Very poor batting and a 20% winning percentage… The Giants at the bottom of the open competition, “The Unexpected Background to the Extremely Poor Performance”

It’s a nice contrast. ……

Giants manager Tatsunori Hara spoke to the press after the game in an open game between the Giants and the Orix on March 12. The Giants scored just two runs on 10 hits with 10 outs. The Orix, on the other hand, scored 10 runs on seven efficient and timely hits to win a big game. The Giants also lost their seventh straight game, losing 2-6 to Chunichi on March 15. They are now in last place in the standings (as of March 15, 2012).

The Giants have lost seven straight games. But even if they lose, there is little to be gained. The only bright spot is the resurgence of Sho Nakata, who was transferred from Nippon Ham and was in a slump last year.

With 2 wins, 8 losses, and 2 draws, the winning percentage is 20%……. Even with the results from the open season, this is a dismal showing that bears no resemblance to the always-winning Giants.

The biggest reason is the poor batting lineup. The team’s batting average of .200 is the worst among the 12 teams, and they have scored only 21 runs in 12 games, an average of less than two runs per game. Only Kazuma Okamoto (No. 4) and Nakata are doing well. Most of the other fielders have been sluggish, with batting averages in the .100 to .200 range.

Proven players such as Hayato Sakamoto and Yoshihiro Maru are not to worry, as they have their sights set on the opening day of the season. I think they will gradually get better.

It is the younger players I am worried about. With Sakamoto, Maru, Nakata, and many of the mainstays of the team now in their 30s, the Giants have an urgent need to nurture their young players. We have promising players such as Masato Akihiro, a 2-meter tall cannon who took over Hideki Matsui’s number “55” this year, and Reito Nakayama, who won the monthly MVP award for two consecutive months with the second team last year…. …. He is still far from being a starter,” said a baseball team official.

The Downside of Enthusiastic Coaching

Why have the Giants not produced any energetic youngsters this season? One of the reasons is the presence of coaches who have a good track record during their working careers.

Shinnosuke Abe, Daisuke Motoki, Yoshiyuki Kamei, and second-team coach Michihiro Ogasawara…… are all big names in the Giants’ coaching staff for fielding, and it seems as if they could still be active players today. On the other hand, there are many coaches with limited coaching experience. Abe, although he had experience as a manager of the second team, only officially became a coach of the first team this season. Kamei was active until last year.

They are just starting their coaching careers and are eager to teach young players. As coaches, they would like to achieve results as soon as possible. On the other hand, as a youngster, you may be perplexed. In some cases, advice differs from person to person, and the more enthusiastic the coach is, the stronger the pressure becomes.

A popular baseball team like the Giants originally needs a mentor like Takuro Ishii (current coach of DeNA), who retired at the end of last season, to be a counselor for players in distress. ……” (reporter for a sports newspaper)

One youngster who comes to mind as a promising prospect is Taiji Ota (now with DeNA). A big slugger who hit 65 home runs in high school and stood 188 cm tall, he was drafted first overall by the Giants in 2008 from Tokai University Sagami High School. Manager Hara, a graduate of Tokai Sagami High School, had high expectations for him, and like Akihiro, he inherited Matsui’s number “55”. In an interview with FRIDAY (May 2006), Ota reflected on his time with the team.

I received a lot of advice from various people, and I was in a state of panic. I lost sight of myself and could not produce results. There were times when I was more depressed than I needed to be, and I acted sulky. More than once, I cried tears of frustration behind the bench so that the other players wouldn’t see me.

After the March 15 game against Chunichi, the team’s seventh straight loss, Hara told reporters that he was determined to turn things around, and he vowed to do so.

After the game against Chunichi on March 15, a team that had lost seven straight games, Hara vowed to turn things around. Please wait for them to bloom!”