◆ Baseball Musings 2026 - Part 35

Nearly a week has passed since Nippon-Ham's absolute ace, pitcher Hiromi Ito, disappeared from the first-team mound.

August 25th at Belluna Dome. In a direct clash between third-place Nippon-Ham, looking to move up the standings, and second-place Seibu Lions, Nippon-Ham sent Ito to the starting mound, while the Seibu Lions countered with Kaima Taira, who leads the league in ERA, making it a showdown of aces. In a tense pitcher's duel, Ito gave up a hard hit to the Seibu Lions' unexpected threat, Keisuke Nakata, resulting in a 2-3 lose. Ito was charged with his ninth loss. On the following day, the 26th, Ito was removed from the first-team roster.

Last year, he recorded dominant numbers with 14 wins and 8 losses, winning the titles for most wins and most strike outs, as well as the Sawamura Award. Since Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined the Dodgers, he has also held the title of the number one right-handed pitcher in the baseball world.

However, the ace's performance began to falter in late June, just before summer. He secured his eighth win with win against Softbank Hawks on the 19th of that month. But after losing his next start against Seibu Lions (Kenta Uehara was lose pitcher), a losing streak began.

With two consecutive losses in July and four in August, totaling six straight losses, his personal record has fallen to 8 wins and 9 losses, meaning he has more losses than wins. With the team also suffering nine consecutive losses in the nine games he started during this period, they are far from being a threat to the Softbank Hawks.

Even the team's mainstay, usually so reliable, spat out the words "I'm finished as the Tuesday starter" immediately after the game against the Seibu Lions where he suffered his ninth loss. "Tuesday" refers to the opening game of a three-game series. These games are often matchups between each team's ace. Winning or losing here has a major impact on team morale. This remark by Ito even signified a loss of confidence.

So, why did Ito fall into such an extreme slump?

One possible explanation is the "after-effects" of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) held in March.

The world championship of baseball. As the defending champions, Japan naturally faced the pressure of defending their title. A training camp was held from mid-February, and of course, Ito was selected as a key player. The Tokyo round began on March 6th, and the final matches from the quarterfinals onward were held in the United States, requiring adjustments to be made two to three weeks earlier than the usual season schedule. pitcher, in particular, were expected to struggle to adapt to the different balls and mound hardness in Japan and the United States, as well as the newly introduced pitch clock. In addition, several players who were expected closer, such as Kaima Taira and Ishii Daichi (Hanshin Tigers), withdrew from the tournament due to injuries. It is easy to imagine the immense pressure that was placed on the entire pitcher staff.

Samurai Japan, who were eliminated in the quarterfinal match against Venezuela, will need to make new adjustments.

The difficulty of rebuilding one's physical condition for the season opening after it has already peaked for the WBC is evident in many pitchers.

Orix Buffaloes' left-handed ace Hiroya Miyagi was sidelined immediately after the season opening due to an injury to the medial collateral ligament of his left elbow. Lotte's Atsuki Taneichi is out for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. The Giants' Taisei has been unable to deliver his usual pitch due to right elbow pain.

In Ito's case, he seemed to have a smooth start with 8 wins (and 3 losses) by June, but after that, he was in a state of complete "running out of gas." Ito's pitch style is not originally that of a power pitcher who throws blazing fastballs near 160 km/h. His strength is his ability to control and mix high-precision fastballs and breaking balls, but as the summer season arrived, both his velocity and the power of his pitches have declined.

In a normal season, one could get through it with the reserves from spring training and daily running, but perhaps when the fatigue from the WBC began to set in, his original pitch went awry and he fell into a deep slump?

From Manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo's perspective, the ace's readjustment at this stage of the season is undoubtedly aimed at the Climax Series.

As of the 31st, they are 8 games behind the league-leading Softbank Hawks. With a head-to-head record of 4 wins and 15 losses (1 draw) against The Hawks, the path to the top seems extremely difficult even if they defeat the Seibu Lions and reach the final showdown. Nevertheless, and precisely for that reason, they have no choice but to pin a glimmer of hope on the comeback of their ace, Ito.

The time has come for the Sawamura Award winner, who has lost both the trust of his team and his own confidence, to redeem his reputation and prove his true worth.

Text by Kazuo Arakawa