Wladimir

Balentien

The former top prospect fizzled out stateside, hitting just .221/.281/.374 with 15 homers in 170 big league games from 2007-2009. His career took off in Japan though, as he became a prolific slugger for 11 seasons and even set the league’s single-season home run record with 60 long balls with the Yakult Swallows in 2013. In his 11 seasons in Japan, Balentien slashed .266/.370/.546 with 301 home runs.

It’s a nice little payday for Balentien, who has played the previous two seasons in Japan after washing out of MLB. Balentien is still just 28 years old.

He equaled the feat previously accomplished by three players: Sadaharu Oh in 1964, Tuffy Rhodes in 2001 and Alex Cabrera in 2002. Balentien, who played for the Reds and Mariners, hit 31 homers in each of the past two seasons for the Yakult Swallows. He has 21 games left to break one of Japan’s most fabled records.

Balentien, a former top prospect with the Mariners, has connected for a record-breaking 56 home runs this season in Japan. It’s worth noting that the conversations within the organization have been theoretical and have not involved general manager Brian Sabean. “He wants to come back,” said Giants hitting coach Hensley Meulens. “That’s what he told me two or three weeks ago. His dream is to come back and play in the major leagues.” One complication for a return to the majors is that Balentien is under contract with the Swallows for two more seasons.

The single-season record stands at 55 home runs, achieved by legendary slugger Sadaharu Oh and matched by Karl “Tuffy” Rhodes and Alex Cabrera. Balentien missed the first 12 games of the season due to injury, and has amassed his 54 homers in just 108 games. With 23 games left on the schedule, the 29-year-old Balentien will top that list before the end of the season.

Balentien set Japan’s single-season home run record last year with 60. He previously played for the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners. The slugger was charged with false imprisonment and battery after a confrontation with his estranged wife in Miami. He is under contract with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Central League through 2015.

According to the Associated Press, Balentien is “facing a felony false imprisonment charge and a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from a weekend confrontation at his wife’s Miami-area house.” The two are going through a divorce and authorities claim that Balentien broke into the home uninvited. Balentien played for the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Central League in 2013 and broke Nippon Professional Baseball’s single-season home run record. He is under contract with Yakult through 2015.

Despite 154 strikeouts, the 21-year-old Balentien is batting .289/.337/.554 in 478 at-bats. The Mariners love his power potential, but it’s likely that he’ll need at least two more full years in the minors.

Balentien is batting .296/.351/.586 in 42 games. He has struck out 49 times, but the Mariners have to be happy that he’s doing so well as a 20-year-old in the California League.

Balentien, who has the most power potential in the Seattle system, is batting .302/.348/.584 with 10 homers in 37 games.