Younger Brother Daiki of Kanano Agricultural Heads to Koshien, While Older Brother Kosei Struggles with Tough Reality

LINE just before the tournament

“I want to surpass my brother.”

Daiki Yoshida (3rd year), the ace of Kanano Agricultural High School (Akita Prefecture), entered the same school his older brother Kosei (24, Orix) attended, driven by this strong desire. This recent achievement is a big step toward realizing that wish. On July 22, Kanano Agricultural defeated Kazuno High School 2-1 in the Akita prefectural final, securing their place in the Koshien tournament starting August 5. Daiki pitched a complete game, throwing 128 pitches in the 10th inning of extra innings.

“Daiki has worn jersey number ‘1’ at Kanano Agricultural since his sophomore summer. He also played in last summer’s Koshien but lost in the first round to Nishinippon Junior College High School (Fukuoka Prefecture) by 6-4. Daiki gave up 5 runs on 9 hits, which must have been frustrating. Determined to stand on the Koshien mound again, when he felt down, he repeatedly watched pitching footage of his brother Kosei, who led Kanano Agricultural to runner-up at the 2018 summer Koshien and sparked the ‘Kanano Storm.’

The brothers are very close, and Daiki has admired and looked up to Kosei since he was young. Just before this summer’s Akita tournament, Daiki reportedly received a LINE message from Kosei saying, ‘Make sure you come to Koshien again this year.’ After qualifying for Koshien, Daiki told the press, ‘I strongly felt I have to achieve better results than Kosei,’” said a sports journalist.

Meanwhile, Kosei. While watching his younger brother’s success and his alma mater’s Koshien qualification during weight training, his current situation is tough.

“After a surprise trade from Nippon Ham to Orix in the 2023 off-season, Kosei appeared in 50 games as a reliever in the 2024 season and earned 14 holds. However, since then, he has been unable to pitch due to a right elbow injury. He underwent Tommy John surgery in March this year and has not pitched at all this season (as of July 30). He is currently continuing rehabilitation and training for his comeback at Orix’s second-team facility,” said a team official.

This is not the first time Kosei has faced adversity since turning pro. Although he won his first professional game in June 2019 against Hiroshima, he went winless until the 2021 season. Despite his immense popularity as a Koshien hero, he was traded to Orix due to a lack of results.

He is indeed a star of the Koshien Stadium

He was also aware of the reasons behind his slump. In an interview with FRIDAY (March 15, 2024, issue), he spoke about the arrogance after his first professional win:

“Right after my first win, I got injured. People around me said things like, ‘Wow, you won right away, amazing,’ ‘Truly a Koshien star.’ I also had confidence. I thought that once my injury healed, I’d be able to perform again in the top league and rack up wins as a starter. But looking back, that thinking was too naive.”

His eagerness to win led to a vicious cycle. He trained relentlessly without considering fatigue and ended up ruining his condition. Reflecting on this, in the off-season of 2023, Kosei visited Kanoya Sports University in Kagoshima to rebuild his body from the ground up. He corrected his pitching form using the weight release theory, which relaxes the right leg that acts as the pivot when stepping forward with the left leg. Through a ketogenic diet that restricted carbohydrates, he lost 2.5 kg of fat.

In the same FRIDAY interview, Kosei also said:

“I’m someone who easily gains weight. When I gain weight as fat, my body loses sharpness. Thanks to carbohydrate restriction and such, I’m feeling better than ever. I don’t mind whether I pitch as a starter or reliever. My goal is to establish myself firmly in the first team throughout the season and prove myself.”

Whether he can prove himself as he said remains to be seen. The brothers, with the younger standing on the Koshien mound aiming for his older brother, and the older brother determined to make a comeback fueled by his younger brother’s success — the summer battle filled with strong feelings continues for the Yoshida brothers, now in very contrasting situations.