Last appearance before advancing to the ML?
Monster pitcher' Yoshinobu Yamamoto (25, Orix Buffaloes), who has won four Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) titles for three consecutive years, scrambles to save the team that is on the brink.
Yamamoto will be the starting pitcher for Game 6 of the Japan Series against the Hanshin Tigers to be held at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan at 6:30 pm on the 4th. Orix was ahead with 2 wins and 1 loss until the 3rd game, but lost (3-4) in the bottom of the 9th inning in the 4th game on the 1st, and then suffered a come-from-behind loss in the 5th game (2-6) on the 2nd, falling to Hanshin with 2 wins and 3 losses. We were in danger of losing the championship. In this situation, Yamamoto takes the mound to save the ‘defending champion’ Orix’s chances of losing two games in a row.
Yamamoto is, in name and reality, the best pitcher in Japan. Yamamoto, who pitched in 23 games this season and showed outstanding performance with 16 wins, 6 losses, an ERA of 1.21, and 196 strikeouts, became the first player in NPB history to achieve four wins (multiple wins, ERA, strikeouts, and winning percentage) for three consecutive years. Based on these performances, Yamamoto was selected as the winner of the 'Sawamura Award', an award given to Japan's best pitcher, announced on October 30, and achieved the feat of winning the award for three consecutive years.
But he couldn't be just happy. Yamamoto was battered by the Hanshin lineup in Game 1 of the Japan Series held on October 28th, allowing 10 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 7 runs in 5⅔ innings. He previously won the first game of the Climax Series Final Stage against the Chiba Lotte Marines on October 18, but his pitching was not good, allowing 10 hits, 9 strikeouts, and 5 runs in 7 innings.
Yamamoto is already receiving a lot of attention during the season, with numerous scouts and club officials visiting his games in person. In the Major League, where the World Series has ended and the off-season has begun in earnest, Yamamoto is considered one of the best players in the Stove League after Shohei Otani. Game 6 of the Japan Series is likely to be Yamamoto's last game in Japan before advancing to the major leagues. In fact, a lot of attention is being paid to whether Yamamoto will be able to avenge his poor performance in the first game and drag the series to the seventh game in the final match on the Japanese stage.
Meanwhile, Shoki Murakami, who led Hanshin to victory in the first game with a perfect pitch in 7 innings, allowing 2 hits, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk, and no runs, will have a rematch with Yamamoto. If Hanshin wins Game 6, it will win the Japan Series for the first time in 38 years since 1985.