◆Nippon Life Insurance Central vs Pacific League Interleague Play 2025 Nippon-Ham 5-0 Hiroshima (14th, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham Haruki Hosono pitcher hit strike out runs win The left-hander, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft, breathed a sigh of relief after picking up his first win in his sixth appearance since last season. Shinjo Ham, which boasts a strong starting lineup, has added another star candidate with a romantic streak and a top speed of 158 kilometers to its lineup.

His cheeks relaxed at the moment of win. Holding the winning ball in his hands, Hosono took a commemorative photo with manager Shinjo. The manager changed his peace sign on his left hand to a "1" for his first win, and he flashed a fresh smile. He gave up two hit no runs in six innings, strike out earning his first professional win. "Before the game, I was feeling a mixture of anxiety and the feeling that we were on the brink. I felt more relief than happiness." This was his sixth time pitching since last season. The win he managed to grab after all that struggle was special.

He seemed to throw lightly, but his fastest pitch was clocked at 152 km/h. As a fourth-year student at Toyo University, he hit a speed of 158 km/h and joined the team as the first pick in the 2011 draft. He was garnering attention as the fastest left-handed pitcher in the amateur league, but last season he only made two appearances due to a left shoulder injury. "I was trying too hard to average my pitch speed." This season, he learned to throw with about 50% of the force he said he wanted to create a gap between his form and the ball, taking inspiration from fellow left-handed pitchers and skilled pitchers Yamazaki and Kato Takashi. His 78 pitches showed his growth in his second year.

He built the foundation of his fastball with his older brother. During his time at Toa Gakuen (Tokyo), he never played in Koshien tournament. His fastest pitch was around 140 km/h. So he asked his older brother, Seiya, who works as an athletic trainer, to create a menu for Hosono, and he began full-scale weight training in the summer of his third year of high school. His brother created a menu just for Hosono, adjusting the events, number of sets, and weight to suit his requirements, such as "wanting to get bigger or improve his sharpness," and sent it to the university dormitory where his brother lives. His squats went from 100 kg to 200 kg, and his weight went from 75 kg to 87 kg. He evolved together with his older brother, who he said he could talk to casually.

In his last appearance on the 5th against Hanshin Tigers (ESCON), he was in a terrible state, walking 7 Walk in a row from the first inning. "Long hair was not suitable for baseball" he said, and cut the nape of his neck that he had been growing since last year's offseason. "I decided to change my attitude," he said, and with the effect of the haircut, he finally achieved his memorable first win.

During his first year's training camp, manager Shinjo praised him highly, saying, "Your fastball coming in on the inside is amazing." He didn't get a chance to pitch and the next game will be after the interleague games, but he has joined the ranks of a strong starting pitcher. "I hope I can keep up the good momentum and keep the opponents closer in the next game." The romantic left-handed pitcher from the north has taken a new step. (Haruki Kawakami)

Haruki Hosono Hosono

Born February 26, 2002 in Tokyo. Age 23. Single.

Size and batting: 180 cm, 87 kg, left-handed pitcher/batter

▽ Family: Parents, older brother, and younger sister

▽ Annual salary: 13 million yen (estimated)

▽ Baseball career Started playing baseball in the second grade of elementary school, and played in the baseball club at Tokai University Sugao Junior High School. At Toa Gakuen, he reached the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. After graduating from Toyo University, he joined Nippon-Ham as the first pick in the 2011 draft.

Fastest pitcher: 158 km/h. As a fourth-year student at Toyo University, he pitched at a personal best of 158 km/h in a send-off match against the high school national team as a member of the university national team. The fastest pitcher from a Japanese left-handed pitcher is former Softbank pitcher Furuya Yuto, who pitched at 160 km/h.

▽Same grade: 2012 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Takeuchi (Seibu), Furuya (Rakuten), Nishidate (The Giants), etc.

▽ Favorite saying: "In the end, useless things aren't useless." Thanks to Ichiro's famous words, "I no longer feel afraid to take on challenges."

▽ Formerly with long hair: Partway through last season, he started growing his hair out, conscious of the "Heisei era's Kimutaku." "It looked great when I was wearing casual clothes, but it got in the way a lot during baseball."

▽ Nickname: "Bean sprout" in junior high school when she was very thin

◆ When he gets off mound, he's so kind that even mosquitoes can escape

Hosono has a "gap" to him that is hard to imagine from his aggressive appearance on mound. His mother, Ayako, looks back on his childhood with a wry smile. "Ever since I was old enough to understand, I was often told, 'Don't kill bugs!'... If a mosquito flew by, she would say, 'Don't crush it, because it will suck your blood and go somewhere else.' If there were ants, she would say, 'Look down as you walk.' If there were any bugs in the house, she would say, 'Wrap them in tissue and let them go outside alive!' He was also kind, and people around him said he was 'weird.'"

He has sensitive skin and often gets rashes from insect bites, but he laughs, saying, "It's a shame they're alive. I either smack them away with my breath or wait until they've finished sucking my blood." During his university days, whenever he returned home to his hometown, he would surprise his mother by ordering a nutritious meal instead of a meal because he wasn't getting enough protein. He's a bit odd, but a kind-hearted 23-year-old. On days when he couldn't watch the game in person, he was able to report win to Ayako, who would always pray for him while kneeling in seiza at his parents' home in Tokyo. (Horiuchi Keita, Nippon-Ham reporter, 2012)

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