<figure id="attachment_420173" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-420173" style="width: 1680px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="50f2a047"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/04/3c674a32e708020ae72cfbfc38788587.jpg" alt="開幕からあまり笑顔が見られない高津監督"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-420173" class="wp-caption-text">Manager Takatsu with a noticeably unflattering expression on his face</figcaption></figure>
<h2> A well-timed demotion to the second team</h2>
 The Yakult baseball team, which has been on fire to regain the championship, has had to fight a sluggish battle since the start of the season.
 Manager Shingo Takatsu (56), summing up the spring training camp in February, said bitterly, &#8220;I don&#8217;t feel that the team&#8217;s strength has improved in any particular way. I don&#8217;t think we can go on like this.
 Last offseason, there were constant rumors within the team that Takatsu would step down as manager, but there were also reports that the head of the parent company, who has the authority to make decisions, was ill at the time and was unable to make a final decision. Either way, his departure was inevitable even if the team finished third or higher in Class A this season, and the only way to continue pitching was to win the championship.
 However, the team was so short of starting pitchers that they had to have their oldest pitcher, Masaki Ishikawa (45), pitch in the season opener at their home base. Yasunobu Okugawa (23), who was entrusted with the starting pitcher&#8217;s job, managed to throw 90 pitches in six innings, but the risk of a breakdown is still there,&#8221; said an alumnus of the team.
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 For Yakult, which has concerns about its pitching staff, its main source of hope is its star-studded lineup of fielders. &#8230;&#8230;
 The team&#8217;s top pitching prospect, Tetsuto Yamada, 32, dislocated a tendon in his left hand while playing defense in an open game against the Giants on March 1, and he finally returned to the lineup on March 2 against Hiroshima.
 In addition, Mike Baumann (29), a new assistant pitcher for the former Marlins, also left the lineup with an upper-body condition problem. It has turned into a &#8220;hospital for the war&#8221; even though the season opener is just a few days away.
 The one who is panicking is none other than manager Takatsu, who immediately began &#8220;approaching&#8221; the team&#8217;s top brass.
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 Eigoro Mogi, 31, an FA acquisition from Rakuten, has filled in at third base in Murakami&#8217;s absence, but the team is still overwhelmingly short of infielders. Therefore, we have requested, &#8216;Can you find someone somehow? The organizers are trying to acquire players by all means, including trades with other teams and money, under the radar. The target is Softbank&#8217;s &#8220;long-range gun&#8221; infielder Richard Sunagawa (25).
 He has been playing for the first team as a &#8220;stand-in&#8221; for Ryoya Kurihara (28), who was out of the season due to a right side injury, but he has been back in the second team because of his poor offense and defense. Even so, from the perspective of Yakult, he is an attractive hitter, even if you have to turn a blind eye to his defense.
 Can he overcome the difficulties that have suddenly come his way?

 Kyodo News

 The Yakult baseball team, which has been on the verge of regaining the championship, has been sluggish since the start of the season. What is the "secret plan" that manager Takatsu, in such a pinch, has requested from the upper management?

Yakult manager Shingo Takatsu, in a pinch, plans to acquire Richard Sunagawa. ……

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