Cuban Despaigne hits 24th homer in Japanese baseball

GRANMA, Cuba, Sep 1 (acn) Cuban baseball player Alfredo Despaigne hit his twenty-fourth homer of the season in Japan Professional League (JPL), personal record at the tournament.

According to Japanese Baseball digital site, Despaigne, cleanup hitter of the Chiba Lotte Marines, hit the home run against the Orix Buffaloes in front of some 15 849 spectators at QVC Marine Field, but could not prevent the 4-6 defeat of his team.
The aforementioned home run was his only hit of the game in three at bats and his 87th RBI, to remain in the third seat of that stat in the Pacific League.
Despaigne debuted in JPL in 2014 and now has batting average of .287, the highest of an athlete born in Latin America in the current tournament.
August has been the month of better achievements for the Cuban player as he hit nine home runs and improved his record of homers for a month in Japan, which was five, figure reached in April and May, according to the digital site of Granma TV.
Debutant in Cuban National Series of Baseball (SNB by its Spanish acronym) in 2004, his biggest record of home runs in the JPL before this season was of 18, achieved in the previous campaign and matched last August 12th against the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.
In the Pacific League he appears third in RBIs (87), home runs (24), runs (76) and total of bases (226), and fourth in doubles (25).
With his recent performances, Despaigne confirms his chances of being elected for the first time the Latin MVP of a the season in the JPL and remains the main offensive figure of the Marines, who appear third with 62 wins and 57 losses.
The Cuban slugger hit for .311 in his first season in Japan with 12 homers and 33 RBIs in 45 games.
In 2015, he participated in 103 games with 18 home runs and a low average of .258.
Before signing with the Chiba Lotte Marines, he participated in 11 seasons in the SNB with 232 home runs.
His amount of 36 homers, achieved in 2012, is the record for a regular season in Cuba.