Lee Dae-ho (41) of the world also has a pitcher who has not been able to get a hit in 15 at bats in total. The protagonist is Matsui Yuki (28), a lefty from the Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese professional baseball team.
Lee Dae-ho played two years for the Softbank Hawks in Japan from 2014 to 2015 and was tied to Matsui. Matsui, who debuted as a rookie in 2014, only gave up one walk in 15 pitching confrontations with Lee Dae-ho, then a top-notch foreign hitter, and sealed the blockade with no hits in 14 at-bats, six strikeouts and one double.
In 2015, after Matsui changed positions to salvation, they met twice. The result was 1 at-bat, no hits, 1 walk and 1 strikeout. Matsui overwhelmed Lee Dae-ho with a career record of 15 at bats, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts over the past two years. To Lee Dae-ho, it was the ‘Japanese version of Jung Dae-hyun’.
Matsui, Japan’s best Lee Dae-ho killer, achieved a personal career record of 200 saves. On the 5th, in the home game against the Seibu Lions held at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, he made a relief appearance in the 9th inning with a 1-0 lead, prevented a crisis with 1 company, 2nd and 3rd base, and kept the team victory.
It was the third save of the season and the 200th save of his personal career. He became the youngest player (27 years and 5 months) to record 200 saves for the ninth time in Nippon Professional Baseball history. In August of last year, Yokohama DeNA Baystars Yasuaki Yamasaki (29 years and 10 months) shortened the previous youngest record by two years and five months.
Left-hander Matsui, who was nominated by Rakuten with the first pick in the 2013 rookie draft, threw as a starter in the first year of his debut in 2014, but changed his position to relief in 2015. He recorded 30 or more saves three consecutive years, starting with 33 saves in 2015. 1st place in the Pacific League in this category with the most individual saves in 2019. Last year also took his personal second title with 32 saves. 토토사이트
Despite his short stature of 174 cm, he effectively uses fastballs of up to 154 km, sliders, curves, and changeups. His pitching is his weakness, but he has steadily accumulated saves and established himself as Japan’s representative closer. Last month, he also won the World Baseball Classic (WBC) as a member of Japan’s national team. His only appearance in the WBC was against Korea, and he struck out Kim Hyun-soo on a swing with a changeup, and cleanly blocked 1 inning in the 8th inning with a three-way strike.
According to Japanese media such as ‘Sports Nippon’, after achieving 200 saves, Matsui said, “It is thanks to former coaches and pitching coaches who have put a lot on the precious mound since I was a child. I am grateful for writing me,” he said. I just want to look ahead and build my career,” he said. The record for the most saves in Japanese professional baseball history is 407 held by Hitoki Iwase (former Chunichi).