Hanshin announced on the 14th that it has reached a deal with former Los Angeles Angels infielder Justin Bour (31). It will be a single-year deal worth $2.5 M (¥275 M), and the hopes are that the slugger will help solve Akihiro Yano’s Tigers run-production problem.
This year in 52 major-league games, the left-handed power hitter batted .172 with 8 home runs, but in 49 AAA games, hit .316 with 17 home runs. Going back to the 2017 season, he hit 25 homers, and has 92 total in his MLB career.
Through a club spokesman, Bour said, “Ever since getting an enthusiastic offer from the Hanshin Tigers last offseason, I have been interested in (and learned about from ex-teammates Ichiro and Shohei Ohtani) NPB and been thinking seriously about playing there ever since. This year Hanshin came back with another offer, so I decided to take them up on it, and play in Japan. I’ll probably hit up a convenience store as soon as I get to Japan and buy a couple of tuna and teriyaki chicken rice balls. When I get to camp I am sure I’ll learn a lot from my teammates, and I’ll do all I can to fit in with the rest of the team as quickly as possible. I can’t wait to play in front of all the fans.”
The Tigers scored an NPB-low 538 runs this past season, considerably fewer than the CL-top Yomiuri’s 663. The team has high hopes that Bour will step up and be a key part of the hitting order.