Softbank Hawks Yanagita Yuki (35) revealed the reason why he did not participate in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team.
Japanese media Full Count said on the 20th, “Softbank outfielder Yanagita disclosed his personal training in Hiroshima, Japan on the 19th, and talked about refusing to participate in the WBC Japan team to be held in March. Yanagita, who won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, confessed that it was difficult to bring his body and mind to 100%.”
Yanagita is a leading Japanese hitter with a batting average of 301.5 li (1379 hits in 4383 at-bats), 238 home runs, 770 RBIs, and an OPS of .960 in 1255 games in Nippon Professional Baseball. Last year, he had a batting average of 207.05 (120 hits in 437 bats), 24 homers, 79 RBIs, and an OPS of .829 in 117 games. Due to injury, he could not participate in the 2015 Premier 12, 2017 WBC, and 2019 Premier 12 national team, but he won a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
There was a possibility of participating in this year’s WBC national team, but Yanagita said, “Of course I wanted to go to the national team. However, it was difficult to think that he could go to the WBC in 100% physical condition,” he explained the reason for the rejection of the national team. 먹튀검증
Full Count said, “There are rumors that Yanagita prioritized the season, but that would not be the case. Yanagita, who is sometimes called a superman, turns 35 this year. Recently, the season of fighting injuries continues. Even last season he played with pain in his left shoulder or Achilles tendon. He had an off-season break for about two months in November and December, but his condition doesn’t improve that quickly,” said Janagita about his physical condition.
“Even if you recover from the fatigue and pain accumulated during the off-season, it is difficult to fully prepare until the WBC in March,” said Full Count. Yanagita would have given up participating because he couldn’t make his body look like that,” said Yanagita, who analyzed the reasons for his rejection of the national team.