In the Japanese professional baseball league, many foreign hitters are struggling again this year. Jesus Aguilar and Franmil Reyes, who hit 100 home runs in total in the Major League, also suffered a slump. He conceived the role of a center hitter, but it fell far short of expectations.
Aguilar of the Seibu Lions was not registered in the first team on May 8. The sluggishness and injury overlapped. He was out of the lineup after hitting .24 percent (23 hits in 113 times at bat), two homers and 10 RBIs in 30 games from the opening game. The 114 home runs batter in the Major League collapsed after failing to adjust. Seibu, whose Aguilar is poor, is the last in the team’s batting average and scoring. It fell to a 100-loss pace in the season.
Reyes of the Nippon-Ham Fighters will return to the primary league on May 21. He returned to the secondary league for the first time in about a month after moving down to the secondary league on May 13. He has a batting average of 211 percent (15 hits in 71 times at bat), two homers, three RBIs and a batting average of 155 percent. This is the result of a slugger who has hit more than 30 home runs twice in the Major League in 26 games.
The Hanshin Tigers, which lifted the Japan Series trophy for the first time in 38 years last year, frequently plays in the lineup without foreign hitters these days. Two foreign hitters, Sheldon Noizi and Johan Mieses, who renewed their contracts, are sluggish.
After returning from the secondary league, Noisy recorded two hits in nine times at bat in the past three games. He played in 46 games this season, posting a batting average of 242 percent (31 hits in 128 times at bat), one home run and eight RBIs for this season. It is an embarrassing performance as a foreign hitter who entered the center lineup. Mieses returned to the secondary league after posting a batting average of 111.1 percent (two hits in 18 times at bat) without a home run in 14 games.
As of Tuesday, only three foreign batters out of the 29 hitters in the Pacific League passed the requirement. The Central League is similar. Among the 22 hitters, two were foreign hitters.
Overall, the role of foreign batters has been reduced, and there is an exceptional team. It is Yakult Swallows. 동행복권파워볼
Japanese sports magazine Sankei Sports reported on Monday that Yakult is seeking multi-year contracts with two foreign hitters: infielder Jose Osuna and outfielder Domingo Santana. The contract is over this year, but the contract negotiations have been conducted in advance to reach a conclusion.
It seems to be a measure to prevent transfers and departures after the end of the season. As such, the two players account for a large portion of Yakult’s offense.
Santana and Osuna are the two foreign hitters in the Central League who met the regulation. They are both active in their fourth year of Japanese professional baseball.
Santana is the first player in the game. As of Tuesday, he played 64 games, recording a batting average of 314 percent (70 hits in 223 times at bat), 10 homers and 36 RBIs. He ranks first in batting average, second in hits, third in homers, second in RBIs, and first in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage: 0.908). He is the only hitter in the Central League to hit .300.
Osuna also played in all games, recording a batting average of 24.9 percent (62 hits in 249 times at bat), nine homers and 37 RBIs. He ranks first in RBIs, fourth in homers and 10th in hits.
As a main hitter, he was strong with runners in the scoring area. Santana is recording 387 percent and Osuna is recording 388 percent.
Yakult is the Central League winner for the second consecutive year from 2021 to 2022. It beat the Orix Buffaloes to win the Japan Series title in 2021. It slowed down after two consecutive losses in the league. It dropped to fifth place last year. It remains in fifth place again this year. The club sees Santana and Osuna, who joined the team side by side in 2021, as essential power resources for rebuilding the team.