A nightmare from last year suddenly comes to mind. There was a reason why Rocky Sasaki (Chiba Lotte Marines) went down the mound after 5 innings despite pitching well enough to continue the ‘no hit’ streak on the 5th. It was because of the ‘blister’.
Sasaki started in the 2023 Japan Professional Baseball Softbank Hawks home match held at ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba, Japan on the 5th and recorded 89 pitches, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts and no runs in 5 innings.
The pitcher’s hat was taken off and vinyl was blown to the ground from the spectators’ pitch with a strong wind blowing at 17m/sec. Sasaki ended an uneasy start by giving up a walk after a 10-pout match with lead hitter Akira Nakamura in the first inning, but after catching Tatsuru Yanagimachi with a fly ball in left field, he struck out Kensuke Kondo and Yuki Yanagita consecutively to break a scoreless start.
From the second episode, there was a sense of stability. Sasaki struck out two and marked his first three-way strike in the second inning. And in the 3rd inning, with no runners on the 2nd, Nakamura was sent out with a strike not out, but the inning was concluded without any particular crisis, and Kondo, Yanagita, and Kurihara were all struck out in the 4th inning, showing off a powerful pitch.
In the 5th inning, Sasaki also recorded 5 scoreless innings with a three-way strikeout, including two strikeouts. Although the conditions were not good due to the strong wind, Sasaki looked as if he would get on the mound in the 6th inning as he threw his best pitch. However, despite the fact that the number of pitches was not high at 89, Sasaki did not continue pitching any more.
The reason Sasaki didn’t continue pitching was because of ‘blisters’. According to local media outlets such as Japan’s ‘Sponichi Annex’ and ‘Chunichi Sports’, coach Masato Yoshii said, “I got a blister in a similar place to last year.” down,” he said.
From Sasaki’s point of view, ‘blisters’ are like a nightmare. Sasaki ran from the beginning of the season with better results than Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes), including achieving a “perfect game” against the Orix Buffaloes at the beginning of last year. If his trend continued, it would be a trend to win the first 10 wins in his life as well as the ‘Sawamura Award’ given to the best pitcher.
However, it was on July 1 of last year that a variable occurred. He faced Rakuten Golden Eagles Masahiro Tanaka and struck out 10 strikeouts in 4 innings while continuing his outstanding pitching, and suddenly went down the mound, and was eliminated from the first team the next day. At the time, the reason Sasaki was expelled from the first group was because of blistering symptoms.먹튀검증
Sasaki, who was erased from the first team due to a blister on his right middle finger, only showed up in August, about a month later. Sasaki faced Rakuten again in his comeback match, and as a result, he left a regret with 5 runs (5 earned) in 5⅓ innings, and recorded his second loss of the season. Afterwards, Sasaki finished the season with 9 wins and 4 losses with an ERA of 2.02, unable to show an impact at the beginning of the season due to physical problems.
First of all, this time, I took a preemptive measure before the blisters became serious. However, the next appearance is unclear. Director Yoshii said, “It takes time for the skin to grow back where the blister has formed,” and “I will observe the situation for about three days.”
From Sasaki’s point of view, nightmares are bound to come to mind. It remains to be seen whether Sasaki, who suffered greatly from blisters last year, can avoid the same situation as last year this time.