Tigers' Vogelsong and Akahoshi

As it says on his player page, Vogelsong was sent to ni-gun (the farm team) on June 1st with a stiff right shoulder. I see references to Vogelsong in the following Central League Reports (from Japan Baseball Daily):

• May 31, 2007
• June 13, 2007
• June 24, 2007
• June 29, 2007

Please check those out for more information.

As for Akahoshi, batting .263 on the season (similar to last year, way below 2005) he isn't hitting well. He's hitting .250 (3 for 12) over the past week, which is better than his .240 (6 for 25) over the past two weeks span (not counting tonight). You have to go back three weeks to find one of his 6 RBIs on the season. He's always struck out more than he's drawn bases on balls, so his status as lead-off hitter has become questionable. (Hey, it looks like Okada-kantoku has done something that makes sense this season.)

I'm afraid that Akahoshi's slump is now in the middle of its second season.

I went to a game at Koshien in early June and Vogelsong got pulled after 2 innings. Haven't seen him since, as it was a shoulder problem. They should at least call him back up for his bat!

Akahoshi has looked very bad this year. In a way, I want to blame Okada, as I think starting the season batting second really had a bad mental effect on Akahoshi. But I want to blame Okada for everything these days, so let's just hope the Tigers at least pull out a third place finish and look forward to a better start and better heads-up play next year.

Thank you for the information westbaystars.

As for the guest who wants to blame Okada, moving Akahoshi to second in the lineup would have one of two effects. It would either effect him mentally, as you pointed out, and he would play worse. Or it would ignite a white hot desire within him to get his #1 spot back and snap him out of his slump. His base stealing prowess alone made him a natural lead-off man.

I think Okada could stand a .280 average just for those stolen bases. But .240 or .250? Not good enough for ichi-ban.

Recently Akahoshi hasn't been stealing bases either, but has been bunted to second by Sekimoto. Either something is wrong with him or the coaches are restricting him. Maybe his speed is falling.

With two fairly serious injuries over the past year, perhaps Akahoshi just isn't back 100% mentally. He has looked really lost at times at the plate and he has been hopeless with runners in scoring position.

I don't like all the changes Okada has made this year, but perhaps it is what's necessary to determine the future of this team. But it doesn't look like Akahoshi will have a central role in that future.

- But it doesn't look like Akahoshi will have a central role in that future.

And yet Akahoshi scored an important run yesterday, scampering home from third with some well-timed base running - he looked sharp and Okada looked absolutely delighted. So there's undoubtedly more to the story than what we're assuming. And undoubtedly Christopher will disagree.

- [H]e looked sharp and Okada looked absolutely delighted.

Yeah, that's the most emotion I've seen out of Okada in a while! Hopefully Akahoshi was sending a message with that, that he still should be a core member of the team. The ironic thing is that it looked like he almost got injured on the play!

I agree there is a bigger picture to this, also because this one play (on which Akahoshi scored) has shown the kind of heads-up and aggressive play the Tigers have been missing all year! I keep looking for small plays to turn the season around, so this is one more that has me optimistic! (Along with a rare series win in Nagoya Dome!)

And Akahoshi stole a base tonight in the Tigers' 9-4 victory over the Giants. They've now won three of their last four series. Do I detect a trend?