What kind of hitting did the players who performed well in their first year as professionals show in the early stages of the season?

Saitama Seibu 's Seiya Watanabe has been the fifth hitter since the start of the season, and has recorded a batting average of .429 (as of April 24th), a high average for a rookie. Unfortunately, he was removed from the first-team roster on April 13th due to an injury, but attention is focused on whether he can maintain his high batting average by demonstrating his natural batting sense after his return.

There have been many hitter in the past who have been active since their rookie year, but how did they perform in the early stages of the season? This time, we will look back at the monthly and end-of-season performances of five hitter who performed well in their first year as professionals in Pacific League over the past 10 years.

Eigoro Mogi (2016)

He struggled in the early stages, batting .211 in March and .240 in April. However, he improved significantly in May, batting .371 and on-base percentage .429, and his career batting average rose to .293. He gradually got used to the professional waters and began to show glimpses of his extraordinary batting sense.

In June, his batting average dropped slightly to .246, and he was unable to play in July due to an injury, but when he returned to the lineup in August, he posted a consistent batting average of .261. In September, towards the end of the season, he regained his form with a batting average of .306 and an on-base percentage of .352, and eventually reached the required number of at-bats, recording a batting average of .278 and an on-base percentage of .330. He also performed brilliantly in the Rookie of the Year voting, receiving 116 votes and coming in second.

Sosuke Genda (2017)

He had a string of good hits from the early stages of the season, hitting .293 in April and .306 in May, and by the end of May he was recording high numbers of .297 and .343 on-base percentage. However, from June he had a slump in the middle of the season, with his monthly batting average in the .220s for two consecutive months, and his career batting average dropped to the .260s.

However, in August, he showed signs of recovery with a batting average of .255, and in September, he recorded a batting average of .317, which was higher than the early season. In October, he also finished the season in good shape with 5 hit in 4 games, and recorded a batting average of .270 after playing the full inning in all 143 games as short stop. In recognition of his performance, he achieved the feat of becoming the first fielder in 19 years to win the Rookie of the Year title in Pacific League.

Yudai Fujioka (2018)

He got off to a great start in March with three hit in two games and a batting average of .333 for the month, but his performance dropped slightly in April with a batting average of .224 for the month. However, he improved again in May with a batting average of .280 for the month and a monthly on-base percentage of .340 for the month, and recorded a decent batting average of .259 in June as well. As of the end of June, his career batting average was .259 and his career on-base percentage was .334, both of which were consistent performances.

Although his batting average for the month dropped significantly to .198 in July, he recovered to .270 in August. However, he fell into a slump in September with a batting average of .115, and continued to struggle in October with a batting average of .178. Due to his poor performance in the final stages of the season, he ended up with a batting average of .230 and an on-base percentage of .294 for the season, but he played in all 143 games in his first year as a pro, and made his presence felt on both offense and defense as short stop.

Hiroto Kobukata (2020)

Due to the impact of COVID-19, the 2020 season began in June, and Kofukuda faced a wall as a professional player, only getting one hit in eight games that month. However, in July he showed signs of adapting with a batting average of .245 and an on-base percentage of .388, and in August he continued to improve his numbers with a monthly batting average of .281. In September he posted good results with a monthly batting average of .320 and an on-base percentage of .407, proving that he had secured a place as a main player in both name and reality.

He continued to hit steadily in October with a batting average of .290 and an on-base percentage of .353, and finished the year strong with 8 hit in 6 games in November with a batting average of .348 and an on-base percentage of .464. He played in 112 of the 120 games with a batting average of .288 and an on-base percentage of .364, demonstrating his qualities as a chance maker. He also had an outstanding season, coming in second in the Rookie of the Year voting with 125 votes.

Daigo Kamikawahata (2022)

Due to an injury, he did not play in the first team in March and April, but in May he made a brilliant debut with 8 hit in 6 games and a batting average of .400. In June, he continued to post consistent numbers with a batting average of .269 and an on-base percentage of .356, but his performance dropped to .233 in July and .228 in August, and his career batting average also dropped to .262.

However, in September, his numbers improved dramatically to a monthly batting average of .337 and a monthly on-base percentage of .400, and he made an impact everywhere, including hitting walk-off run on September 17th. He also finished the year in good form in the season finale on October 2nd, with 2 At Bat and 1 hit in 3 at Walk, and ultimately recorded a batting average of .291 and an on-base percentage of .360 in 80 games. He made a big impact by playing well to save the team towards the end of the season.

It's important to regain your form in the final stages of the season

Of the five players featured in this article, Genda was the only one who had a batting average of .280 or higher at the end of April (July in the case of Kofukuda). On the other hand, the fact that all four players except Fujioka improved their condition towards the end of the season is also an interesting trend.

In addition, in the shortened 2020 season, all players except for Kofukuda had periods of poor performance from the middle of the season onwards. Therefore, in order to achieve good results in their first year, it is thought that the key point will be how to regain their form in the final stages of the season when fatigue accumulates, rather than the momentum in the early stages.

Will the players who will be playing their first season as professionals in 2025 be able to overcome the mid-season that determines the success or failure of the season and establish themselves as mainstays? Please keep an eye on the dynamism of rookies such as Watanabe Satoshi, who has been showing outstanding batting since the early stages of the season.

Text by Ryota Mochizuki