Confident Hanshin slugger Teruaki Sato taking game to next level
While undoubtedly a cool moment for Tigers fans, it was the type of thing that tends to fade from memory once the pennant race gets underway.
But as the season rolls into its second month with Sato slugging at a high level, that home run against Snell is beginning to look like it was a sign of bigger things to come.
Sato hit another home run at the Big Egg on Monday — this time in a game that counted — connecting on a three-run blast that put the finishing touches on a 10-1 victory over the Yomiuri Giants.
'I really focused, and I was able to hit a home run, so I think it was good,' Sato said.
He had a pair of hits in the win, which came on Children's Day.
'I hope they were happy,' he said when told there were a lot of kids in the stands.
Sato, 26, has been thrilling Hanshin fans of all ages with his recent play.
He went into Tuesday's game against the Giants hitting .288 with 11 home runs. He was also on a seven-game hitting streak, batting .400 with three homers during that stretch.
Sato is off to a much better start than he was at this time last year when he was batting .191 with three home runs. He was actually off to a slow beginning this year as well before breaking out with a 4-for-4 performance against the Hiroshima Carp on April 20 that included a pair of home runs and six RBIs.
The Hanshin slugger is in his fifth season in NPB. He hit over 20 home runs in his first three years and helped the Tigers win a long-awaited Japan Series title in 2023. He is also part of a potent duo with No. 3 hitter Shota Morishita, who had four hits and a homer on Monday.
Even with everything Sato, a three-time All-Star, has already accomplished, his start this year has some wondering if he has finally put everything together.
Tigers stars Shota Morishita and Teruaki Sato celebrate after Sato hit a two-run homer during a win over the Swallows on April 17 in Tokyo. |
Jiji
'I've been watching him for three years, and it's what I was waiting for,' said Tigers hurler Jeremy Beasley, the winning pitcher on Monday. 'I think everybody in Japan knew it was going to happen, just didn't know when. I hope he continues that trend because right now, he looks unstoppable.
"He has the prettiest swing I've seen since Ken Griffey. It's beautiful. I think that this was just waiting to happen."
Sato's 11 home runs through Monday were the most among all NPB players — no other player was in double figures — and more than the team totals of the Chunichi Dragons, DeNA BayStars, Hiroshima Carp and Seibu Lions, who each had 10, and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, who had seven.
The Tigers slugger reached double digits on May 1 and is on track to obliterate his career high of 24 home runs — which he reached as a rookie in 2021 and again in 2023 — and was on a 50-homer pace after his three-run shot in the ninth inning against the Giants.
Sato also left Monday's game leading Japan with 31 RBIs, a 1.017 on-base plus slugging percentage, and, according to data site Deltagraphs, a 233 weighted runs created-plus (wRC+), which measures offensive contribution while accounting for external factors like ballparks. The Central League's average wRC+ was 94 through Monday.
His major failing so far is that he has been strikeout-prone. Despite his contributions in other areas, Sato has struck out 40 times, the most in NPB. That has been a recurring issue for Sato, who has been in the top three in strikeouts in every year of his career.
After his home run against Snell, Sato said that even though it was a tough situation for the Dodgers, who had arrived in Japan from the U.S. days earlier ahead of the season-opening MLB Tokyo Series, the hit still gave him confidence.
In that respect, the homer may have set the stage for Sato's early success.
"I think it's a confidence thing, being confident at the plate,' Beasley said. 'He knows now where the pitchers think that his holes are, and I think he's exploiting them. Because they're trying to still pick at those old holes. I think he's just comfortable in the box.
"I think that there was a lot of pressure put on him early to be that (elite) player. I think now he's kind of falling into it without having to worry about it. I think for him, it's just all confidence at the plate."
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