Overview
A sacrifice bunt is a tactic where the batter bunts to advance a runner while intentionally making an out; under Rule 9.08 of the Official Baseball Rules it is scored when, with fewer than two outs, the batter advances a runner with a bunt and is put out at first base (or would have been but for an error). NPB has historically relied heavily on sacrifice bunts, and Masahiro Kawai (Yomiuri/Chunichi) holds the NPB career record of 533 (1984-2006, as of September 3, 2026), surpassing Eddie Collins' MLB record of 512. From a sabermetric standpoint, sacrifice bunts are criticized for giving up an out, and run expectancy analysis weighs the benefit of advancing the runner against the cost of that out in each situation. Nevertheless, the bunt retains a place in NPB as a way to move a runner into scoring position, and it remains an option in close late-inning situations or when pitchers bat. The spread of data-driven analysis has put the merits of the sacrifice bunt under debate, but the tactic has not disappeared from NPB.