Japan’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) coach Hideki Kuriyama bowed his head. It is because of the injury of 70 million dollars (about 91.3 billion won) hitter Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs).
Seiya Suzuki is a ‘signboard hitter’ representing Japan. Starting with the WBC in 2017, Suzuki played the role of Japan’s ‘fourth hitter’ at the 2019 WBSC Premier 12 and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, leading the Japanese team to win third place in the WBC, Premier 12 and Tokyo Olympics.
Suzuki played 902 games for 9 seasons at the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in the Japanese professional baseball league, recording 937 hits, 182 home runs, 562 RBIs, 548 points, 82 steals, a batting average of 0.315 OPS and 0.984, and prior to the 2022 season, he signed a contract with the Chicago Cubs for 5 years and 70 million dollars. He signed a contract and entered the major leagues.
At the beginning of his big league debut, Suzuki wielded a strong blow based on a feeling of high hitting, and was selected as the ‘Rookie of the Month’ in April. However, due to injuries and sluggishness, he could not continue his good feeling, and in 111 games, he recorded 104 hits, 14 homers, 46 RBIs, 54 points, 9 steals, a batting average of 0.262 OPS and 0.770.
Suzuki initially struggled with whether or not to join the Japanese national team, but decided to wear the national team uniform after being persuaded by coach Kuriyama. However, on the 26th of last month (hereafter Korean time), I felt pain in my left side before the San Francisco Giants match, and due to this aftermath, I was forced to leave the Japanese WBC national team on the 28th. 오락실 토토
Coach Kuriyama bowed his head at Suzuki’s departure from the national team. Japan’s ‘Baseball King’ reported on the 2nd, “Coach Kuriyama, who leads the WBC Japan team, repeatedly said ‘I’m sorry’ referring to Suzuki, who had to leave the WBC team due to a side injury on the 1st.”
The command tower blamed himself for Kuriyama’s injury. According to ‘Baseball King’, coach Kuriyama said, “I’m speechless. Suzuki says he’s ‘really sorry’, but in fact, we’re sorry. I hope he gets well soon and plays with all his might.”
Continuing, Director Kuriyama said, “It’s really heartbreaking to think about how Suzuki made the decision and was preparing.” There is. I’m really sorry,” he bowed his head.
On the other hand, the Japanese national team, where Suzuki left, additionally summoned Softbank Hawks Maihara Taisei on the 1st. Makihara joined Softbank through the 2010 training draft and played in 584 games during his 11 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, recording 449 hits, 17 home runs and 58 stolen bases with a batting average of 0.270.