Yakult's Munetaka Murakami hit the 56th home run, the most for Japanese players in the season, in the final game of the regular season, winning the titles of top hitter, home run king, and RBI king, and won the first triple crown in Reiwa.



We asked Mr. Shinya Miyamoto, an NHK professional baseball commentator who has achieved 2,000 hits in total as a Yakult OB and has been involved in Yakult's coaching since 2018, about the factors behind Murakami's success this season.

One of the factors behind Murakami's success is...

Murakami set a new professional baseball record for five home runs in a row from July 31 to August 2 this season, and on August 26, he became the youngest player in history at the age of 22 years and 6 months. A total of 150 home runs, ▽ On September 13th, he became the second Japanese player to hit 55 home runs in the season since Sadaharu Oh of the Giants hit in 1964, ▽ And with the increasing attention, the final game of the regular season It was a record year with a 56th home run in his last at-bat.

Mr. Miyamoto, who has achieved 2000 hits in total for Murakami and was involved in guidance as a coach, analyzes the difference from last season as follows.



(Shinya Miyamoto)


“What I feel when I look at it is that last year there was a time when the head of the bat returned quickly during the swing, but this year the head did not return easily, and the ball did not return properly until the very end. The bat is in the bottom, and there are more home runs in the opposite direction for left-handed batters.”

The bat head is the tip of the bat.



If you swing your wrist back against the ball with good timing, the bat will add backspin to the ball, allowing you to hit the ball sharper and longer.



However, if the wrist is turned too early, the tip of the bat will engulf the ball, creating a so-called "pulling" shape, making it difficult for left-handed batters to hit the ball hard in the left direction.

In fact, Murakami also said in an interview, "I'm conscious of not returning the head as much as possible." Of the 102 hits in the direction, 38 were hits, and the rate was 30%, 7 minutes, 3 minutes, whereas this season, 39 out of 87 were hits. So, the rate of hits is 40%, 4 minutes and 8 minutes, which is about 5 minutes, and the probability of hitting is high.



Because I can return the bat head well, the strength of the batted ball in the opposite direction is born, and the number of hits and home runs is increasing.

Behind Murakami's strength

Mr. Miyamoto who knows Murakami's rookie era.


While coaching him, he told me an episode where he glimpsed Murakami's strength.



(Mr. Shinya Miyamoto)


"When I gave batting technical guidance in the autumn camp of the first year, I didn't understand it, so I deliberately made a strange swing without doing the swing I taught. I thought it wasn't possible, so I immediately said, ``You can put it back.'' I talked to the coaches at the time that it was tough, but they said that at that age, they had their own core to choose. I felt it."



On top of that, he said that he felt that Murakami had a strong and big axis in him.

(Mr. Shinya Miyamoto)


"It's easy to see if Murakami is convinced or not. When I was a coach, I think I thought, 'I'll shut up this old man.' Basically, "I love baseball.

I want to be the best batter in Japan and the world.”

And Mr. Miyamoto expressed his expectations for future activities.



(Mr. Shinya Miyamoto)


"I'm probably going to cross the ocean in a few years, so I'd like to see 61 home runs, which will set a new record for professional baseball. Among them, batting average and RBI are required. So, I want you to hit a lot of home runs while continuing to play No. 4 for a strong team.”