[Rakuten Yoshino Saga]When he awakens!! His batting average in June was a spectacular .423 “Is it true?” He surprised himself.
Rakuten outfielder Yoshino Soji (21) is about to arrive at his awakening. He joined the team from Shohei (Saitama) as the first pick in the 2021 draft. The future candidate for the central team, who boasts a total of 56 home runs in high school, is steadily taking steps in the second team. He has a batting average of .284, two home runs and 18 RBIs (as of June 30th) in 58 Eastern League games. His monthly record for June was .423, with 1 home run, 7 RBIs and an impressive number of OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 1.173. He has been in his fourth year with the team and has not played in the first team, and his jersey number has been changed from “9” to “78”. We asked about his feelings about this season, which began with a sense of crisis, and his thoughts on the first team.
Professional baseball
If you think deeply, the results will come
Rakuten Yoshino achieved good results in June = July 1, 2025
–It looks like we're doing well this season
I have been showing a lot of things I want to do, or what I want to do, through play, so I think it's a good thing up until now.
–The parts that changed from last season
This year, I've gained more confidence in batting than I can, and I'm also on defense, but I'm not a prediction for anything.
If it's batting, you might read the ball distribution, and if you decide to thoroughly swing this ball, then you might go and swing this ball. In terms of defensive terms, it might be a bit exaggerated, like the batter's point to set the first step, but by running before the batter hits and making predictions, it gives me more room for myself, which is quite a big deal.
-I've never read ball distributions before
I was just like hitting the ball that came in, but I think I have to keep a bit of batting average and my weight down, so in that sense I'm conscious of pitching.
-He has hit a lot of doubles this season. Is its specialty that you can hit long hits?
I agree. I think my key point is to hit the balls rather than just passing the head of the outfield, and I think it would be good to be able to increase that number more.
-He hit 56 home runs in high school. After becoming a pro, the chances of getting worse as they were looking for too many shots
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