main battery; main armament
Refers to the primary guns on a warship or the main firepower of a military unit.
戦艦の主砲が一斉に火を噴いた。
The battleship's main battery fired all at once.
The battleship's main guns roared to life all at once.
best hitter; center of the offense
Baseball term for the team's most powerful batter, often batting cleanup.
彼はチームの主砲としてホームランを量産した。
As the team's best hitter, he produced home runs in bunches.
He excelled as the team's cleanup hitter.
They fired the main guns at the enemy ship.
The rookie player was entrusted with the cleanup hitter role.
主砲 refers to a team's top hitter or key performer, while エース more broadly denotes the best player, often a pitcher, on a team.
主砲 is a warship's primary, largest guns, while 副砲 refers to its secondary, smaller guns.
大砲 is the generic word for any cannon or large gun, whereas 主砲 specifically means the main/primary armament of a ship or unit.
Compound of 主 (main) and 砲 (gun/cannon). The baseball sense is a metaphorical extension of the military meaning.