The 2020 season will be remembered for many reasons, but one of those reasons was the short nature – just 60 games. With a sample size of just two months, some players had big swings in their “first half” and “second half”. When you’re talking about just two months, though, those things often go unnoticed in a normal 162-game season. For Shogo Akiyama, though, the down, then up, wasn’t just a typical “good month/bad month” – there was a concerted effort to change what he was doing at the plate.
“I think the biggest takeaway from the season was how I was taking my timing, I was able to see the ball better in the second half after that,” said Akiyama through interpreter Luke Shinoda.