Twenty-four American national team members for baseball at the Tokyo Olympics have been announced, and three Japanese professional baseball players, including DeNA and Austin, who currently have the highest batting average in the Central League, have been selected.
The 24 members of the American national team consist of players who have experience in major leagues and players who play in minor leagues, and three players have been selected from professional baseball in Japan.
Of these, Austin, who has been playing at DeNA since last season, has hit the league's top batting average of 30%, 4 minutes and 8 RBIs this season, with 17 home runs and 44 RBIs, and is playing a key role in the team.
Japan national team coach Atsunori Inaba warned Austin when he inspected the DeNA match on the 30th of last month, saying, "A good batter. Of course, if you represent the United States, it will be a threat."
From Japanese professional baseball, pitcher McGough, who has scored 15 saves and 14 holds in Yakult, and pitcher Martinez, who has won 5 wins in Softbank, are also members.
In addition, pitcher Dickson, who played for Orix for eight years until last season, was also elected.
Other members include Edwin Jackson, who has 107 major league wins, David Robertson, who has 137 saves in the major leagues, and Todd Frazier, who has hit 218 home runs in the major leagues. Veterans have been selected.
The coach of the American national team will be Mike Scioscia, who led the Major League Baseball Angels for 19 years until 2018 and was the coach when Shohei Ohtani joined the team.
Austin "I'm honored and excited"
DeNA's Austin, who was selected to represent the United States in baseball at the Tokyo Olympics, said, "I am honored and excited to be selected. It is exciting to be able to play at Yokohama Stadium, which is also my home base." did.
When asked about the match against the Japanese national team, he was enthusiastic, saying, "I think it will be a very enjoyable match. I want to continue to win and win the gold medal."