Professional Baseball's Rakuten has decided that Takahisa Hayakawa, a fourth-year professional pitcher, will serve as the opening pitcher for the first time in the opening game against Seibu on March 29th. The left-handed pitcher who is in his fourth year as a professional, joined the team in first place in the draft and started 24 games in his first year, winning nine games.
Last fall he was the only player selected by Rakuten to represent Japan in an international tournament that consisted of young players.