Junichi ace Hiroto Takahashi, 20, a member of Japan’s 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) team, is crying over his bad luck.
He’s been pitching at the top of his game, but hasn’t been able to get any run support and has only won one game (6 losses).
He pitched well against the Orix on April 4, striking out a whopping 13 batters in seven innings of no-hit ball, but it wasn’t enough to get him the win.
Takahashi is the new star of Japanese baseball.
He burst onto the scene last year and quickly dominated the league. With a 2.47 ERA, he quickly established himself as the team’s ace.
His stock rose when he was selected to the WBC team.
His fastball averages over 150 mph. He is recognized for his ability to overpower opponents with his power.
However, this season, he hasn’t been able to win many games. He hasn”t been able to do so because of his team”s poor batting lineup.
Takahashi still has a 2.47 ERA this season.
In 51 innings pitched, he has allowed 40 hits (4 home runs), 61 walks, 18 strikeouts, and 17 runs (14 earned).
His strikeout-to-walk ratio is a whopping 10.76. His BABIP is a respectable 0.212 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3.39. His WHIP is just 1.14.
However, he hasn’t had much luck with wins.
Since his first win of the season on April 6, when he pitched six innings of one-run ball against Yakult, he has lost six of his last eight games.
It’s not just bad luck, it’s the worst win drought in baseball.
He hasn’t pitched a single game of less than five innings and has been piling up losses instead of wins.
Junichi’s poor batting is to blame.
Through 10 days, the team is batting .241, which is fifth out of six teams. They are last in runs scored with 159. That’s almost 40 runs out of fifth place. They’re also the only team with 24 home runs, the only team with less than 30.먹튀검증
It doesn’t matter how well you pitch, if you don’t have the bats to back it up, there’s no way to win.
How long will Takahashi’s bad luck continue, and there doesn’t seem to be much he can do about it other than take his mind off winning.