"Gurazeni" is a baseball manga that depicts the relationship between professional baseball and money from a harsh perspective. The main character, Bonta Natsunosuke, works hard day and night with the motto "There is money buried under the field." In the world of professional baseball, where a player's performance over the course of a year is reflected in their annual salary, Bonta Natsunosuke himself is sensitive about his own performance. In this article, we will summarize what kind of performance Bonta Natsunosuke has achieved in "Gurazeni." Will Bonta Natsunosuke be able to dig up the money buried under the field? It's an interesting question.
1. Basic information on Natsunosuke Bonta
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
At the beginning of the series, Natsunosuke Bonta was a left-handed relief pitcher for the Jingu Spiders. Taking advantage of his unique left-handed sidearm pitching form, he is also valued as a key player for left-handed batters. He doesn't have overwhelming power or sharp curveballs, but he has the strength of pitching with control and structure, carefully suppressing batters. In addition, the management recognizes him as a handyman who can do everything from long relief to one-point pitching, and he is the kind of player who is helpful if he is on the bench. He is familiar with the annual salaries of first-string players of other teams, and can pitch condescendingly to batters with lower annual salaries than himself, so he can suppress them, but he has a habit of shrinking down against players with higher annual salaries and getting hit.
2. Natsunosuke Bonta's 7th season
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
The series starts with Natsunosuke Bonta entering his 8th season. Therefore, his play before his 7th year is not depicted. However, there is a scene where Natsunosuke Bonta's player guide is shown, and then you can see his results from his 7th season.
In his seventh season, Natsunosuke Bonta pitched in 20 games with a 3.38 ERA and 1 win, 1 loss and 3 saves.
20 games is not a lot for a relief pitcher, but with an ERA of 3.00 and save points, it's clear that he was given the opportunity to pitch in a variety of situations.
His performance was neither good nor bad, and he was right in the middle of the pack when looking at all pitchers in professional baseball.
3. Bonta Natsunosuke's 8th season, annual salary of 18 million yen
Source: Gurazeni © Moritaka Yuji, Adachi Keiji/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
At the beginning of the serialization, Bonta Natsunosuke's 8th season. At this time, he was doing reasonably well as a left-handed relief pitcher in the first team, but as commentator Toku said, he is considered a man who cannot make it in the pros unless he throws every pitch with 100% of his strength. Therefore, he will not be able to do well unless he is a relief pitcher who throws short innings with all his strength. However, it is said that he often plays in games as a one-point left-handed pitcher, using his unique pitching form as a weapon.
In his eighth season, Natsunosuke Bonda pitched in 31 games, with an ERA of 3.01, 4 wins, 4 losses, and 2 saves. He also had 20 hold points.
While his performance is better than last year, it is hard to say that his performance is outstanding. However, recording 20 hold points in 31 games can be said to be a passing grade for a relief pitcher. In addition, since he also has save points, we can see that he has had opportunities to pitch in various situations, not just as a one-point left-handed pitcher.
Source: Gurazeni © Moritaka Yuji, Adachi Keiji / SKY PerfecTV!, Kodansha
As a relief pitcher, his performance is also in the middle of the pack. With an ERA of 3, it is difficult for the bench to feel comfortable letting him pitch, which is likely affecting the number of appearances he makes.
3. Natsunosuke Bonta's 9th season, annual salary 26 million yen
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
In his 9th season, Natsunosuke Bonta is often transferred from relief to starting pitcher due to team circumstances. Although Natsunosuke Bonta had always dreamed of becoming a starting pitcher, he was confused by the temperament of the pitcher, which was quite different from that of the relievers he had been used to. Therefore, although it was the season in which he attempted to become a starter, it ended in failure.
In his ninth season, Natsunosuke Bonta appeared on the mound in 15 games, pitching 70 innings (13 as a starter), with an ERA of 5.33 and a record of 1 win and 5 losses.
These numbers are a little disappointing for a starting pitcher. In reality, there were games where he was unlucky and games where he came close, but in the world of professional baseball, where numbers are everything, these numbers are insufficient.
Source: Gurazeni © Moritaka Yuji, Adachi Keiji / Sky Perfect!, Kodansha
However, for a team that is struggling with starting pitchers, the fact that he has switched from being a relief pitcher to a starting pitcher and pitched in 13 games is a welcome presence. Although his ERA was in the 5s, there are some aspects that cannot be blamed on numbers alone.
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
4. Natsunosuke Bonta's 10th season: Annual salary of 30 million yen + 3 million yen
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
Natsunosuke Bonta was unable to achieve notable results as a starting pitcher. However, his performance in the postseason was recognized and his annual salary was raised to 30 million yen and a performance bonus of 3 million yen. And in his 10th season, Natsunosuke Bonta showed great performance as a relief pitcher.
In his 10th year, Natsunosuke Bonta pitched in 75 games, with 42 hold points and an ERA of 1.31. In terms of the number of appearances, he was number one in the league, pitching in more than half of the games in a year. He was also second in the league in hold points and had an ERA of 1.00, which was an impeccable performance as a relief pitcher. With such performance, the bench was able to trust him and let him pitch in important situations.
Natsunosuke Bonta returned to being a relief pitcher this year, but it was a season in which it became clear that he was suited to being a relief pitcher, not a starting pitcher.
5. Natsunosuke Bonta's 11th season: Annual salary of 80 million yen + 20 million yen
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
Natsunosuke Bonta had a brilliant performance last season, but he was unable to come to terms with his contract with the Jingu Spiders, so he went to America and then transferred to a baseball team called the Bunkyo Mops. His annual salary at this time was a whopping 80 million yen plus 20 million yen in bonuses.
Just like last season, Bonta Natsunosuke was expected to perform outstandingly as a relief pitcher, but he damaged the ligaments in his dominant arm due to the strain of pitching across innings.
As a result, he only pitched in 43 games, and was unable to achieve the 50 games required for the bonuses. As expected, relief pitchers are prone to injury due to over-pitching, but he had pitched in 75 games last year and has pitched a fair number of games this season, so it is likely that the burden had been accumulating.
6. Natsunosuke Bonta's 13th season: Annual salary of 80 million yen + 40 million yen
Source: Gurazeni ©Yuji Moritaka, Keiji Adachi/Sky PerfecTV!, Kodansha
Natsunosuke Bonta, who missed a year of rehabilitation from a ligament injury, will be returning for the first time in two seasons. In his 13th year, he was used as a starting pitcher limited to 5 innings, a departure from his previous roles as a relief pitcher, taking into consideration the strain he would have after surgery. He was also blessed with extraordinary winning luck that year, and achieved a career-high in wins.
In his 13th year, Natsunosuke Bonta pitched 50 innings in 10 games, finishing the season with a 5.04 ERA and 10 wins and 0 losses. Even looking at his ERA, Natsunosuke Bonta pitched 5 innings in every game, and although he always gave up around 3 runs, he was able to mass produce wins thanks to the good batters he was given. Although he was not enough as a starter, the fact that he won every game he pitched is still quite impressive.
7. Bonta Natsunosuke's 14th season: Annual salary of 95 million yen + 5 million yen
Source: Gurazeni © Moritaka Yuji, Adachi Keiji / SKY PerfecTV!・Kodansha
Natsunosuke Onda has established himself as a starting pitcher, and although he didn't achieve any notable results in the beginning of the season, he has been showing great performance, including a shutout victory. Onda has spent a long time as a relief pitcher, but he has recently begun to show his commitment to being a starter. As a starting pitcher, he has a decent record of 9 wins and 8 losses. Next season, Onda will be transferred to a team in the Pacific League, and expectations are high for how he will perform in the future.
8. Summary
Source: Gurazeni © Moritaka Yuji, Adachi Keiji / SKY PerfecTV!, Kodansha
Although Bonta Natsunosuke doesn't have any outstanding abilities, he seems to have had a steady career as a professional baseball player. However, to achieve this, he may have had to make a series of casual choices every day, navigating the edge. Looking back at his performance, a new side of the work comes into view.
