While baseball fans may have seen the last of pitchers not named Shohei Ohtani batting in MLB, Central League hurlers are still stepping into the batter's box in Japan — and they looked pretty good on Saturday.
The CL became one of the last pro leagues where pitchers still bat — the DH is used in NPB’s Pacific League — when MLB announced it would implement the universal DH and bring the system to the National League for the first time.
The CL has resisted the change so far, despite the best efforts of Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara, and Central League pitchers had a good afternoon at the plate on the second day of the NPB season.