Japanese baseball pitcher Daiki Iwashita, 28, of the Chiba Lotte Marines, has created a human triumph story. Iwashita, who underwent inoperable surgery last year, returned to the mound six months later and threw a fastball up to 153 mph.
Iwashita threw a one-hit, one-strikeout shutout against the SoftBank Hawks on Friday at Jojo Marine Stadium in Japan.
He took the mound in the seventh inning, trailing 5-0. He threw a 153-kilometer fastball to the first batter he faced, Genta Imamiya, which was a career-high. Iwashita got the first out on a fly ball to left field, and Takuya Kai grounded out to short.
He got Hotaka Yamakawa, who hit a two-run homer on the day, to ground out to shortstop to end the inning. He threw nine fastballs, 바카라사이트 all of which were over 150 mph.
It was a human victory.
According to Japanese media outlet Sportshochi, “Iwashita underwent surgery for yellow ligament ossification of the thoracic spine, a nationally designated incurable disease, last October. In his first start this season, he threw a personal best 153-kilometer fastball. He struck out Yamakawa and pitched a scoreless first inning with no hits and no walks.”
Thoracolumbar ligament ossification is a condition in which the ligaments that connect skeletal tissues become thickened or calcified and harden into bones. “It felt like my left lower half was paralyzed and hardened,” he said of his surgery last year.
After surgery, he began leg balance rehabilitation and returned to training a month later. He continued his rehabilitation with the advice of a second-team pitching coach who had a similar condition.
“I’ve had several surgeries before, but I was more nervous than any other comeback. I threw hard,” he said, adding, “I don’t think it’s ever going to be perfect, but I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable.”
Iwashita joined Chiba Lotte with the third overall pick in the 2014 draft. He underwent elbow ligament splicing surgery at the end of 2015 and spent all of 2016 rehabbing. He made his first-team debut in 2018 and won seven games in 2020 and eight in 2021. 메이저 토토사이트 In March 2022, he underwent another elbow surgery.
Until last year, he had a 3.89 ERA in 120 games with 23 wins, 21 losses, and 14 holds. Last year, he appeared in 27 games, going 1-3 with a 2.93 ERA, before going on the disabled list in October.