This season's MVP = Most Valuable Player of professional baseball was announced, and Yakult's No. 4, Munetaka Murakami, who won the number one spot in Japan for the first time in 20 years, was selected.

In addition, pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the ace of Orix, who won the league championship for the first time in 25 years, was selected for the Pacific League.

The MVP of professional baseball was decided by a vote of reporters and was announced at the awards ceremony "NPB Hours" held in Tokyo on the 15th.

Yakult's Murakami, who was selected as the MVP of the Central League, is 21 years old in his fourth year.



This season, he participated in all 143 games in 4th place and became the king of home runs for the first time after hitting 39 home runs.



With a RBI of "112" and 2nd place in the league, the batting average was 20%, 7 minutes and 8 minutes, contributing to the team's first league victory in 6 years and the best in Japan for the first time in 20 years.



This is the first time Murakami has won the MVP award, and it is the first time in six years since Tetsuto Yamada in 2015 that MVP has been selected from Yakult.

Munetaka Murakami "I want to make use of it in my future baseball life."

Murakami said, "I am very honored and want to make use of it in my future baseball life. It is not an award that I can win alone, so I would like to thank the many people who supported me."



As for what I was most happy about, he mentioned the number one team in Japan and said, "I am happy to be at the top of the team. I will never forget the moment when the team got the last out in the Japan Series."

Orix's pitcher Yamamoto, who was selected as the MVP of the Pacific League, is 23 years old in his fifth year.



This season, he was appointed as the first opening pitcher, and from May he marked 15 consecutive victories without losing, and won the most wins with 18 wins and 5 losses.



In addition, with an earned run average of 1.39, a winning percentage of 70%, 8 minutes and 3 strikeouts, and 206 strikeouts, he won four titles in the pitcher category and became the driving force behind the team's first league title in 25 years as an absolute ace. ..



In addition, he has won the "Sawamura Award", which is given to the starting complete game pitcher who was most active this season.



This is the first MVP award for pitcher Yamamoto, and it is the first time in seven years since pitcher Chihiro Kaneko has been selected as an MVP from Orix.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto "It was a season to feel the power of support"

Pitcher Yamamoto said, "I'm really happy. This was a season where I felt the power of support. I'll do my best to give back with good results next season."



In addition, pitcher Yamamoto, who contributed to winning the gold medal as the representative of Japan for the Tokyo Olympics, said, "It was a long but fulfilling season with the Olympics in the summer. I will do my best not to lose to various seniors next year." ..