Ex-Salaried Worker Turned Baseball Prospect Kippei Mikawa Aims to Become a 170 km/h Closer, Catches the Eye of U.S. Scouts Online

Returning to the path of baseball

“I’ve finally made it to the starting line. But I’m not feeling relieved yet. I believe the next three years will be the deciding period if I want to get promoted to the major leagues.”

The person speaking with this determination is pitcher Kippei Mikawa (24), who signed a minor league contract with MLB’s Chicago Cubs by June 1. Mikawa is a former office worker who was in charge of advertising sales at IT company CyberAgent. Here, he shares in his own words the unusual path that led him to leave the corporate world and pursue a challenge in Major League Baseball.

“I became interested in baseball because of the first World Baseball Classic (March 2006). I admired the performances of Ichiro and Daisuke Matsuzaka. I’ve always loved throwing. When I was in sixth grade, I passed the selection process and joined the Yomiuri Giants Junior team. My positions were pitcher or shortstop.”

After graduating from junior high school in his hometown of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Mikawa entered Kasukabe Kyoei High School in Saitama, a school known for its strong baseball program. As a highly regarded right-handed pitcher with a top velocity of 149 km/h, he joined the baseball team at Rikkyo University.

“I was nearly 190 cm tall and could throw faster than most people, so from the beginning I was constantly told that I had a lot of potential. At Rikkyo, my fastball exceeded 150 km/h, and I thought I wanted to become a professional player in the future.

But I didn’t know how to make the most of that ability in actual games. I became too focused on throwing strikes, and my pitching form gradually fell apart. I developed the habit of simply placing the ball into the strike zone, and I completely lost sight of the correct way to pitch.”

Mikawa’s final appearance in college came against the University of Tokyo in the autumn Tokyo Big6 Baseball League during his senior year. However, he gave up five runs without recording a single out. His overall record at Rikkyo ended with three appearances and an ERA of 40.50.

“I’m not the type of person who gets depressed easily, but I honestly felt sorry toward my teammates, and it was painful. At the same time, I also felt a sense of relief. I thought, ‘This is the end of baseball for me. If becoming a professional player isn’t possible, I’ll give up.’”

The Fateful LINE Message

After stepping away from baseball, Mikawa began searching for a job. The company that offered him a position was CyberAgent (hereafter “Cyber”). At the company, he worked in sales, selling advertising slots on the internet television service ABEMA to clients.

“During my senior year at university, I was appointed as the pitchers’ leader, and I worked with coaches to develop training programs based on game data. I liked analyzing things. At Cyber as well, I would make proposals to clients using materials that showed, ‘If you advertise your product, you can achieve this level of impact.’ The work was interesting and suited me.”

At Cyber, employees frequently had opportunities to present their own career visions.

“I struggled with it. I enjoyed my job and was blessed with great colleagues, but I couldn’t think of any goals I had as a working professional. At one point, I decided, ‘I need to seriously think about what I really want to do,’ and I stayed alone at a ryokan in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture. I shut myself in my room and spent time writing about my life so far in a notebook.

Then I realized once again that baseball was the only thing I truly had. However, I had never heard of an ordinary office worker becoming a professional baseball player. I couldn’t see a path forward, and I felt stuck.”

Then, at that moment—

A LINE message arrived saying, “How have you been spending your time since then?”

It was from Yuusuke Kitagawa, the representative of DIMENSIONING (DIME), a baseball-specialized training gym where Mikawa had received instruction during his university days. It was November 2025, a little over six months after Mikawa joined Cyber. Kitagawa recalls:

“After finishing the autumn league in his senior year, he came to greet me properly. At that time, he quietly said, ‘I might want to play baseball again someday.’ So I thought, ‘Maybe now is the time,’ and contacted him.

That was the beginning of his restart. He has long arms and a body type that makes it easier for him to generate velocity. He absorbs anything you teach him quickly. After entering the workforce, he also became better at thinking logically. I felt that if he achieved his goals one by one, he could challenge the major leagues.”

Returning to Mikawa’s words:

“When Kitagawa-san contacted me, I went back to DIME and tried pitching seriously for the first time in a while. I was able to throw around 147 km/h. I felt that if I tried again, maybe I could aim for something higher.

Actually, even after becoming a working adult, I woke up at 5 a.m. every morning and did about an hour and a half of weight training. My goal was simply to be in good condition for work, but looking back, that probably ended up helping me. My weight increased by about 6–7 kg compared with my university days, but the increase was all muscle. I became physically stronger and learned how to use my body more effectively.”

Mikawa during his university days was perhaps like a car with a powerful engine but a fragile frame. By improving his strength, he built a body capable of handling the power he possessed.

A pitch that continues to develop

“Kitagawa-san’s words — ‘Kippei, you can make it to the major leagues’ — gave me the push I needed, and I decided to return to baseball. However, it wouldn’t have been right to immediately quit Cyber, the company that had supported me. I had responsibilities to hand over, so I officially left the company in March this year.”

Mikawa signed a contract with DIME and resumed serious training with support from specialists, including medical trainers.

“Training isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. We measure things like body fat percentage and muscle mass each day, then choose the optimal training methods. On top of that, we quantify everything — pitch velocity, spin rate, release point, and more. By constantly reviewing video, Kitagawa-san and I look for areas to improve. Thanks to that, my pitching velocity has increased to 155.7 km/h.”

Kitagawa is known as an elite trainer who has worked with players such as Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs, Kosei Shoji of the Rakuten Eagles, and Haruki Hosono of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

“DIME shared information about me with people involved in Major League Baseball through social media. My training videos and TrackMan data (a system that precisely measures things such as ball trajectory and spin rate) caught the attention of Cubs scouts.

After a remote meeting, four or five people, including Cubs scouts and team executives, came to Japan to watch me pitch in person and have discussions. They explained what aspects they valued, as well as what I needed to improve in order to reach the major leagues. I was able to picture a concrete path for my development.

I was convinced by what they told me, and that led to this contract. The real challenge starts now.”

Mikawa’s dream is a big one.

“My goal had been to reach 160 km/h, but now that I’ve exceeded 155 km/h, I want to aim even higher. My goal is to become a closer who throws 170 km/h and pitches in the World Series.”

From the July 10, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY”