How's Kenji Doing?

Kenji Johjima was our much "liked" catcher for a four long years. As most Mariner fans already know, he dropped his contract with the Mariners to return to Japan. He then was signed by Hanshin Tigers to become the team's primary catcher. 

Kenji's numbers in his last two years in the Big Leagues did not compare to his stats from his previous two years and the stats of his years playing in Japan. Last year he posted a .721 OPS with only 9 HR. Although to most Mariner fans in 2010 9 HR sounds like a lot, Kenji did not really live up to what he was expected to be.

So now that Kenji is back in his home country, wouldn't you like to see how he's doing? First of all, the signing of Kenji by the Hanshin Tigers was very big news to the Japanese media. It made headlines on the papers (Japan has many news papers designated for sports), and was covered multiple times by the news (Japan's news covered sports as well). A Major League player returning to Japan was a big thing. But did he live up to the hype? Well, so far he's made a ton of news. He made headlines with a three hit game on opening day and a walk off HR on the next day. He has already hit two grand slams this year (J-Lo has some competition). As of his results for the rest of the year, here are some stats.

PO: 145

AB: 132

AVG: 257

OBP: 313

OPS: 752

HR: 7

RBI: 27

After returning to Japan, Kenji has become one of the power bats of the Hanshin Tigers.

Some of you may be pissed off or irritated that Kenji is doing much better than he did in the last two years. There are some things to keep in mind though. Remember, this is the NPB, not the MLB. The level of pitching is completely different. Kenji does not have to face, the Grienkes and Sabathias of the MLB. You also have to keep in account that the baseball stadiums in Japan are smaller than the ones in America. But most of all, you have to remember that Kenji is back in his home country. He's a star and everybody knows him. He was on the National Team during the WBC. He is a loved veteran that people look up to in Japan. All through his career in the MLB, he was away. Even the games he played in at Safeco were away games to this guy. It makes sense that he went back to Japan. Kenji is a completely different ball player back and Japan, and we have to accept that. 

I was one of the many M's fans that wanted Kenji to go away in the last few years. I was pretty happy when I heard he was leaving too (even though we're stuck with Rob "can't-catch-the-ball" Johnson). Just because he's left the country doesn't mean we can forget about him though. He's a pretty darn good ball player, and in our hearts we all know that because a crappy ball player wouldn't be able to make it up to the Big Leagues. 

I just wish Kenji good luck in Japan, and I hope he doesn't hate us for all the hating we gave him.