Overview
A sacrifice bunt is a tactic where the batter bunts to advance a runner while intentionally making an out. NPB has historically relied heavily on sacrifice bunts, with Masahiro Kawai (Yomiuri/Chunichi) holding the world record of 533 career sacrifices, surpassing Eddie Collins' MLB record of 512. Kawai, who batted second in Yomiuri's lineup throughout the 1990s, was celebrated for his reliable bunting technique and broke the world record in 2004. Sabermetrics generally evaluates sacrifice bunts negatively since they surrender a precious out - from a run expectancy standpoint, a sacrifice with a runner on first and no outs increases scoring probability but decreases expected runs. Nevertheless, NPB maintains strong support for the bunt as a symbol of 'connected baseball,' particularly in close late-inning situations or when pitchers bat. While data-driven analysis has led to a declining trend in sacrifice bunt usage in recent years, the tactic has not disappeared entirely.