Leonys Martin, who joined the Pacific League’s Lotte Marines just before last summer’s July 31 roster addition deadline, will be back for another season in Chiba. The Marines announced Monday that the 31-year-old Cuban right fielder. No terms were announced.
Here is Martin’s NPB English page.
Here is just a split of the effect Martin had in right field and not any kind of exhaustive study. The following percentages are the average runs scored and outs recorded on singles and doubles to right field against the Marines before and after Martin made his debut on July 26:
The cannon
Date | Runs per S9 | Outs per S9 |
Before July 26, 2019 | .280 | .015 |
From July 26, 2019 | .223 | .042 |
Date | Runs per D9 | Outs per D9 |
Before July 26, 2019 | .486 | .081 |
From July 26, 2019 | .296 | .037 |
The strike zone
Martin struggled a bit with the pitching and umpiring styles, but still drew walks and hit 14 home runs in half a season. Not all, but many hitters show an improved approach to their new circumstances in their second season.
and the fun
Of course, one of the perks of playing in Japan is that it can be a lot of fun. Here’s a clip of Marines fans singing Martin’s chant acapella at Tokyo Dome.