A career batting average of 0.223 defensive catcher → Since his transfer, he is a 0.300-centered hitter, and I wonder what kind of change has happened to his former team manager

May 09, 2025

A career batting average of 0.223 defensive catcher → Since his transfer, he is a 0.300-centered hitter, and I wonder what kind of change has happened to his former team manager
Guy, a defensive catcher during his softbank days, is playing as the center hitter this season when he moved to Yomiuri. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS



A career batting average of 0.223 defensive catcher → Since his transfer, he is a 0.300-centered hitter, and I wonder what kind of change has happened to his former team manager
Guy looking at a home run hit. He had four home runs and 10 RBIs until the 7th. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS
When he was a Softbank Hawks player, Takuya Guy, 33, was the best catcher in the Japanese pro baseball league. Starting with the 2017 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC), he played for Japan in the 2019 Premier 12 and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He contributed to winning the Japanese national team for the first time in 14 years as the main catcher of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). It was the core power of SoftBank.

Guy, who grew up after joining Softbank after a development draft, decided to move after much consideration last winter. He became a free agent and changed into a Yomiuri Giants uniform. He is from Oita, Kyushu. Softbank, based in Kyushu, is the hometown team.

Catcher legend Shinnosuke Abe (46) led him to the Giants. I wanted the best catcher even though I had the main catcher. Abe showed his trust by passing down the number '10' that he wore when he was active.




Guy said he wanted to change the league and take on a new challenge. Softbank represents the Pacific League and Yomiuri represents the Central League.

His team has changed, but he is still Japan's best catcher. But there has been a dramatic change. 'Defensive Catcher', who recorded a career batting average of 2.23 until last year, suddenly strikes hard. He is the center hitter of the Yomiuri lineup and shows his fierce airpower ability.

Guy started the game against the Hanshin Tigers on the 6th and 7th as '5th catcher' and recorded consecutive hits. In the game on the 6th, he hit his fourth one-run homer of the season. The home run saved the Yomiuri Giants from losing the game.




He played in 32 games until the 7th, posting a batting average of 0.300 (33 hits in 110 at-bats), three home runs and 10 RBIs. OPS (On-base plus slugging) is 0.787. It's a stat that you rub against your eyes and see again. He is sixth in hitting in the Central League, ninth in hits and seventh in OPS.

A career batting average of 0.223 defensive catcher → Since his transfer, he is a 0.300-centered hitter, and I wonder what kind of change has happened to his former team manager
As of the 8th, he has a batting average of .300, ranking sixth in the Central League. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS
A career batting average of 0.223 defensive catcher → Since his transfer, he is a 0.300-centered hitter, and I wonder what kind of change has happened to his former team manager
He has never exceeded 100 hits in a single season. Since moving to Yomiuri this year, he has been hitting hard. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS
He made his debut in the first team in 2014, his fourth year as a member of the team. So far, he has never exceeded 100 hits. 91 hits in 2021 are the most in a season. He hit .256 last year and had 88 hits. Of course, there is no season in which he has posted a batting average of 300. It was 0.260 in 2019 and the best, and it hit 0.180 in 2022.

What will change Guy.




The coach of the previous team also seems to be curious about this point. Softbank manager Hiroki Kokubo said "After Guy moved to the Giants, he made a hit that he had not seen at Softbank." When we meet, I want to ask what changes have happened."

This is what he said at a press conference on the announcement of guidelines for the 2025 All-Star Game held on the 8th. Coach Kokubo led Softbank to a league championship last year, his first year in office. As the head coach of the winning team, he will lead the Pacific League team in this All-Star Game.

Director Abe was also present here. He is the head coach of this year's Central League All-Star team. Abe said, `I think my mental strength has improved. When I was at Softbank, I think I focused on defense because there were many better hitters than myself."

A career batting average of 0.223 defensive catcher → Since his transfer, he is a 0.300-centered hitter, and I wonder what kind of change has happened to his former team manager
Lee posed with a photo of Abe's active days at the Yomiuri joining ceremony late last year. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS
Guy is 4th in batting, 2nd in hits and 3rd in OPS in the Yomiuri team. Kazuma Okamoto, the main catcher, left the game due to injury, making his role more important. It is an amazing transformation of a defensive catcher who was mainly in the bottom batting order. Should I say that it is the result of adapting to the new environment. Or will it go back to its place over time.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.