Softbank Hawks manager Hiroki Kokubo, who served as the first full-time coach of the Japanese national baseball team, came up with an unconventional idea. In a game where there is no designated hitter system, a pitcher can choose "automatic strikeout" from the offensive bench when he enters the batter's box. Nippon Ham Fighters coach Tsuyoshi Shinjo also agreed.안전놀이터

Kokubo proposed the idea of "automatic strikeout" at a meeting of coaches of 12 Japanese professional baseball teams held in Tokyo on Tuesday. Automatic strikeouts are made when a batter is thrown out from the offensive end, just like an intentional four pitches that allows a runner to be sent out from the defensive end.

Coach Kokubo reaffirmed the designated hitter system in an interview after the meeting and said he proposed an "automatic strikeout." "Coach Kokubo confirmed to NPB (Japan Baseball Organization) that discussions on the designated hitter system are underway, and said he proposed an "automatic strikeout," saying it was a personal opinion he felt while serving as a manager for a year," Nihon Terevi reported.

According to the report, Kokubo said, "A pitcher rarely gets a chance to take the batter's box. There have been three to four times when I told him to come in without hitting me. So, I thought it would be enough for him to express his intention to strike out automatically."

For the second time since last year, Kokubo has attended a meeting of managers. "Last year, he was below the middle age, but this year he is the third one from the top. Once again, I felt how difficult it is to be a manager of the first team in the professional baseball league and how responsible it is," he said.

"What we can do to become a better baseball world is to show leadership and lead the field, but there is also a way to propose to NPB for better baseball," he added.

Tokyo Sports even introduced Kokubo's detailed explanation. Kokubo said that "inconvenient instructions" that only allow pitchers to stand at the batter's box were meaningless. He said, "It is far from the purpose of the game. My goal is to win, and I don't let him step on the base at the batter's box. Is it meaningful to have a scene where I swing and miss on the ball and get struck out?"

Regarding Kokubo's opinion, Tokyo Sports explained, "Baseball is changing with the times, and it is also clear that serious matches at bat (when a pitcher hits) are disappearing to win the game." (Coach Kokubo) urged more serious discussions at a time when automatic intentional four pitches were introduced amid attempts to shorten the time."

Sports Nippon also shared the opinions of other managers on automatic strikeouts. "The meeting was so heated that it lasted for one hour and 58 minutes, 28 minutes behind the scheduled time (1 hour and 30 minutes). In view of reducing the duration of the game, Kokubo suggested automatic strikeouts. In other words, a pitcher should be regarded as a strikeout even if he does not take the batter's box in an exchange match (based on home games in the Central League). Pitchers can save the number of pitches, and pitchers who take the batter's box can reduce the burden of injury," the media reported.

"When a manager tells a pitcher to eat strikeouts, he doesn't have to take the batter's box. I thought it would be okay for me to say 'I will hit with strikeouts,'" Shin said.