Will Tyler Austin (33, Yokohama DeNA Baystars) be able to break the four-year-old home run king stronghold of Kazuma Okamoto (28, Yomiuri Giants) and Munetaka Murakami (24, Yakult Swallows).
Yahoo Japan said on Sunday that if Austin wins the title, players other than Okamoto and Murakami will become the Central League home run king for the first time in five years. Austin had 22 home runs as of Tuesday, trailing only Murakami (23 home runs), who tied for second in the Central League. His pace is steep. Austin hit three home runs through May after the season’s opening, and jumped into the race for the title by hitting 19 home runs from June to August. 먹튀검증
Okamoto and Murakami have recently been the home run king of the NPB Central League. This is because Okamoto and Murakami have shared the title for four consecutive years since Neftali Soto (then Yokohama, 43 home runs) became the home run king in 2019, beating Hayato Sakamoto (Yomiuri, 40 home runs) and Murakami (36 home runs). It has been a two-way race every year, with Okamoto (31 home runs) in 2020, Murakami and Okamoto (39 home runs) in 2022, and Okamoto (41 home runs) becoming the home run king in 2023. It is interesting to see if Austin will be able to break the stronghold of the two this year.
Austin overwhelms home runs. “Okamoto and Murakami played in all 119 games in Yokohama, while Austin played in only 83 of the 119 games in this season. This is 35 fewer than the two,” Yahoo Japan said. “The number of hits per home run is 20.55 in Okamoto and 18.22 in Murakami, but Austin is 14.27 in total.” Austin’s 14.27 is lower than that of Hotaga Yamakawa (30 home runs in Softbank Hawks), who ranks first in home runs in the two leagues. Yahoo Japan predicted that Austin will be able to win the home run title as long as he does not get injured until the end of the regular season.
Austin is a long-term foreign hitter who has been active in the NPB for five years this year. His overall record is 0.295 with 71 home runs and 195 RBIs in 315 games. He has the highest batting average of 0.309 (97 hits in 314 times at bat) since joining the NPB this season.