“WBC hangover? We don’t know about that.”
The pitchers on the Japanese National Team at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) have taken over the league. The national team players are tied for first place in both the Central and Pacific leagues with nine wins apiece. Leading the way are Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto (25) in the Pacific League and Yomiuri Giants ace Shosei Dogo (23) in the Central League. Both pitchers were key contributors to Japan’s victory at the WBC in March.
Yamamoto, the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball, is a favorite to win multiple awards this year. On April 15, he pitched six innings of one-run ball against the SoftBank Hawks for his ninth win of the season. On the 25th, he gave up three runs in seven innings against SoftBank to take the loss, but he still leads the league in wins.
As of the 27th, Chiba Lotte Marines “Monster” Roki Sasaki (22) leads the league in ERA (1.48), strikeouts (130), and winning percentage (0.778). Yamamoto is second to Sasaki in all three categories.
However, Sasaki was recently sidelined with a right oblique injury. He is expected to be out for two months. At this rate, Yamamoto has a very good chance of winning the quadruple crown again this year. Yamamoto is
League MVP and Sawamura Award for the second year in a row.
Yomiuri’s young ace, Dogo, has continued to hit his stride this year. He pitched seven innings and allowed five runs against the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture on July 27. He earned his ninth win of the season thanks to run support from the bats. The sixth overall pick in the draft has 40 career wins in five seasons and 87 games.
He is the first high school graduate to win 40 games in his fifth year since Shohei Ohtani (29-LA Angels) with the Nippon Ham Fighters. Dogo is the first Yomiuri player since “Legend” Masumi Kuwata (Yomiuri coach).
After scoring two runs in the sixth inning, Dogo was hit by a pitch in the seventh. With two on and one out, he gave up three runs on consecutive hits to Hanshin 1-3 Jikamoto Koji, Nakano Takumu, and Morishita Shuta. In a postgame interview, Dogo said, “I had a good start, but I failed to mix up my pitches. I’m reflecting on it and will fix it.”바카라
In the top of the fifth inning, with the score tied at 2-2, the Yomiuri bats came alive. One out later, No. 2 Takayuki Kajitani hit a solo home run to right field. After this home run, the Yomiuri bats exploded. Eleven batters combined for five hits and two walks. They capitalized on their opponent’s fielding errors to score big runs and win 9-6.
With the win, Dogo moved into a tie for first place in wins. Hiroshima Carp left-hander Hiroki Tokoda (28) pitched a complete game on the night.
He pitched 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball against Curt Scholz for his ninth win.
Last year, Dogo earned his first double-digit wins, led the team in strikeouts (154), and made the leap to ace. In 25 games, he went 12-8 with a 2.62 ERA.
Sasaki and a few others have been struggling with suspected WBC hangovers. Dogo and Yamamoto are struggling.