Another Video Look at Akinori Iwamura Before and After Injury

..the pre-injury Aki beating out the soft roller to first base is NOWHERE near the player we got.

It’s pretty clear pre-injury Aki was solid. Good defensively, and I must admit very good speed, he was alot faster than I’d ever thought he was. That last clip is really telling.

Post-injury Rays Aki looks much closer to what we’re seeing here in Pittsburgh, than pre-injury Aki. Still, post-injury Aki really doesn’t seem that slow. He clearly isn’t able to fully motor down the line, but he’s not too bad.

Clearly, obviously, the Aki-san we have is the worst. He has gained weight and has appeared to never fully recover from that injury. Yes, if he loses 15 pounds, he’ll get some mobility back and be an improved player, but from the fielding and running videos you’ve shown us Mark, I think the truly quick, agile Aki is a thing of the past. It really is a shame.

I keep watching that last clip of him flying down the line and my heart sinks.

In ‘07, scouts.com had Iwamura listed at 5’9/175. He is now listed at 5’9/200. 25 pounds heavier seems a little much, but 10-15 is not out of the realm.

I had no idea that he was that fast.

..but I figured most of you would be interested and may have missed it, but I’m hearing Morton’s going to be sent to the DL and Jackson will be called up. Obviously can’t guarantee this for sure, but that’s what I’’ve heard.

Good day all.

Can one of you do me a favor? Can you pass a note for me to the manager? Now that Aki’s hitting 8th, let him hit the way he hit with the Yakult Swallows. He never was a LD/GB hitter. He was a power hitter with the Swallows (once hit 40+ HR). With the added mass the ball should go farther when hit, assuming that he hasn’t lost any bat speed. By the way, that would be what you’d need to check re his hitting. I’d be tempted to say that the unfamiliar NL would explain worse hitting, but not this worse, and when he first played for the Rays in 07 he otherwise started the year on fire (i.e., there was no initial adjustment period to MLB hitting, or at least it wasn’t reflected in his slash line; remained on fire until the fire was put out when he went on the DL with an oblique injury). He has power, as the majority of his HR are to left center. You simply don’t see that from hitters with no power, i.e., when they do HR, usually not to the opposite field gap. Lastly, if you see Aki, tell him to simply hit the way he always done. For an almost forgot, don’t know if you all have heard the story, but when his mom died the one day, he played in the Swallows game that same night. When asked why he played that night he said, my mother would have told me, you are a professional player, you play everyday. He hit 2 HR that night. Can’t prove it, but I posit that he had some help from mom’s spirit that night.