Despite the praise of the head coach, "Was he from Japan National University?" the KBO debut game, which was like a nightmare with "9 hits, 3 wild pitches and 5 runs." [the scene of Incheon]

*This content was translated by AI.

Shota Takeda (33, SSG Landers), who was active in the Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB), was a big difference from his past reputation. Takeda left a bitter aftertaste in his KBO League debut.

Takeda started the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League home game against the Kiwoom Heroes at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 1st and threw 90 pitches in four ⅔ innings, allowing nine hits, one walk, five strikeouts and five runs.

SSG brought him to the Asian quarter for an annual salary of $200,000 (about 300 million won), but many said it was too cheap considering his career. Takeda was such a raspy cotyledon that he would be drafted by the softbank hawks in the first round of the 2011 NPB Rookie Draft.

In 14 seasons in the NPB, he was a pitcher with 66 wins, 48 losses and a 3.33 ERA in 217 games and played as a team ace with 13 wins and 14 wins in 2015 and 2016. He also played with the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 and the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

He has high RBI fastballs, curves, sliders, folk balls and even sweepers, but surgery was a variable. He underwent elbow surgery in April 2024 and later focused on rehabilitation.

SSG has been watching Takeda from a long time ago enough to send scouts to the second-tier game, and recruited him after confirming that he had no problem with his physical condition.

He took the mound twice in the exhibition game and raised expectations with two runs in six innings, and head coach Lee Soo-yong said before the game, "So far, I'm throwing well without getting sick, and I think it's okay in areas like game management," adding, "I'm looking forward to it because the speed is coming up little by little." I hope I throw well today, but I think I'll make a more stable pitch if I put the first button well," he said.

"I think it will get better and better even if the balance is broken a little bit. He is a pitcher who has won more than 60 games in the NPB, and when you look at the preparation process, he is a player who you can't help but like. He is thorough enough to carry a trackman. I hope young players will see and learn more in that regard. "I'm only thinking of about 90 pitches," he said.

However, he pitched completely contrary to expectations. After getting a hit by Trenton Brooks from the first inning, he committed a wild pitch. Lee Ju-hyung also got a double and gave up the first run too easily. He seemed to get out of the crisis by striking out An Chi-hong and Kim Gun-hee in succession, but he again received hits from Choo Jae-hyun and Park Chan-hyuk. He allowed a walk to Eo Jun-seo, recording his third run with a wild pitch once again with the bases loaded.

He finished the second and third innings simply, and in the fourth inning, he was in crisis due to hits and defensive errors, but he skillfully finished the inning with a rookie strikeout and a ground ball to the second base.

He seemed to have stabilized, but he shook again in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lee Joo-hyung and An Chi-hong had consecutive hits, and he threw wild pitches with two outs to give up his fifth run. In the end, the SSG bench moved and handed the ball over to Park Si-hoo and came down.

The strike rate was 71.1% (64/90), which was not a runaway pitch. Thirty-seven balls were sprayed in two types. Curve (22 pitches), change-up (17 pitches), slider (9 pitches) and sweeper (5 pitches) were mixed, but many pitches were not effective.

There was only one sand dune, but it was regrettable that the fastball was 145 kilometers per hour. There was also a sharp hit by the Kiwoom batters, but Molly also came out with the ball and the three wild pitches that came out at every critical moment were painful.

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*This content was translated by AI.