Darvish Yu (37, San Diego Padres), the veteran ace of the Japanese baseball team, allowed a large home run during live pitching.
According to Japanese media outlets such as Nikkan Sports and Tokyo Sports, Darvish, who is training for the Japanese national team, started live pitching on the 21st.
Darvish, who is eating rice with Kim Ha-seong (28) in San Diego, is the spiritual pillar of Japanese baseball. He is 95-75 with a 3.50 earned run average in his major league career.
It has been about 11 years and 4 months since Darvish, who entered the major leagues in 2012, took the mound at a stadium in Japan. He is currently the only Japanese major leaguer who joined the Japanese national team early and is training.
Above all, Darvish is predicted to be a strong choice for the Korean match in the first round (March 10) of this WBC tournament. 스포츠토토
Even though it was not an official match, such Darvish was hit with a proper shot.
He was pitching against Munetaka Murakami (23, Yakult Swallows), who was standing at bat, and the ball he threw on the 4th pitch formed a high pitch. Murakami, who did not miss this, swung the bat vigorously and connected it to a large home run that hit the back screen of the stadium directly.
Murakami is a home run hitter representing Japan. Last season, he shot 56 home runs, setting the record for the most home runs in a single season by a Japanese batsman. The youngest unanimous best player (MVP) in the 2022 season of the Japanese Professional Baseball Central League was also his share.
According to Japanese reports, after live pitching, Darvish met with reporters and said, “I thought it would pass the moment it hit me. Even so, it’s sad to be publicly executed in a place like this.”
He said, “I tried to put a two-seam fastball into the body, but the ball went high in the middle,” and praised Murakami, saying, “Even major leaguers can’t hit it that easily, but I was surprised to hit it in one shot.” Murakami recorded two hits in three at-bats against Darvish that day.
Although he gave up a home run, there is an atmosphere in Japan where Darvish is not very worried. Tokyo Sports said, “Darvish’s live pitching wasn’t bad overall. His main weapon, the slider, also showed a sharp side. He is steadily improving his condition.”