Kimura Yoshiharu, a former professional baseball player for Kintetsu, Chunichi, and Seibu, appeared live on MBS Radio’s “Kimura Yoshiharu no Eekagen ni Sē!” on May 11, where he discussed the late-inning pitching decisions in the Hanshin Tigers’ come-from-behind loss against the DeNA BayStars on May 9 at Koshien Stadium.
“He pitched so well, but… Otake is not like (Takahashi) Haruto. He uses a confounding pitching style. Aiming for a complete game shutout is a mistake. He should know that himself. If Mr. Okada (former manager Akinobu Okada) were in charge, he would have already replaced the pitcher,” Kimura said.
Starter Kōtarō Otake mixed in his trademark slow balls, allowing only five hits and no runs through seven innings, keeping runners off second base. However, the game turned in the eighth inning with a 1–0 lead. After one out, consecutive hits by Hayashi and Naruse were followed by a walk to pinch hitter Miyazaki, loading the bases. Ebina then hit a game-tying RBI single to right, and Doi followed with a go-ahead two-run single to left. Manager Fujikawa did not make a pitching change, possibly influenced by the bullpen’s struggles the previous day (May 8), when relievers allowed eight runs.
Although the team finished the Golden Week nine-game stretch with a 5–4 record, they went 1–2 in the three-game series against DeNA. While they hold second place, one game behind the league-leading Yakult Swallows, they have not shown the same dominant form that led them to the league championship last year.
“Last year everything went smoothly — no injuries, plenty of pitchers. This year’s situation is unprecedented. No (Takumu) Kono, no (Teruaki) Ohyama. When key players get injured, chaos follows. If either (Shogo) Morishita or (Teruaki) Sato gets hurt, it would be a disaster — scoring power would drop instantly. That’s when a manager’s decisions are truly tested,” Kimura passionately argued.
