NPB countdown to 200 hits, September 21 update
by Gen on Sep.21, 2010 @ 11:00 am, under NPB
On September 2nd, Tsuyoshi Nishioka (LOT) was batting .328 and was on track to finish the season with a 196 hits. Since then, he's gone on a bit of a tear and went 28-for-63 (.444) and is now on track to finish the season with 204 hits. An impressive push from Nishioka down the stretch.
Note: this isn't to take anything away from Matt Murton or Norichika Aoki. They have also increased their hit rates since September 2nd -- Murton went from batting .343 to .352 and Aoki from .350 to .358.
I think it's also safe to say that at this point, Munenori Kawasaki is out of the running.
The numbers:
| Player | G | PA | AB | H | GR | AB/G | Last 10 Games |
| Norichika Aoki | 131 | 610 | 534 | 191 | 13 | 4.1 | 16-for-36 |
| Matt Murton | 131 | 608 | 560 | 197 | 13 | 4.3 | 19-for-42 |
| Tsuyoshi Nishioka | 137 | 660 | 569 | 194 | 7 | 4.2 | 19-for-42 |
| Kensuke Tanaka | 137 | 634 | 550 | 186 | 6 | 4.0 | 11-for-38 |
| Munenori Kawasaki | 141 | 648 | 588 | 184 | 3 | 4.2 | 9-for-41 |
The estimates:
| Player | Estimated At Bats | Hits Needed | Needs to bat at least |
| Norichika Aoki | 53 | 9 | .1698 |
| Matt Murton | 56 | 3 | .0540 |
| Tsuyoshi Nishioka | 29 | 6 | .2064 |
| Kensuke Tanaka | 24 | 14 | .5812 |
| Munenori Kawasaki | 13 | 16 | -- |
Based on the current rates:
| Player | Current AVG | Estimated Hits | Estimated H Total |
| Norichika Aoki | .3577 | 19 | 210 |
| Matt Murton | .3518 | 20 | 217 |
| Tsuyoshi Nishioka | .3409 | 10 | 204 |
| Kensuke Tanaka | .3382 | 8 | 194 |
| Munenori Kawasaki | .3129 | 4 | 188 |
