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So Taguchi - how was his batting in Japan?

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So Taguchi - how was his batting in Japan?
As you may or may not know, the St. Louis Cardinals called him up recently, because their starting CFer hurt his wrist and went on the DL.

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.
Comments
Re: So Taguchi - how was his batting in Japan?
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Jun 13, 2002 8:45 PM | YBS Fan ]

I guess you already know that his career stats can be found here, then. And as you say, he's more known for his glove than his bat.

Looking at his RBI totals made me think that he might not have been so effective in a pinch, but he did hit .297 with runners in scoring position last season, .017 higher than his batting average. So I guess it's just a matter of not having so many chances. Over all he's walked about half as often as he's struck out, but then, he's gotten a base hit about twice as often as K-ing. Put what ever value on that that you like.

Probably the best critique on Taguchi can be found in this thread. Let me know if that answers your questions on Taguchi or not.
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