On the 28th, Rakuten announced that pitcher Takahisa Hayakawa underwent posterior labrum cleaning surgery on his left shoulder at a hospital in Tokyo on the 26th. It is expected to take four to five months for him to return to play. It is unclear whether he will be able to make it in time for next year's opening game.
Last season, Hayakawa posted 11 wins, the most in his career. He was expected to be an ace this season as well, as he started the season pitcher for the second year in a row, but he has been in a slump so far, with 2 wins and 8 losses ERA and a 4.35 ERA. He started the most recent game against Seibu (Rakuten Mobile) on September 3, but was knocked out in the middle of the 3rd inning for a 6 runs KO. He was out of the 2nd lineup again on September 4.
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・ [Rakuten] Takahisa Hayakawa demoted to second team. Team pitcher coach Kiichi Ishii says, "Get back to your basic fastball."
・ [Rakuten] Opening pitcher Takahisa Hayakawa gave up 3 hit 2 runs in 4 innings against Seibu, saying "control of fastballs is questionable" and also using bullpen again
・ "My fastball was an issue last week, but I was able to fix it," Rakuten 's Takahisa Hayakawa shut out the opposition for four innings and is ready to start pitcher for the second year in a row.
・ [Rakuten] "I'm still not at 80%..." Hayakawa, scheduled to start against Yokohama on the 14th, needs to improve his condition
・ [Rakuten] Takahisa Hayakawa knocked out in the middle of the third inning, and Daichi Suzuki second bases loaded slam was a blank, resulting in consecutive losses to Seibu
