Led the league in wins, ERA, strikeouts, and winning percentage for the second straight year in 2021-2022. Named Pacific League MVP for the second straight year and won the Sawamura Award, the highest honor given to a starting pitcher. The best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball for the past two years has been Orix Buffaloes right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 25, who led the Orix to the top of the league for the second straight year and helped them win the Japan Series last year.

The numbers show that Yamamoto is a pitcher on another level. In 2021, he won 18 games with a 1.39 ERA, 206 strikeouts and a 0.783 winning percentage, and last year he won 15 games with a 1.68 ERA, 205 strikeouts and a 0.750 winning percentage.메이저사이트

The Chiba Lotte Marines’ “monster pitcher” Roki Sasaki (21) has been a game-changer this season. Sasaki, who was on a club-wide pitch count until last year, has been pitching virtually full-time this year. In his fourth year as a pro, Sasaki pitched a full regulation inning for the first time, knocking Yamamoto off the top spot he held for the past two years.

As of the 13th, Sasaki sits atop every major category except wins. He leads in ERA (1.48), strikeouts (121), and winning percentage (0.778), and is tied for second in wins (7).

Yamamoto is first in wins (8), second in ERA (1.70), third in strikeouts (94), and second in winning percentage (0.727). Percy.

Taneichi joined Japan’s WBC team as a support player and pitched in a practice game. Sponsored by Sports Nippon
Only two pitchers in the Pick League have a better ERA. Sasaki has one in 79 innings and Yamamoto has one in 85⅓ innings.

However, there is something that stands out about their individual rankings. Yamamoto is third in strikeouts, not first after Sasaki. Sasaki’s Chiba Lotte teammate, Atsuki Taneichi (24), is second.

Taneichi is a right-hander in his seventh year as a pro. Started against the Nippon Ham Fighters at Escon Field in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido on April 9, allowing two runs on seven hits in seven innings. Recorded his eighth quality start of the season (6+ innings pitched, 3 earned runs or less) and sixth win. Threw 123 pitches, walking none and striking out 12 of the 21 batters he faced.

With 101 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings, he has seven fewer innings pitched and seven more strikeouts than Yamamoto, who leads the team in strikeouts for the second straight year. The two are classmates who joined the organization in 2017.

Taneichi appeared in just one game in both seasons in 2021 and 2022. He underwent right elbow surgery in September 2020 and took the mound once late last year.

This year, he opened with the first team. Threw 103 pitches through six innings against Nihon Ham on April 9 before leaving in the seventh.

Sasaki (left) and Yamamoto are competing for the Pacific League’s top pitching job this season. Sasaki represented the Pacific League in last year’s All-Star Game. Sports Chosun DB
to the All-Star Game last year. Sasaki threw a career-high 123 pitches after returning to Japan, confirming his innings capacity.

Manager Masato Yoshii, a former pitcher with 121 career wins in Japan and the United States, had hoped for 120 pitches. “A starting pitcher should be able to throw more than 120 pitches,” Yoshii said. Taneichi is second on the team in wins behind Sasaki.

Like Sasaki, who was born in Iwate Prefecture, he hails from the Tohoku region. He finished high school in Aomori, on the northeastern tip of Japan’s main island, and was drafted by Chiba Lotte with the sixth overall pick.

His eight wins in 2019, his third year with the team, were his most in a season, and he already has six wins in 13 games.

On April 9, he threw a six-inning no-hitter against the Rakuten Eagles. It took him a whopping 988 days to win a first-team game since July 2020. On May 16, he threw nine innings of one-run ball with 109 pitches against the Orix Buffaloes. It was his first nine-inning start since returning from injury.

Fastest fastball thrown in the pros is 153 kilometers per hour, 10 kilometers faster than Sasaki, who throws a 160 kilometer per hour fastball.

Orix Yamamoto tossed his first complete game of the season with nine innings of one-run ball against Seibu on Aug. 8. He struck out 13 batters, his most in a single game this season. Photo source=Oryx Buffaloes SNS
M close. Two sliders and a forkball.

His elbow surgery seems to have given him confidence. He’s a force to be reckoned with among the best pitchers in the game, and we’re eager to see how he finishes the season.