Cuban Despaigne´s bat gets scorching hot in Japanese baseball

Cuban Alfredo Despaigne had an amazing performance last weekend in the Japanese Professional Baseball League (NPB).

Despaigne, who plays for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the NPB Pacific League, hit homeruns in three consecutive games and now amounts 16, thus ranking second in this stat tied with two other players and only behind Hotaka Yamakawa (18) of the Saitama Seibu Lions.

Last Friday, he batted 1 for 3 with a 3-RBI homer in the 8-0 win of the Hawks, which won again 6-2 on Saturday with Despaigne hitting 1-3 again, including a solo homer and two RBIs.

But on Sunday, the NPB defending champions lost 4-13 despite the Cuban player batted 2 for 4, with two homeruns and three runs batted in.

Despite having a terrible start this season, the Cuban slugger has considerably improved his performance and now has batting average (BA) of .233 in 62 games, in addition to 41 RBIs, appearing 6th in this stat.

Two other Cubans, LHP Livan Moinello and utility Yuribel Gracial, also play for the Hawks; the latter is currently injured, while Moinello ranks 6th among the best setuppers in the NPB this season.

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks appear 4th in the NPB Pacific League, 4 ½ games behind the leader Saitama Seibu Lions, but only 2 ½ and ½ behind the Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Orix Buffaloes, who rank 2nd and 3rd in that order.