A solid rookie year saw him establish himself as a regular. What are his challenges?

​Rui Muneyama, who was hailed as the No. 1 amateur baseball fielder in 2024, joined Tohoku Rakuten Eagles as the first pick in the draft. In his first year as a pro, he made his presence felt right from the start, hit in five consecutive games from the start of the season. Although his performance dipped in May and June, he recovered in July with a batting average of .304. He ended up batting .260 in 122 games, achieving the remarkable feat of becoming the first rookie to be named to the Best Nine in 26 years. This time, we'll take a look at Munetayama's batting data.

He adjusted to the pros' fastballs in the second half of the season

One of Soyama's characteristics is his ability to respond to fastball. closer In the first half of the season, he hit .298 against the highest pitch number of balls between 145 and 149 km/h, while hitting .219 against fastballs over 150 km/h. In the second half of the season, however, he hit .278 against balls over 150 km/h, a significant improvement. In the second half of the season, however, he showed significant improvement with a .278 batting average for balls over 150 km/h and a .500 batting average for balls between 145 and 149 km/h. In the same period, his total batting average was .298 against balls between 145 and 149 km/h, which is a common number. In the same period, he had a total batting average of .353 (51 At Bat 18 hit).

Fly ball rate comparable to that of hitter

Looking at balls hit by fastball, the percentage of fly balls that are likely to become hits was 60.9%, six points higher than the league average (54.8%). Only the five players in the ranking above exceeded 60% of the players who reached the required number of at-bats in the league, and Muneyama's numbers were comparable to those hitter such as Chusei Mannami and Nevin. He also had an excellent line drive percentage of 10.6% (league average 8.5%), demonstrating a swing that was not overpowered by professional pitches from his first year.

The challenge is to identify breaking ball

Although Muneyama adapted well to fastballs, he struggled against breaking ball throughout the season, batting just .249. The league average for swinging into the ball zone against breaking ball was 37.1%, but Muneyama's was a high 44.6%, meaning he was swinging at pitch that were difficult to hit. Comparing his approach by period, he swung more into the ball zone in the second half of the season, while swinging less in strike zone. As the opposing battery's attacks became more intense as the game progressed, he may have had many at-bats where he was unsure how to respond.

However, when he swings within strike zone, he performs well, with his contact rate, batting average, and slugging percentage all exceeding the league average. All three of Home Run this season, including his first professional home run against Fukuoka Softbank on April 16th, were perfectly hit on breaking ball within the zone. If he can improve his judgment of balls that are balls, there is a great possibility that he can develop into a key hitter.

While playing the key infield position of short stop, he lived up to expectations as an immediate asset with his batting, and completing the season without injury must have given hitter confidence. Kensuke Kondo Muneyama named a player (Fukuoka Softbank) and set his goal as playing the full inning. It will be interesting to see how number 1 player, who has improved his game even further, performs next season.

*All figures in the text and tables are as of the end of the 2025 season.

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