Rakuten Eagles pitcher Kenta Maeda (37), formerly of the Yankees' Triple A division, is returning to Japanese baseball after an 11-year absence. On the 10th, he was looking forward to facing fellow infielder Hayato Sakamoto (37) of The Giants. He opened his training session to the public in Okinawa Prefecture. He is looking forward to facing Sakamoto, with whom he has a close friendship, and vowed to "fight together" with the '88 generation. He will turn the presence of his peers into strength and work at full speed with the goal of innings pitched over 180 inning.
Maeda's heart was beating fast in the warm weather of Okinawa, imagining a matchup with his ally. He has a total of 68 wins in the majors and is returning to Japanese baseball for the first time in 11 years. He and Sakamoto, who led Central League together in the 2010s, are looking forward to facing off against each other again after such a long time.
"We both made our debuts when we were around 19 years old, and by the time I went to the majors, I think Hayato (Sakamoto) was the batter I faced the most in my professional baseball career. I would like to face him again."
They have had many memorable matches. Both players have been active since their second year after graduating from high school, and their combined record against each other is 25 At Bat in 106 hit for a batting average of .236 and five Home Run. For the right-handed hitter, who has a total of 165 wins in Japan and the US, Sakamoto is hitter he has faced the second most in his professional career, and his 28 strike out are also his most. The two are close friends, and Sakamoto has even sought advice from hitter perspective, saying, "If I'm in trouble, I'll turn to someone like (Sakamoto) Hayato, who is a right-handed batter." Sakamoto is looking forward to facing number 6 in the interleague games in June (9-11, Rakuten Eagles Mobile) and the Japan Series.
The existence of players of the same generation is something special. The "Golden '88 Generation" includes Sakamoto, Yanagita, Akiyama, Tanaka Masaru, and Ohno, all of whom are still playing hard. "The generational change has progressed and the numbers have decreased. All the remaining members are talking about trying our best, so now we have a strong sense of camaraderie rather than rivalry. We all want to achieve good results together." They have vowed to "fight together."
The 20th year of the Japan-U.S. career will be full rotation while being inspired by his classmates. "I want to throw a lot and win a lot." Last season, Rakuten Eagles no one was in the provision innings pitched reached the quota. "I think the starter has to throw inning, inning so I don't know if I can throw it, but I want to aim high." Last season, there was only one person over 180 inning in both leagues, Nippon-Ham Ito. If you can operate at full capacity, the number of white stars will naturally increase.
During his voluntary training, he threw a powerful fastball while playing catch in front of six cameras and 25 reporters. His training pace is about two weeks faster than when he was in the US. "As I work on my preparations, I want to adjust so that I can be in bullpen as early as possible (February) 1st," he said, looking ahead to the start of camp. Maeda will weave a new story, using his classmates as motivation. (Miyauchi Kota)
pitcher innings pitched in the past five years
21 years Yoshinobu Yamamoto (O) 193 2/3
22nd year: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (O) 193rd time
24 Katsuki Higashi (D) 183 times
Kohei Arihara (So) 182 2/3 innings
Togo Tosei (giant) 180 times
25th year Hiromi Ito (Sunday) 196th 2/3
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