The 2025 season saw the best batting performance of all time.

​Ukyo Shuto joined Fukuoka Softbank Hawks as the second pick in the 2017 development draft and has risen to become one of the top NPB players thanks to his exceptional leg strength. He has been a highly-rated player, contributing greatly to defense and base running, as evidenced by his four stolen base titles and two Golden Glove Awards. While his batting contributions have been limited, last season he recorded his highest ever batting average and on-base percentage, even though he didn't reach the required number of at-bats. He also showed impressive performance with the bat, setting a new series record with five hit in one game in the Japan Series.

So, what specifically has changed in his batting? This time, we focused on struck out rate and Walk rate. While they are by no means among the best in the league, he recorded his career best numbers in both, which is thought to have led to an improvement in his batting average and on-base percentage. First, let's focus on the increase in Walk and look at the related data.

Last season, he adopted a more cautious swing approach.

The first data point we will introduce is the swing rate up to the second pitch in each at-bat. In 2013 and 2014, Shuto's swing rate was around the league average, and even before the figures shown in the table, he had seasons in the 40% range, indicating that he was a batter who tended to swing from shallow count. However, last season, his swing rate dropped, and he changed to a more cautious swing approach.

Let's look at some more data on swing aggressiveness. The table shows the swing rate in count hitter 's favor when the ball is ahead. This figure also follows a similar trend to the swing rate up to the second pitch, and even in the so-called batting count, when he could be aiming for a hit, he maintained a cautious stance. We won't know his intentions without asking him, but it seems that last season he was stepping up to the plate with a greater emphasis on "getting on base."

The number of at-bats with three balls has increased.

In fact, last season, Shuto had more at-bats with the count at 3 balls. By changing his swing approach, he was able to create more opportunities to get on base with Walk than usual. For a team to score runs, having runner on base is extremely important, and if those runner have top-class base running ability, it can be extremely effective. It can be said that last season Shuto was able to make even greater use of his leg strength, which is one of his strengths.

So far, I've been talking about the positive aspects of changing his swing approach and being able to get deeper into count, but on the other hand, there's also the downside of being more likely to be down to two strike. Last season, the percentage of at-bats where he had two strike was 53.3%, the highest of his career, so the risk of struck out should have increased accordingly. However, as mentioned earlier, his actual struck out rate actually decreased.

Improved contact rate in tight situations

One of the reasons he no longer struck out when he's in a tight spot is his improved contact ability. In recent years, his contact rate after being in a tight spot has increased, and he's now able to make contact with inning shot that the opposing pitcher is throwing in an attempt to struck out.

The number of struck out has decreased significantly

Furthermore, the aforementioned decline in swing rate actually remained the same even when there were two strike, and last season the swing rate was low even when the batter was in a tight spot. As a result, as shown in the table above, the number of swinging struck out has increased. However, at the same time, the ball zone swing rate has also decreased, and coupled with the increase in contact rate, the number of swinging struck out has decreased significantly. This has made up for the increase in swinging struck out, and the total number of struck out has been successfully reduced.

By changing his swing approach and improving his contact ability, Shuto has managed to reduce struck out while increasing Walk. Of course, there are other factors hitter can use to improve his performance. He also appears to be continuing to work on his ability to hit the ball harder, such as gaining weight. Perhaps his career-high batting performance is due to his reexamination of his style, without fear of losing what he's built up so far. He secured a major contract in January of this year and hit a three-run home run against the Czech Republic in the first round of the 2026 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC, which began in March. The Hawks' speedster, who never stops evolving, will surely show off his talents in all areas of running, hitting, and defense in the WBC, bringing another moment of joy to Japan.

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

Text and Data Stadium