*This content was translated by AI.
The Japanese national baseball team's starting lineup for the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), led by Ibata Hirokazu (51), has been virtually confirmed.
Japanese media Chunichi Sports said on the 6th, "Yusei Kikuchi (35, LA Angels) is scheduled to start the against South Korea / vs. Korea on the 7th."
Kikuchi is also a familiar player to Korean baseball fans as he shared a team-up with Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha Eagles) at the Toronto Blue Jays from 2022-2023. He is a left-hander whose strength is a fast ball of up to 159 kilometers per hour, recording 48 wins, 58 losses and an ERA of 4.46 in 199 games in the Major League.
He had a curvy career after his debut in 2019 with his shaky control, but he is said to have laid the foundation for a turnaround after being traded to the Houston Astros in 2024. According to Alex Avila of Major League Baseball's Tonight program, Kikuchi's focus on fastball and sliders from almost the same arm slot trajectory in Houston worked well.
In addition, instead of throwing the ball accurately, he attempted to throw the fastball at the top of the strike and the slider at a low level, greatly improving his control. Thanks to this improvement, he achieved a career high season last year with 7 wins and 11 losses with a 3.99 ERA and 174 strikeouts in 178 ⅓ innings in 33 games.
Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants), Moon Bo-kyung (26, LG Twins), and Kim Hye-sung (27, LA Dodgers) are also expected to be a tricky opponent for the Korean batters.
Kikuchi, the first national team member, said, "I feel the weight of the Japanese flag. I want to join forces with Ohtani and reliable players and go together to win consecutive Japanese championships," he said.
In a practice game against the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Orix Buffaloes on the 2nd, he was sluggish with three runs in four innings. In response, Kikuchi said, "Overall, the ball was good. I was good throughout the spring camp," he said.
In the first game against Taiwan on the 6th, ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto (28, LA Dodgers) will play. Out of the blue, the news first came from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts in the U.S. spring camp. On the same day, Roberts hinted, "Yamamoto is going to throw three innings for the Japanese national team tonight."
Japan lost to Taiwan in the final in the 2024 Premier 12, breaking its 27th consecutive international competition. In the same competition as the head coach, he put up an ace to repay the humiliation.
As the first and second starters are decided, the starting matchup against Australia on the 8th and the Czech Republic on the 10th is naturally confirmed. Chunichi Sports said, "The match against Australia on the 8th was played by Tomoyuki Sugano (37, Colorado Rockies). Sugano pitched two scoreless innings for the Orix on the 2nd. Australia beat Taiwan in the opening game and got on the flow," he said.
Left-hander Ito Hiromi (29, Nippon Ham Fighters) is mentioned in the last match against the Czech Republic. Ito is also considered a next-generation ace with various breaking balls as a left-hander throwing a fastball of up to 156 kilometers per hour. He joined the national team from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and contributed to the victory with two perfect innings in three games as a bullpen in the 2023 WBC.
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*This content was translated by AI.
