Milwaukee Brewers Norichika Aoki decides not to participate in next year's World Baseball Classic
Reports are coming in the media that Milwaukee Brewers’ Japanese star Norichika Aoki will not be playing in next year’s World Baseball Classic due to his Major League duties.
Sources say that some other Japanese stars are also opting out for not to play in World Baseball Classic for Japan’s national baseball side.
Texas Rangers' young prodigy Yu Darvish and Seattle Mariners' Hisashi Iwakuma have also told their national side that they will not be playing in coming year’s WBC.
According to sources, these all players want to concentrate more on the coming Major League Baseball season.
Coming onto Aoki and his decision to stay in the U.S. during the offseason, experts believe that his decision is totally professional and he just wants to play in Major League with more concentration.
Aoki is a good player and was with the Brewers with good consistency. He finished with .288 hitting average along with ten homers, 50 RBIs and .355 OBP.
He is playing in his first season with the Brewers but still he competed in National League’s Rookie of the Year Award with Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper along with Arizona Diamondbacks’ Wade Miley, Cincinnati Reds’ Todd Frazier, Colorado Rockies’ Wilin Rosario, San Diego Padres' Yonder Alonso, St. Louis Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter and Colorado Rockies' Jordan Pacheco.
Despite his extraordinary plays and nomination in this year’s Rookie of the Year Award, he could not win it and came fifth in overall rookies’ standing.
“It was my first experience over here, so there were some tough times, But overall, I had great time, That was a tough situation, especially from coming from starting every day in Japan, Looking back at it now, I'm kind of surprised at myself I chose this route. .... But I've always wanted to play over here, so I'm glad I made that choice,” Aoki said via translator Kosuke Inaji before heading home for the winter.
Later Brewers' manager Ron Roenicke said of his star performer, "I don't know whether it's confidence, where you just let it go, I don't necessarily know that it's something physical. He's played well all year, but [late in the season] he was really driving the ball.”
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how Aoki will grow in the Major League after playing most of his career in Japan. His performance was quite consistent and in the coming years, his game will improve further towards more excellence.
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