Yasuhiro Ogawa (小川 泰弘)

This one is a little late in the news department, but a few weeks ago Yakult Swallows pitcher Yasuhiro Ogawa won the Rookie of the Year Award. He was fantastic the time I saw him pitch in Hiroshima.

Why is he throwing on the sidelines even though he is a starting pitcher you ask? In both Japan and Korea, starting pitchers throw when their team is at bat. Unlike MLB, in which pitchers are held to strict pitch counts (usually around 100 pitches), these starting pitchers in Japan and Korea frequently throw more than 200 pitches if you count their bullpen and foul territory pitches.

Posted on December 2nd, 2013 under Japan • Tags: baseball, hiroshima, Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Lens, Nikon D600, sports photography, yakult swallows. • RSS 2.0 feed • Both comments and pings are currently closed