“If you don’t do well today, you’re going to the second division.”
Manager Abe Shinnosuke (46) of the Yomiuri Giants made a joke to a young player during a training session ahead of the match against the Hanshin Tigers on Wednesday. Lee had been in the second tier for more than four months before joining the team, but failed to report his first hit of the season. He had no hit in 10 times at bat until the previous day.
He joined the team under the first name of rookie last year. Both the team and the players had high expectations. He started his second year in the first division. He played for the first time on the last day of three consecutive games against Hanshin Tigers. He played in a home game as a substitute on March 31, and had no hit at two times at bat.
He did not have many chances, but his batting performance was also sluggish. He played in three games, had no hit in nine at-bats for a walk and no strikeouts, and had one RBI. He moved down to the second tier after the game against the Yokohama BayStars on April 6. He was asked to “improve adaptability to breaking balls.”
He played 74 games in the second team and returned to the first team in four months.
Shogo Asano finally hit his first hit of the season at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday. His first hit was the grand slam of the finals. It was his first hit that shocked the Yomiuri bench.
He started at right field. He was grounded out to shortstop in his first at-bat in the second inning. He joined the first team on Saturday and had no hit in one at bat on Sunday. He also had no hit again.
In the fourth inning with the score tied 0-0, the Yomiuri Giants’ lineup showed strength. With two outs, the team shook the opponent’s starter Masaki Oyokawa to create a scoring chance. With two four pitches and a two-base hit, the table was set in front of No. 8 Asano.
At 1B1S, the opponent team’s 129 km/h slider penetrated the lower part of the body. Asano hit the ball and sent it over the left fence at the Tokyo Dome. 4-0.
It was the first grand slam of the Yomiuri Giants in 107 games this season.
Asano said he did not expect it to be a home run at the moment he hit the ball. I held the bat short to hit the ball somehow, but it became a home run. He hit eight home runs in the second division and came up to the first division. 안전놀이터
Yomiuri Giants starter Shosei Toko (24) pitched seven hits, no four outs, and shutout the game until the ninth inning. After the game against the Hiroshima Carp on Saturday, he recorded nine innings of salary victory for two consecutive games. The Yomiuri Giants are ranking second, one game behind Hiroshima, the top team in the Central League. The victory widened the gap with Hanshin Tigers to three games.
Asano was born on Nov. 24, 2004. He made a grand slam at the age of 19 years and eight months. He hit the grand slam as his 10th grand slam, which even failed to meet the legendary Yomiuri Giants pitcher Sadaharu Oh (Wang Jeong-ki, chairman of Softbank Hawks) and Hideki Matsui.
Asano has a relationship with Hanwha Eagles right-hander Kim Seo-hyun. Kim Seo-hyun once went to the Baseball World Cup as a youth representative and threw a 156km/h fastball to Asano to strike out.
Asano had a .25 batting average (10 hits in 40 at-bats) with one homer and two RBIs in 24 games last year.