Kanemaru Yumeto Laughs Off Fateful Encounter: “Nothing is Coming Out!”

The ambition of the generation’s number one left-handed pitcher.

At the Draft Conference, where the fate of amateur players aiming to play professional baseball in Japan is left up to them, the left-hander decided to join the Chunichi Dragons after competing with four other teams.

The author visited Kansai University during the league season, where Kanemaru Yumeto had extended his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to “72 innings,” continuing from last fall’s league games. Kanemaru says:

“My current goal is to go pro as a first-round draft pick and ultimately become a pitcher representing Japan. It’s nice to be called the ‘Tiger’s sweetheart’ by the media and Tigers fans in Kansai, but I don’t even know where I’ll be drafted. All I can do is work hard to perform well in the role assigned by the team that selects me.”

Of course, he also has thoughts of challenging the major leagues in the future.

“In the end, even if I want to challenge myself, not everyone can be like Shohei Ohtani. For now, my focus is on continuing to excel in Japanese professional baseball.”

 

 

Influenced by his father, who served as a high school baseball umpire in Hyogo Prefecture, Kanemaru Yumeto picked up the white ball and worked hard in baseball alongside his father. Although he dreamed of standing on the same stage as his father at Koshien during the spring and summer tournaments, the competitions were canceled during his third year at Shinko Tachibana High School due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was frustrating, but I came to think positively about how I could use that time productively to become the person I am today. For a player like me, who enjoys practicing independently rather than just doing what I’m told, it was a valuable opportunity for growth.”

While Koshien was canceled, Kanemaru Yumeto finished his high school baseball career as a member of the top eight in Hyogo’s independent tournament. However, someone noticed his talent: Takashi Yamaguchi (74), a former standout pitcher with the Hankyu Braves and an alumnus of Shinko Tachibana High School.

“Normally, you need to have a strong performance in high school to get into Kansai University, but because of the COVID-19 situation and my connection with Yamaguchi-san, who is a pitching coach at the university, I was able to enroll,” Kanemaru explained.

After entering university, he began to make a name for himself, and in March of this year, he was selected for the Samurai Japan top team alongside other players like Ruito Muneyama and Yuto Nakamura from Aichi Institute of Technology. He started a match against the European representative team and pitched two perfect innings.

Standing at 177 cm tall, he is a handsome fourth-year student. Surely, if he walked around campus in casual clothes, he would be quite popular. When the baseball team’s managers heard that an interview from “FRIDAY” was coming, they worried it might be a scandal and were apprehensive about the kind of questions he would face.

“Nothing will come out of this! I’m just a normal university student. (laughs),” he remarked.

Although he has recovered from a stress fracture in his lower back sustained earlier in the spring, he entered the fall league with little practical experience on the mound. Nevertheless, he did not allow any earned runs, showcasing impressive pitching under pressure and further enhancing his reputation.

“I believe my strengths lie more in the sharpness and quality of my pitches than in speed. People often say pitching is about throwing with your fingertips, but I focus on the sensation of releasing the ball from the palm of my hand. It’s like imagining crushing the ball at the center of my palm. When throwing balls over 150 km/h, they can sometimes slip, but maintaining that palm sensation helps me control it,” he explained.

Under the new management of coach Kazuki Inoue, Kanemaru aims to become the ace of the Dragons.