"Shocked." Four hits against Hanwha, a hard-hitting infielder, turned out to be a nurturing player→The level of difference between baseball and Japanese baseball...

*This content was translated by AI.

It was a practice game, but the result was terrible. The Hanwha Eagles suffered a record loss of 18 points in a practice game against the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB). Most painful part of all is that the mound was completely devastated by one of the nurturing players, not even the "regular player" of the opponent's team.

Hanwha lost to Chiba Lotte 0-18 in a practice game at Nishijaki Baseball Stadium in Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on the 22nd. The Hanwha mound dedicated as many as 22 hits to Chiba Lotte.

The main character of the game was Shinya Matsui (20), the first hitter of Chiba Lotte and starting shortstop. Starting with an infield hit against Hanwha starter Wilkel Hernandez from his first at-bat in the first inning, Matsui made a left-handed hit, a two-run double, and a timely triple. If only the home run had been hit in the last at-bat in the seventh inning, it was a terrifying firepower that could have set a milestone of a "cycling hit."

The shocking fact is that Matsui City is not an official registered player of Chiba Lotte, but a "training player" status. According to multiple Japanese media, including Chunichi Sports and Sponichi Annex, Matsui City, who joined as the second-ranked player in the 2023 nurturing draft, is also the only nurturing player to join the Chiba Lotte first-team camp. His uniform number was 134, and his salary for the 2025 season was 2.5 million yen (about 23 million won).

"It was a really nerve-wracking game," Matsui told Chunichi Sports after the game. It was the first four-hit game not only in professional but also in his amateur days. Still, I'm glad that I gained confidence because I produced results in the first-team spring camp game. From my point of view, I'm in a situation where I have to leave a result and take a seat on my own, so every single at-bat is precious," he said.

Matsui, who honestly said he aimed for a home run in the seventh inning, confessed that he actually swung full swing at the first pitch, saying, "I talked with hitting coach Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 'You can try the first ball for a home run.' In the end, he grounded out in front of the pitcher.

This game confirmed the level difference with Korean baseball with the thick depth of Japanese baseball. Hanwha gave up as many as four hits to only one of its players, kneeling down.

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*This content was translated by AI.