A few days ago, I went to a card shop and grabbed some packs of Topps fire and Topps archive. I got an Ichiro’s card from Topps fire and a Tsutsugo’s rookie card from Topps archive. Back in Japan, they are both great hitters. Ichiro is a legend, no doubts. Tsutsugo already hit more than 200 homers in NPB, but he’s probably not satisfied with his first season, a 60-game regular season, in the Major League. As we have seen many Japanese hitters play in the majors, who did hit really well in their rookie seasons?
So Taguchi didn’t have many opportunities in his rookie season, but he didn’t let opportunities slip. He collected 6 hits in 15 at bats, recording a .400 batting average.
Ichiro’s legendary career started in 2001, he was batting .350 in his rookie season.
Kenji Johjima signed a three-year contract with the Mariners on November 21, 2005. He became Ichiro’s teammate and the first Japanese to catch in the big league. In Johjima’s rookie season, he batted .291.
Nori Aoki, Hideki Matsui, Akinori Iwamura and Shohei Ohtaini each batted over .280 in their rookie seasons.
However, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Munenori Kawasaki and Norihiro Nakamura failed to hit above the Mendoza line in their first seasons in the big league.
Ichiro had 242 hits, which is the record of most hits in a season by a rookie, in 2001. It’s going to be still there for a while and it will probably be one of the toughest records to break in the future.
Hideki Matsui had 179 hits in 2003 and Nori Aoki had 150 hits in 2012, they are two other Japanese players who had at least 150 hits in their first seasons.
Shohei Ohtani blasted 22 home runs in 2018 and became the first Japanese player to hit at least 20 homers as a rookie.
Kenji Johjima hit 18 home runs in 2006 and Hideki Matsui had 16 homers in 2003. Tadahito Iguchi was a member of the 2005 World Series Championship, the Chicago White Sox. In 2005, he hit 15 homers as a rookie.
Nonetheless, 6 Japanese players failed to hit a long ball in their rookie seasons.
Hideki Matsui collected 106 RBI in 2003, second most RBI in the Yankees lineup, only 1 RBI behind Jason Giambi. Kenji Johjima had 76 RBI in 2006 and Tadahito Iguchi had 71 RBI in 2005. Ichiro and Ohtani each collected more than 60 RBI in their first seasons.
Ichiro can hit, no doubt. Ichiro can run, sure. His speed was his weapon and he ran a lot. In 2001, he successfully stole bases 56 times, leading the majors.
Nori Aoki had 30 stolen bases in 2012 and he did run a lot in his rookie season. Only Tsutsugo and Nakamura did not record a stolen base in their rookie seasons.
Shohei Ohtani is the only Japanese player, who had an OPS over .900 as a rookie. His OPS of .925 truly indicated that he was one of the best hitters in the league. Ichiro and Taguchi each posted an OPS over .800 in their rookie seasons.
We have seen so many Japanese baseball players play in the Major League. Many Japanese hitters try to show that they can hit in the MLB. There are many great Japanese hitters, who had an outstanding career in NPB but failed to make an impact in the big league. Looking at their records in the rookie seasons, it once again let us know how great Ichiro is. There’s no doubt that he will be a Hall of Famer. Meanwhile, it will be also interesting to see whether Yoshi Tsutsugo and Shogo Akiyama can hit well in a 162-game season since there are only 60 games in this shortened season.
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