Why is "Those from Japanese national university" here? Support for 'out of the blue' to Ulsan Wales → introduced a 149km class with the maximum speed "I'm curious about ABS"

*This content was translated by AI.

An unexpected "giant" appeared at the tryout site in Ulsan Wales. The veteran pitcher, who left a record of 24 wins in the Japanese professional baseball (NPB) and also wore the Japanese national team uniform in 2018, knocked on the door to the KBO League's second-tier stage. The main character is Akita Okada (33), a right-hander from the Hiroshima Toyokap.

On the 13th, the Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium, where the Ulsan Wales tryout was held, showed a suspicious sight. This is because Okada, who played in NPB and even had a national team career, appeared to participate in the tryout. When he took the bullpen mound for a practice pitch, many paid attention.

Okada, who showed off his full-fledged pitching on the mound, showed off his sharp pitching as much as he did in his heyday. The maximum speed recorded on the day was 149 kilometers. The rotation and control of the ball seemed overwhelming for batters playing in the KBO League's second-tier league to cope.

Okada is from the first round of the 2015 NPB Rookie Draft. Shota Imana (33, Chicago Cubs), who is currently playing in the Major League, is in the same year as Shota Imana in the draft. At that time, Imanaga was nominated by Yokohama, and Okada was chosen as Hiroshima's first-round player. Okada recorded a record of 24-17 with a 4.36 ERA in 71 games in the NPB's first division from the 2016 to 2019 season.

In particular, in the 2017 season, Okada also recorded 12 wins and 5 losses in 24 games. He was selected for the U.S.-Japan All-Star Game held in November 2018, but did not play much. On November 9, 2018, Juan Soto hit a home run against the U.S. and allowed two runs in one inning, which was not good. He tried to make a comeback after undergoing elbow ligament reconstruction around October 2021, but there has been no first-team appearance since the 2019 season. He even took the mound in the 2024 season exhibition game, which was the NPB's last season, but his regular league appearance failed. In the end, he was notified of his release ahead of the 2025 season, and he spent the 2025 season with a social baseball team called Meiji Yasuda.

Okada, who finished the tryout on the day, said, "The introduction of robot referees is the most interesting factor for the Korean stage. I wanted to try it in Korea, so I came to the scene," he said.

He also looked forward to facing off against Korean batters. Okada said, "When I look at the league as a whole, I know there are many powerful hitters. There were not many opportunities to face off, but there was a lot of talk that if you hit a Korean batter, you can do it with your power. I want to face power hitters in a different environment. I also came like this because I wanted to overcome this environment and test whether I could throw my ball," he added.

Ulsan Wales will first fill the first to third starters with foreign players. Okada is also one of the candidates. Park Myung-hwan (49), a pitching coach who watched the pitch closely, told Star News, "For sure, Japanese pitchers were excellent in control and detail. I was really prepared for that part today," he said with satisfaction.

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*This content was translated by AI.