Giants Ace Togoh Struggling with 11.00+ ERA — Ex-Pitcher Suggests Demotion to Minors

“Even if his fastball has decent velocity, it lacks sharpness. No matter how fast it is, without power behind the pitch, his breaking balls won’t be effective either, and hitters are able to easily judge the pitches,”

says Yoshimasa Takahashi, a former Giants pitcher and former manager of Chuo University’s baseball team.

Takahashi offers a harsh assessment of 25-year-old Giants pitcher Shosei Togoh. Togoh had recorded 12 wins for three consecutive seasons up to last year and was expected to be the team’s ace this season after Tomoyuki Sugano’s move to the majors. However, he has been in dreadful form. As of April 21, he has made three appearances in the top league with a record of 0 wins and 2 losses and a disastrous ERA in the 11s, leading to his demotion to the minors.

“In the season opener against Yakult (March 28), he allowed 4 runs in 5 innings, and in the next game against Hanshin (April 4), he gave up 3 runs in 3 innings, failing to hold things together in either game. The worst was his third outing against Hiroshima (April 11). He gave up 10 hits and a career-worst 10 runs before being pulled in the fourth inning.

It must have been a considerable shock. He kept shaking his head on the mound and hung his head in the dugout after being taken out. Manager Shinnosuke Abe also expressed his disappointment, saying, ‘I wanted him to take responsibility,’ and it was decided after the game that he would be sent down to the minors,” reports a sports newspaper writer.

“He’s pitching too much.”

Why is it that Togoh, who maintained steady results through last season, even winning the strikeout title twice, is struggling so badly this year? Takahashi offers an explanation:

“He’s pitching too much. In each of the past three years, his innings pitched have exceeded 170. On top of that, he participated in the WBC in March 2023. In November last year, he was the starting pitcher in the Premier12 final against Taiwan. He probably hasn’t had enough time to rest both physically and mentally.

Even during spring camp this season, he didn’t seem to be in good shape. In a preseason game against the Dodgers in March, he gave up three home runs in a single inning. No matter how strong the opposing major league batters are, it was something we hadn’t seen from Togoh before.”

Takahashi offers some tough advice for Togoh:

“Serious-minded as he is, Togoh probably feels a strong sense of responsibility to lead the team now that Sugano is gone. I understand his desire to quickly return to the first team. But if he comes back before recovering from accumulated fatigue, it will only worsen both his physical and mental condition and lead to more bad results. If that ends in a serious injury, it would be disastrous.

There’s already talk of an early return to the first team, but I can’t support that. Togoh should stay in the minors for a while. He’s still only 25. If he takes time to properly rest his body, the pitching power he showed up to last season will come back. Once his sharpness returns, the results will naturally follow. Right now, rushing would be the most dangerous thing for Togoh.”

If the Giants are to reclaim the Japan Series title, Togoh is a vital piece. Hopefully, we’ll see him back on the mound soon, fully recovered and making batters swing helplessly at his pitches once again.