In 2023, a trio of elite Japanese batters came together to have a memorable season.

With 44 home runs and 10.1 WаR, Los Angeles Angels designated hitter and starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani led the American League. He is the clear favorite to earn his second MVP award. Seiya Suzuki, an outfielder with the Chicago Cubs, had a huge improvement in his second season at bat, leading the team in triples and ranking second in doubles. Masatka Yoshida, a rookie for the Boston Red Sox, not only had the highest qualifying batting average in his team’s lineup but also participated in the AL Rookie of the Year competition.

Will Harris of Balls & Sticks claims that three Japanese players have combined for more than 50 extra-base hits in a season for the first time in MLB history. Ohtani took first place with 78, followed by Suzuki with 57 and Yoshida on his debut with 51.

When Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Kenji Johjima, Kosuke Fukudome, So Taguchi, Kazuo Matsui, Tadahito Iguchi, and Akinori Iwamura all established important roles in their individual lineups in the mid-2000s, it was the last time that MLB had this many regular Japanese position players. Between 2009 and 2017, however, Japanese pitchers such as Yu Darvish, Kenta Maeda, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Masahiro Tanaka were once again the most sought-after commodities on the market, making Nori Aoki really the only significant position player to arrive in the United States.

That all changed when Ohtani arrived. Ohtani is a 38-19 pitcher in the United States with a 3.01 ERA and 1.082 WҺIP. With 22 home runs and a batting average of.285 in 2018, Ohtani was named the AL Rookie of the Year. Since 2021, he has Һit 124 home runs, second only to Aaron Judge in the league.

Despite missing the final month of the season due to oblique and UCL injuries, Ohtani finished 2023 with a 1.066 OPS, 44 home runs, 26 doubles, eight triples, 95 RBI, and 20 stolen bases.

This season, Suzuki played in 138 games with the Cubs, batting.285 with an OPS of.842, up 23 and 72 points from 2022. The outfielder finished with 74 RBI, 20 home runs, 31 doubles, and 6 triples.

Yoshida was hitting.301 with an OPS of.826 when he struck a rookie wall in mid-August, when he was only batting.246 with an OPS of.626 after August 19. With a.289 batting average, 15 home runs, 33 doubles, three triples, 72 RBI, and a.783 OPS, the 30-year-old concluded the season.

Nevertheless, none of the three Japanese celebrities will be making an appearance in the postseason because the Red Sox, Cubs, and Angels were unable to secure a postseason berth.

In 2024, the three will play again, hoping to create history.

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