Ramirez Takes Cleanup Spot; Lee Seung-yeop Drops in Order

31-year-old Lee Seung-yeop faces competition for hitting in the cleanup spot for the Yomiuri Giants as team manager Tatsunori Hara said that the 33-year-old right handed batter Alex Ramirez will live up to his expectations. Yomiuri recently signed Ramirez to a two-year contract with a pay of 1 billion yen, or 8.3 billion won.

After making a debut in the U.S. pro baseball league in 1991, Ramirez played in the minor leagues and came to Japan in 2001, playing actively as the main batter of the Yakult Swallows. His overall statistics during his career in Japan showed a record of 221 home runs and a batting average of .301. This season, he had 29 home runs and 122 RBIs with a batting average of .343, recording the highest number of hits with 204. As for this season’s record alone, Ramirez outperformed Lee, who hit 30 home runs and had 74 RBIs with a battling average of .274.

Hara said, “Since Ramirez joined the team, Yomiuri now will be able to stock its lineup with left and right handed batters, which is ideal for the team. Yomiuri’s main batters, including Lee and his teammates Yoshinobu Takahashi, Ogasawara Michihiro, and Abe Sinnosuke are all left-handed. Sankei sports forecasted that Ogasawara will bat third, Ramirez fourth, and Lee fifth.

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