Rakuten Professional Baseball has announced 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.
On the 28th, Rakuten manager Toshiaki Imae gathered his players before the general practice held at Mobile Park Miyagi in Sendai City, and announced that Hayakawa would be the starting pitcher for the opening game against Seibu.
In response, pitcher Hayakawa expressed his determination, saying, ``I'll do my best to get off to a good start from the opening day.''
Hayakawa, a 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.
After that, he was unable to play throughout the season due to injuries, but last fall he was the only player selected by Rakuten to represent Japan in an international tournament that consisted of young players.
At the camp, there were high expectations for his progress as he worked on learning the forkball as a new deciding ball.
Manager Imae said, ``I felt a sense of mission from Pitcher Hayakawa's facial expressions and atmosphere this year.He is a player who absolutely has to lead the team as the new Eagles compete.'' was sent.
Pitcher Hayakawa expressed his enthusiasm, saying, ``I'm feeling tense.The opening pitcher is the face of the team, so I want to show my strong will not to give up to the opponent and give the team momentum.''