The monthly MVP of professional baseball in August was announced, and in the Central League batting division, Yakult's Munetaka Murakami, who had overwhelming results such as hitting 12 home runs, won the award for the third consecutive month.
Central League Batter Division Murakami Triple Crown King "Of course I want to take it"
Murakami started 4th in all 23 games, and left a good record with a batting average of 40% 4 minutes, 33 hits, 12 home runs, and 25 RBIs, which is the top of the league in all of them.
Among them, in the match against Chunichi held at Jingu Stadium on August 2nd, he hit a home run in two consecutive at bats in the first and second at bats, and from the third at bat in the Hanshin match held on July 31st. He set a new professional baseball record for five home runs in a row.
In addition, he became the youngest player in history to reach No. 40 home runs, and he has an overwhelming record that is unrivaled by others, such as 14 consecutive at-bats and 9 consecutive hits. rice field.
Murakami said, "I was honestly happy, and I'm glad that I was able to leave a solid result in August."
Regarding the factors that have allowed him to maintain his good form, he said, "I'm able to switch between good times and bad times and face the game. I think I've been able to switch with one swing even in the game, and I think I've been able to do it well." was analyzing.
Regarding his thoughts on the attention of the Triple Crown, he expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "Of course I want to win. I want to do my best to win."
Looking ahead to the remaining games, he said, ``If we can't win, there's no point, so I want to do my best so that the season is over and we've had a lot of good games.''
Central League Pitcher DeNA Shota Imanaga 2nd award
Pitcher Imanaga pitched in 5 games as a starting pitcher and won 5 games, which is the top of the league.
In addition, the ERA of 1.25 and 36 innings pitched were the top results in the league.
Above all, in the Chunichi match held at Yokohama Stadium on August 30, he pitched 4 hits and no runs in the 8th inning, pulling the starting rotation and becoming a driving force for the team that won a big victory with 18 wins and 6 losses in August. .
Imanaga said, "I'm honestly happy to have won the award. I don't think I was able to pitch perfectly to overwhelm the opposing team, but it was a month in which I was able to notice and correct my bad points while pitching." I looked back.
Then, for September, when he will win the championship, he said, "There is still a game gap, but I will throw a long inning to let the middleman rest, cut off the team's bad flow, or throw something that can add to the win. I want to go," he said.
Pacific League Batter Division Rakuten Hiroaki Shimauchi won first award in 11 years as a professional
Shimauchi participated in all 26 games in August as No. 4, and in each of them he recorded a league-top batting average of 30%, 8 minutes, 1 rin, 37 hits, and 21 RBIs.
He also had hits in 22 of 26 games, including a 10-game hitting streak.
Among them, the batting average in the scoring range is 40%, 6 minutes, 2 rins, which is 3rd in the league, and he pulled the team as the 4th hitter who is strong in chances.
Shimauchi said, "It's the award I wanted to win the most when I started playing baseball, so I'm happier than last year's RBI title. I was feeling good in July and thought I could win the award, but I couldn't win it, so it was very frustrating. The feeling of winning this award led to the results in August."
As a factor supporting the strong performance, he also revealed that he has been devising tools, such as using the model bat that Yoshiyuki Kamei, the giant's coach, used when he was active since the end of July.
On top of that, looking to the future, he said, "My goal is to do my best as a starting member in the remaining games without getting sick from the new coronavirus. I want to show the fans that I'm doing my best without cutting corners one game at a time." .
Pacific League Pitcher Division Orix Daiya Miyagi wins award for the first time in his 3rd year as a professional
Pitcher Miyagi pitched in 4 games as a starting pitcher, achieved 3 wins in line with the top of the league, and marked the league's top ERA of 1.14.
Among them, in the match against Seibu on August 27, he won his first shutout victory as a professional player with no walks, giving no four balls or dead balls.
Pitcher Miyagi said, "I'm honestly happy. I've worked hard, so I'm glad that the number of wins and the ERA came up as a result."
After that, he said, "I've had the chance to shut out several times, but it was my first time, so I was really happy and it gave me confidence. was