin has failed to add in the last six. Seiya Hosokawa (Chunichi) and Maki are tied for fourth with 20.
It's a home run race where Murakami seems to have some advantage. Okamoto's team, Yomiuri, is competing for first place, while Austin's team, Yokohama, is competing for third place. It is not a situation to look at personal grades and records. Yakult, on the other hand, is at the bottom. It has moved away from fall baseball. The burden on the team's performance is apparently less.
The RBI division is followed by a close race. Okamoto ranks first to fifth with 69, Shota Morishita (Hanshin) in his second year as a professional, 67 for Murakami, 66 for Maki, and 65 for Jose Osuna (Yakurt). There are 15 to 20 games left for each team, so it is unpredictable.
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Reporter Min Chang-ki huelva@sportschosun.com
huelva@sportschosun.com
