I am envious. Monster pitchers abound. There is a pitcher who drew attention by breaking his own maximum speed of 157 km in the last 125 pitches to win a complete pitch in Japanese professional baseball.
Mitsunari Takahashi (26, Seibu), who won a complete match against Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix), who is considered the best active pitcher in Japanese professional baseball after winning the Sawamura Award and winning 4 crowns for two consecutive years (most wins, ERA, strikeouts, winning rate) is the main character
Takahashi took the mound as a starting pitcher in an away game against Orix held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 22nd. It was a game that attracted attention with Yamamoto and ‘0 point average ERA’ face-to-face. The average ERA before the game was 0.75 for Yamamoto and 0.39 for Takahashi.
Takahashi pitched 125 pitches in 9 innings, giving up 5 hits (1 home run), 8 strikeouts and 2 runs. The only run was a two-run home run to Yutaro Sugimoto in the fourth inning with two out and second base. After allowing a leadoff hit in the fifth inning, he handled 15 consecutive hits through the ninth inning.
Takahashi, who threw 108 pitches through the 8th inning, got on the mound in the bottom of the 9th inning with a 4-2 lead. He grounded the leadoff batter to second base on the eighth pitch, followed by a grounder to shortstop on the fourth pitch, getting two outs.
Against 4th batter Tomoya Mori, he struck out with a low fastball outside the 125th pitch from 1 ball and 2 strikes. It was a fastball on a course that batters could not react to at all. The redemption was taken at 157 km. With the last ball in the 9th inning, he broke his highest velocity by 1km faster than his previous maximum velocity (156km).
After the match, Takahashi said, “I’m tired. It was good to win against Yamamoto in a head-to-head match. As he progressed through the second half of the game, his condition gradually improved and his control was good. He was very happy with the best redemption at the end,” he said.스포츠토토
Takahashi won a head-to-head match against Yamamoto and even enjoyed the joy of a complete victory 956 days after the match against Orix on September 8, 2020. His performance this season is 4 games, 3 wins, undefeated, and an average ERA of 0.84.
Takahashi joined Seibu in 2014 and had a career high season last year with 12 wins, 8 losses, 2.20 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 26 games (175.2 innings).
Meanwhile, Yamamoto threw 112 pitches in 7⅓ innings that day, giving up 11 hits and 3 runs, becoming the losing pitcher. His earned run average was 1.86.
According to Japanese media, the starting match between Takahashi and Yamamoto was the ninth. Interestingly, Takahashi recorded 5 wins and 2 losses, and Yamamoto recorded 2 wins and 3 losses. Takahashi is the pitcher with the most victories among pitchers who have faced off against Yamamoto in Japan so far.