The natural inclination is to ask Matt Murton what's changed. To find out how, exactly, he went from the lows of an often tumultuous 2012 campaign, to hitting just about everything in sight early this year.
There were few hitters more consistent than Murton over his first two seasons with the Hanshin Tigers, but his third year in Japan brought with it a fair share of adversity.
Last season saw Murton's average dip to .260 — not terrible on it's own, but he was out-of-this-world in 2010 and remained among NPB's top hitters after falling back to earth in 2011, so .260 leaves something to be desired — and he had to deal with the fallout after an innocent comment about pitcher Atsushi Nomi was widely and negatively misconstrued in the media.