This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
Anyway, Taguchi started the first game after being called up, and looked extremely impressive in the field (in fact, had 1 assist, should have had 1 more, except the ump blew the call). But he looked pretty bad at the plate. Even on change ups, he barely made contact.
I've seen So's stats in Japan, and they were fairly good. Not great, but not bad either. Slightly above average, at least in terms of batting average.
Anyway, my question is how did he look when he played in Japan? And what about his batting stance? I noticed now, he seems to stand up pretty straight (and fidgets a lot with the bat), as opposed to the crouch you see in most other players in the US Majors.
In any event, it's a shame he's having trouble hitting in the US. Even before their CF got hurt, the Cardinals were desperate for another good outfielder. They've been forced to play their starting 3B in LF, and the results have been very ugly at times. Especially since the guy who comes off the bench to play 3B is not much of a hitter, either. .250 batting average with no power and no walks.