Japan Professional Playoffs" Ham's surprise move? Arihara Kohei, whose ERA broke 4, faced off against the Western League's defensive rating leader

Ham supervisor Tsuyoshi Shinjo. (File photo, taken by reporter Lin Zhengkun)

[Sports Center/Comprehensive Report] The first round of the climax series of the Nippon Professional Football League playoffs will begin tomorrow, with a best-of-three series. Seibu Lions, second in the Pacific League, will face Nippon Ham, third in the Western League, at home. The two sides announced their starting pitchers today. Seibu sent star pitcher Kaiba Hirara, and Ham unexpectedly introduced star right-hander Kohei Arihara. Ham supervisor Tsuyoshi Shinjo believes that Arihara Kohei is very accustomed to pitching on this big stage.

Arihara Kohei, who returned to Ham this season with a four-year total of about 3 billion yen, is in poor condition this year. He started 17 games in the entire season and shutout 2 of them, with a record of 7 wins and 9 losses. His ERA of 4.44 was the worst in the past 6 years. He pitched a total of 103.1 innings with 67 strikeouts, a batting average of 0.282, and a WHIP of 1.34.

Kaiba Taira started in 22 of the 23 games he played this season. He had one shutout and a record of 12 wins and 5 losses. His ERA was only 1.36, the leader in ERA this year in the Pacific League. He pitched a total of 146 innings with 141 strikeouts, a batting average of 0.185, and a WHIP of 0.96.

Japanese media "Daily News" reported that as to why it was not sent to the foreign league winning pitch king Kitayama Wataru, or last year's Sawamura Award winner Itou Daimi, Shinjo said, "We decided to start Arihara Kohei, who was in a sluggish state this year. After the start of the season, he has been unable to show his original strength. Later, he was decentralized to the second team for adjustments, and finally regained his original Arihara Kohei. In addition, his performance at this stadium is also good, and he is very accustomed to pitching on this kind of competition stage."

Shinjo Tsuyoshi also teased Ham star Kotaro Kiyomiya, who is the team's player president, "I think as long as the player president doesn't make mistakes, we should be able to win."

Tsuyoshi Shinjo named the 20-year-old two-point pitcher Shibata Shishi, a key player in the Ham team. "Shibata-kun's data has not been grasped by opponents yet, right? And it seems that he should also be able to deal with fast pitchers." The Ham are expected to start the game with Shibata as the first baseman.