Every team has players who work behind the scenes to expand opportunities.

The "send bunt," in which a player sacrifices himself runner into scoring position, has always been a strategy emphasized in Japanese baseball. Even last Pacific League season, all teams recorded more than 90 sacrifice bunt per year, with many players expanding their chances by working on the fringes.

In this issue, we present a look at the players who were among the top five sacrifices At Bat on their teams for each Pacific League team in 2024. We will look back at the players who did a solid job as the link in the batting lineup, and look forward to their contributions as craftsmen to the team in 2025.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham

The team's total At Bat reached 115, second in the league, with five players recording 11 or more sacrifice bunt. These figures also show that the team-building efforts of manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who has frequently used unconventional ideas such as surprise squeeze plays since his first year in office, are steadily bearing fruit.

Among the top five players on the team for sacrifice At Bat, only Go Matsumoto reached the required number of at-bats. Tatsuki Mizuno, Yua Tamiya, and Daigo Kamikawahata all played as main players, but the large number of players who played their roles well, such as Torai Fushimi, who recorded 12 sacrifice bunt in just 62 games, was also a factor in the team's success.

Tohoku Rakuten

　Hiroto Kobukata recorded 25 sacrifice bunt, tying for the league lead, followed by Hikaru Ota and Itsuki Murabayashi with sacrifice bunt The team also led the league in sacrifice At Bat with 126, showing the team's solid strategy of using bunts frequently to get runner into scoring position.

Another point is that three of the top five players in sacrifice bunts reached the required At Bat-bats: Kofukuda and Murabayashi, who were regulars in the shortstop/second base position, and Daichi Suzuki, who had a batting average of .266 in 123 games. Tsuyoshi Ishihara, who recorded 13 sacrifice bunt in just 68 games and 172 at-bats, is also worth mentioning, but the fact that key players recorded many sacrifice bunt also speaks to the team's policy of placing importance on sacrifice bunt last season.

Saitama Seibu

Last season, Saitama Seibu was the only team in the league with fewer than 1,000 hit, and the team's total score was the lowest in the league at 350, forcing the batting line to struggle. Despite this, Sosuke Genda, who played in all 143 games and recorded the team's top batting average of .264, also performed solidly with 20 At Bat the team.

In addition, Yuto Koga played in 105 games as the main catcher, and recorded 13 sacrifice bunt, the second highest on the team. Ginjiro Sumitani​ ​Natsuo Takizawa recorded double-digit sacrifice bunt in only 49 games and 103 at-bats, and 137 at-bats, respectively, in 68 games and 137 at-bats. Both players steadily played their roles in the opportunities they were given, and are truly worthy of being called the unsung heroes.

Chiba Lotte

The team's total At Bat was 93, one behind the last-place Orix, and in the team's At Bat rankings, 4th place Yudai Fujioka had 7, and 5th place Eito Takabe had 5. In light of these numbers, it seems that the team's policy was to often take an aggressive approach.

Among them, Ryusei Ogawa recorded 20 sacrifice bunt and Atsuki Tomosugi recorded 19 sacrifice bunt, and the two main players in the shortstop/second base position recorded many sacrifice bunt as connecting players. Shogo Nakamura, who played as third baseman last season, also recorded 11 sacrifice bunt. The fact that infield infielders, including Fujioka, were doing their job of advancing runner to scoring position is an interesting point from the perspective of the division of roles in the batting line.

Orix

The team's total At Bat was the lowest in the league at 92, with only two players recording double-digit At Bat. Although the team was faced with a series of injuries to key players, like Chiba Lotte, the team's policy was to let each player hit freely rather than relying on bunts.

Wakatsuki struggled with a batting average of .201, but recorded 19 At Bat, the most in the last five years. Yuma Mune Yuma also recorded 11 sacrifice bunt, second on the team, and both players are contributing to the team in slightly different roles than they were last season. In addition, Kosei Osato, who recorded 8 sacrifice bunt, tied for third on the team in just 51 games and 176 at-bats, stands out on a team with few sacrifice bunt bunts.

Fukuoka Softbank

There were five players who recorded double-digit sacrifice bunt bunts, including Kenta Imamiya, who recorded 25 sacrifice sacrifice bunt, which tied for the league lead. It is notable that there were quite a few players who played the role of connecting the players in a powerful batting line-up that recorded the league's top numbers in batting average, Home Run, and runs.

In addition, Imamiya, Ryoya Kurihara, and Ukyo Shuto all reached the required number of at-bats and achieved batting averages of over .260. It can be seen that many of the main players, including Kurihara, hitter who hit Home Run, sacrifice bunt when necessary. Also, the supporting player Akira Kawase, who recorded 10 sacrifice bunt in just 156 at-bats, is not to be missed.

I look forward to seeing more runner masters advance bases in the 2025 season.

The percentage of players who reached the required At Bat bunts on each team was somewhat low, and there were quite a few players who recorded 10 sacrifice bunt in less than 200 at-bats. On the other hand, Tohoku Rakuten and Fukuoka Softbank had three players each who recorded double-digit sacrifice bunt after reaching the required number of at-bats. It is also interesting to note that these numbers show the differences in the policies of each team.

Will there be many players who can make sacrifice sacrifice bunt and contribute to their teams in 2025? Imamiya, who is just five bunts away from reaching the milestone of 400 sacrifice bunt, and many other "bunting masters" will be watching this season as they expand their opportunities with their honed skills.

Text by Ryota Mochizuki