Nippon Professional Baseball’s Munetaka Murakami (Yakult Swallows) has hit 10 home runs this season. This is his 50th home run of the season.
At his current home run pace, he is on pace to hit just half of the record for most home runs by a Japanese player in a season (56) set last year. A sharp drop in home run power in a year.토토사이트
Murakami started at third base, batting fourth, in an away game against Nihon Ham on 1 April at Escon Field in Hokkaido, Japan. Prior to the game, Yakult had lost 12 straight games. It is the longest losing streak since head coach Shingo Takatsu took over in 2020.
Murakami opened the scoring in the first inning with a single to left field with runners on first and second. It was a good start. Then, with one out in the third, he crushed a low cutter over the left field fence for a two-run homer. His 10th of the season. It made it 3-0.
He then led off the sixth inning with a single and was thrown out at second base on a grounder to shortstop for a 4-0 lead.
Murakami went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs in the 5-0 victory. Yakult tasted victory for the first time since 10 May.
They snapped a 12-game losing streak, along with starter Saeed, who pitched a scoreless fourth inning and worked out of a runners-on-first-and-third jam in the seventh.
Murakami got off to a good start with a grand slam in the opening inning, but quickly fell into a slump after that, going 2-for-2 on the day. That ranks 28th out of 30 players with regular at-bats in the Central League.
His home run production has been slow due to the rarity of his at-bats. After hitting 56 homers last year, Murakami has 10 homers in 50 games this season. Arithmetically, that’s 28.6 in 143 games this season. That’s half of his home runs from last year.
At least he’s at the top of the home run race. The Central League home run leader is Kazuma Okamoto (Yomiuri, 12). Murakami is tied for second with Toshiro Miyazaki (Yokohama) and Shugo Maki (Yokohama) with 10 home runs. First and second. If he can improve his batting average by improving his batting accuracy, he can compete for home runs.