Will the path of honor finally open...197 wins in total, two scoreless innings without four pitches by Tanaka, handling a monster Murakami fly ball to left field

Mar 02, 2025

Tanaka started the exhibition game against Yakult on the 2nd and pitched two scoreless innings. He pitched two consecutive scoreless innings, including the game against Chiba Lotte on February 24. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS

Tanaka took the mound at Tokyo Dome, Yomiuri's home stadium, for the first time on the 2nd. Yomiuri fans welcomed Tanaka with warm applause. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS

Kaiwa Tanaka, a catcher who transferred from Softbank. On the 2nd, he played with a battery in the match against Yakult. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS

Masahiro Tanaka (37), a right-hander legend who is aiming for the "200 wins" in the U.S.-Japan career, continues to erase the question mark. As a Yomiuri Giants player, he pitched two consecutive games without losing a point. In the first game, he finished one inning with 10 pitches, and in the second game, he stopped two innings with 22 pitches.

If you go at the same pace, you can start the season in the first team as a starter. Tanaka, who had no win last year, has a career record of '197 wins' in the U.S. and Japan. Adding three more wins will make him the third player to reach 200 after seniors Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish (San Diego Padres).

The Yakult Swallows exhibition game was held at Tokyo Dome on the 2nd. There was a strange tension. As announced, Tanaka made his first appearance in the Tokyo Dome game, Yomiuri's home ground. Yomiuri fans welcomed Tanaka, who changed his uniform number to No. 11, with warm applause.

First batter in the top of the first inning, Yoshihiro Akahane. He had a heavy hit in the ball count of 1B2S. In the fourth pitch, a 140km/h fastball drove into the middle of the strike zone.

Even after sending out the leadoff hitter, he calmly targeted the opponent like a veteran. The Yakult center batting line was put to rest without a hit. He handled No. 2 Nagaoka Hideki with a fly ball to third base, No. 3 Domingo Santana with a fly ball to center field, and No. 4 Murakami Munetaka with a fly ball to left field. Nagaoka and Santana caught the fastball, and Murakami caught the first pitch with a sinking slider on the lower course.

Nagaoka is the main hitter who ranked No. 1 in hits in the Central League last year, Santana ranked No. 1 in on-base percentage, and Murakami ranked No. 1 in home runs and RBIs. Turned these three around on four pitches.

Jose Osuna, the leadoff hitter in the top of the second inning. He caught it with a fly ball to center field. I pressed it with a 144km/h fastball at 1B. Daiki Hamada six times after one death. 1B1S에서 스플리

Tanaka posing with manager Abe at the Yomiuri joining ceremony. Tanaka is aiming to open the first team as a starting pitcher. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS

I threw the ground. Hamada hit this ball and made it a double that fell into the left-field line.

With one out and a runner on the second base, he caught two out-counts with an infield grounder. He hit No. 7 Uchiyama Soma with a grounder to third base and No. 8 Naoki Matsumoto with a grounder to shortstop. A fastball thrown against Matsumoto hit a maximum speed of 145 kilometers per hour on the day.

Two hits and no runs in two innings, 22 pitches. He finished the game without striking out and four outs. Tanaka worked with catcher Takuya Guy (aged 33), who moved from Softbank Hawks, on the same day. In an interview with Japanese media, he said, `It was good to throw the ball into the strike zone with a small pitch and catch the batter.' The speed of the ball fell more than 5 kilometers from the previous one, but the ball control went well.

Tanaka went against the Chiba Lotte Marines on February 24 and recorded no hits and no runs in one inning. He posted a maximum speed of 145 km in the race.

Tanaka, who was aiming for a career `200 wins' in the U.S. and Japan, pitched only one game last year. In the game ahead of the end of the season, he allowed four runs in five innings and became a losing pitcher. I had surgery on my right elbow in the fall of 2023, and this lightly thought operation held me back until the end. Late last year, the Rakuten Eagles left the team after demanding a significant salary cut. There was a widespread sense of crisis that he would not find his team. However, Yomiuri held Rakuten Legend's hand.

Tanaka has 197 wins from the U.S. If he adds three wins, he will achieve 200 wins for the third time after senior Kuroda and Darvish. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS

Tanaka, who made his professional debut in 2007, won 119 games for Rakuten and 78 games for the New York Yankees. He pitched in a total of 422 games between the U.S. and Japan. I wonder how many wins will be added in the Yomiuri.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.