Following Lee Jeong-hoo (Kiwoom Heroes) and Shota Imanaga (Yokohama DeNA Baystars), who are expected to advance to the major league after this season, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes) is the ‘ace’ representing Japanese professional baseball. He has also completed preparations to enter the big league.온라인바카라
Yamamoto started the home match against the 2023 Japan Professional Baseball Rakuten Golden Eagles held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 16th (Korean time) and pitched 104 pitches in 7 innings, allowing 8 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 3 runs (2 earned). He fought back, but suffered defeat because he did not receive help from the batting line.
In a match against the Chiba Lotte Marines on the 9th, Yamamoto recorded 102 pitches, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks (1 walk, 1 walk), and no runs in 9 innings, achieving the 100th ‘no hit, no run’ in Japanese professional baseball history. The ‘no hit, no run’ shined even brighter because it was a record made in front of scouts from 11 major league teams, including New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman at the time.
As he had pitched a no-hitter in his previous appearance, the factor that attracted the most attention in today’s appearance was whether he could record a ‘no-hit’ in two consecutive games. Last year’s ‘165 km monster’ Loki Sasaki (Chiba Lotte) achieved a perfect game against Orix, and in his next appearance, he pitched 8 innings of perfect pitching, running toward the ‘feat’ in two consecutive games, so expectations were bound to increase.
Contrary to expectations, Yamamoto struggled quite a bit against Rakuten that day. Yamamoto continued his no-hit streak by turning Rakuten’s top batting lineup into a three-way strike in the first inning. However, he gave up a hit to leadoff hitter Hideto Asamura in the second inning, breaking his no-hit record that had been ongoing since the game against the Nippon Ham Fighters on the 2nd after 13 innings. Yamamoto, who was shaken after giving up a walk, finished the inning without giving up a run.
His first run came in the third inning. Yamamoto faced the second run crisis of the day when he got hits from Hiroto Kobukata and Hiroaki Shimauchi in the third inning. And he allowed a timely hit to Asamura, who had broken his no-hit streak, and allowed consecutive hits to the follow-up hitter Takero Okajima, allowing the game to go back to 1-2.
Yamamoto finished the 4th inning without allowing a run, but gave up another run in the 5th inning when he was hit by a hit and an error. Still, Yamamoto did his part. He prevented a run crisis in the 6th inning with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd base, and finished the day’s pitching by going on the mound in the 7th inning and holding Rakuten’s batting line to no runs.
Despite Quality Start+ (less than 3 earned runs in 7 innings), he did not receive support from the batting line and failed to achieve 15 wins for 3 consecutive years for the first time in 44 years since Hisashi Yamada from 1976 to 1979, but Yamamoto’s true value was shown on this day as well. He allowed only 3 runs despite pitching allowing 9 hits and 2 walks. In front of 9 major league teams and over 20 scouts, he demonstrated how to play on days when conditions are not good.
First of all, Yamamoto, who completed a ‘showcase’ for major league clubs by achieving ‘no hit and no run’ in his previous appearance, has now completed the final preparations to advance to the big league. Japan’s ‘Sports Hochi’ reported on the 16th, “Yoshinobu Yamamoto selected Joel Wolff of the large American agent ‘Wasserman’ as his negotiating agent.” This is the third contract since Lee Jung-hoo, who is aiming to advance to the big league through the posting system, signed a contract with Scott Boras, who is called the ‘Devil’s Agent’, and Imanaga signed a contract with ‘Octagon’.
Joel Wolff is one of the most famous agents in the Major League and also has many Japanese players. He also has excellent negotiation skills. Prior to last season, Wolf signed a 5-year, $70 million (approximately KRW 93.1 billion) contract with Suzuki and the Cubs, and prior to this season, a 6-year, $108 million (approximately KRW 143.7 billion) extension with Darvish, who has 196 wins in total between the U.S. and Japan, and San Diego. A contract was reached. And he is the one who brought about a 5-year contract worth $75 million (approximately 99.8 billion won) between Senga and the Mets, who were aiming to enter the major leagues.
Yamamoto has already expressed his intention to advance to the major leagues in public for a long time. Orix did not publicly approve or support Yamamoto’s posting, but it is highly likely that it will support Yamamoto’s challenge, just as it approved Masataka Yoshida’s posting last year. And by completing the appointment of his agent, he has completed all preparations to enter the major leagues. All he has to do now is finish the rest of the season well.