Six years ago, in 2015, Shingo Kawabata (Yakult) had a full range of mental and physical skills. In the early practice, he played a short game of hitting a loose ball and hitting a tee, and after that, he repeated a dash between poles in the outfield. From there, I took a short break, practiced before the match, and went to the match.
The routine continued even in the hot summer, and I remember looking for the shade while holding my breath when I finished running.
At that time, hitting coach Shigeru Sugimura said, “I think it was Kawabata who shook the bat the most this year.”
“If the genius makes an effort, the result will follow. Natural handwork and high ability to hit the ball to the core of the bat. You can hit it at a wide angle and stick at bat. So you can hit it easily. Rarely “
Shingo Kawabata released a timely decision to decide the best in Japan in the 6th round of the Japan Series with Orix.
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Kawabata said, “I’m not thinking about hitting a hit,” while fighting for the top hitter with his teammate Tetsuto Yamada.
“Anyway, let’s connect, walk, and try to save runners. I don’t think I’ll hit a hit until I change my consciousness.”
[The trial that awaited Shingo Kawabata, turning from the top hitter]
In the end of the year, Kawabata won the title of batting champion and the most hits of the season. With more than 3 hits per game, he has counted 21 games and has become the driving force behind the league championship for the first time in 14 years as an “aggressive second batter” with only two sacrifice bunts. By the way, this season, No. 3 Yamada was the home base hitting king and the stealing king, and No. 4 Hatakeyama Kazuhiro was the hitting point king.
However, trials awaited from there.
In 2016, he had a batting average of .302, but he only participated in 103 games, including hitting his own ball and breaking his bone. In 2017, she developed a herniated disc during the spring camp. Even though he underwent surgery in August, the days passed without his physical condition being unpleasant. After all, there is no participation in the first army in 2017.
In 2018, he played 97 games with a batting average of .259, and in 2019, he played 37 games with a batting average of .164.
In January last year, I decided to have a second hip surgery. I worked hard on rehabilitation without participating in the spring camp.
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