Darvish Yu, the oldest member of the Japan World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team, has set out to revive the spirit of juniors who are in a batting slump.
In an interview reported on Japan’s ‘Nippon TV’ on the 13th, Darvish said, “Everyone seems happy so far, and I feel fortunate that the results have come out.” .
Japan, led by manager Hideki Muriyama, defeated Korea, Australia, and the Czech Republic in turn, starting with the first round of Group B in the 2023 WBC final round against China on the 9th. After securing first place in the group early and advancing to the second round (quarterfinals), a single game against Italy is ahead on the 16th.
Japan’s greatest strength is its formidable firepower. The hard hitters, including Ohtani, are pushing the opposing pitchers hard and showing off their strong offensive power in every game.
But it’s not without worries at all. 4th batter Munetaka Murakami is in a severe slump with 2 hits in 14 at-bats and a batting average of 0.143 over 4 games in the first round.
Murakami hit 56 home runs last year, breaking the record for most home runs by a Japanese player in a single season. Considering his young age at the age of 22, he is evaluated as having infinite potential for growth in the future.
In the WBC, he was also dropped as the fourth hitter, and his performance was expected, but he has been struggling so far. The results are even more disappointing considering that pitchers from China, Australia, Korea and the Czech Republic are not of high quality. 먹튀검증
Darvish Yu, as the best member of the national team, embraced his juniors. He didn’t name any particular player, but he did make a comforting remark to Murakami.
After receiving a question about players who are still not feeling good at hitting, Darvish Yu said, “I can’t help it because it’s baseball. Life is more important. I don’t think there’s a need to be as depressed as baseball.” I want to do fun things, eat delicious food, and be comfortable.”
“I’m really looking forward to it because I believe everyone, including me, should be ready to give their best and I believe we can do it,” he said with confidence.
Darvish Yu started against Korea on the 10th and struggled with 3 runs (2 earned) in 3 innings. Yang Eui-ji was not in 100% condition, allowing a two-run home run.
However, Darvish Yu is expected to be used in the semi-finals and finals in the future. In the case of Shohei Ohtani, who is known as the “two sword”, he is known to focus only on batting after the quarterfinals due to the influence of his team LA Angels’ preparations for the opening game of the major league regular season.