After finishing first in the ML Cy Young Award's pitcher save, the American League's home run king joined, can they become game changers?
Jun 25, 2025
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Luke Voit (34), a right-handed infielder who hit a career 95 home run in the Major League, joined the Rakuten Eagles, the team's last-place home run team. On the 24th, I warmed up at the Rakuten Mobile Park Indoor Training Center in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture and watched the team practice.
Voight made his debut with the st. Louis Cardinals in 2017 and played seven seasons in the major leagues until 2023. He played in 508 games with the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers. He recorded a career batting average of 0.253-425 hits-276 RBIs-OPS of 0.807.
From 2019 to 2021, when he was a member of the New York Yankees, he exceeded '20 Home Run' for three consecutive years. He hit a career peak in 56 games in 2020 with a '22 home run'. Due to COVID-19, he ranked No. 1 in home runs in the American League that year, which was shortened to 60 games per team. Last year, he tried to return to the big league from the minor leagues under the New York Mets, but failed. I played in the Mexican league and moved to Japan.
Rakuten has 25 team home runs. It is the last of the 12 teams in both leagues. It is 38 fewer than the Nippon-Ham Fighters (63), the top home run team in the Pacific League. Asamura Hideto (35), the leading hitter who hit five hits, is the No. 1 home run in the team. This is why he recruited Voit, who has good power, during the season even though Rakuten is on the decline.
Oscar Gonzalez (27), who hit a major league career 13 home runs in May, joined the Rakuten lineup. He played 21 games for San Diego last year. It is showing the effect of recruiting. Gonzalez batted .271-2 with eight RBIs in 11 games. be acclimating smoothly. If Voight joins and settles down, a strong synergy effect can be expected.
In 2020, when Voit topped the American League's home run, a right-hander who won the National League Cy Young Award is throwing in Japan. Trevor Bauer (32) is playing for the Yokohama BayStars. He went 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA in 11 games in 2022 for the Cincinnati Reds. 5승 중 완봉으로
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There is one more player who has performed brilliantly in the major leagues around the same time as Voight and Bauer. Softbank Hawks right-hander Roberto Osuna (30) is in his fourth season in Japan. Osuna made 38 saves in 66 games in 2019 for the Houston Astros. He finished first in saves in the American League.
Osuna went through his native Mexican league and wore the Chiba Lotte Marines uniform during the 2022 season. After the end of the season, he moved to Softbank. He succeeded in signing a long-term contract in 2024 '4Bn'.
Bauer, who returned to Yokohama for the first time in two years, and Osuna, who was 'special finish', all had less presence than before.
This season, Bauer has four wins (6 losses) with a 3.88 ERA in 14 games. He is the last in ERA among the 13 Central League pitchers who met the regular innings. He allowed seven runs in one inning in an interleague game against Chiba Lotte on the 22nd. He had eight hits, including one homer. He lost three consecutive Interleague games without a win.
Softbank coach Hiroki Kokubo, who won the Interleague, said, "I will go without a fixed finish for the time being." Osuna, who was jagged, played in the middle game against the Hiroshima Carp on June 18. He allowed two runs in one inning and his first-team registration was canceled. After falling behind in the closing minutes, he went down to the second team. 25경기에서 3승1패6홀드
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Yokohama, the winner of last year's Japan Series, is in second place in the Central League. Softbank, which aims to win its second consecutive Pacific League title, is in third place. The goal for both teams is to win. If foreign aces and foreign special finishes are revived, we can take a step closer to our goal.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
