Those from the Land of the Rising Sun, champions of the last edition and number one in the world ranking of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation, are undefeated in three outings and with one more victory they would reach one of the two places available in group B to access the next instance.
The duel, scheduled for tomorrow Sunday at the Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei, at 6:00 p.m. local time (5:00 a.m. in Cuba), is crucial for the aspirations of the team from the largest island in the Caribbean, in need of a victory. to maintain their aspirations after exhibiting a balance of one success and two failures.
Hayakawa, 26 years old, will make his debut in the tournament after an excellent season with the Rakuten Eagles in the Pacific League, where he finished fifth in effectiveness with an average of 2.54 earned runs allowed per nine innings of action.
The left-hander, with four seasons in the so-called second most powerful league on the planet, was also third in strikeouts with 160 and fourth in wins with 11, tied with Cuban Liván Moinelo.
The Caribbean left-hander was precisely expected to be in that match in the opposite trench, after a failed opening of just two innings against South Korea, where he supported six runs, but as it has emerged he is not in good health as he is a victim of the flu.
In his place, director Armando Johnson will give the ball to right-hander Raymond Figueredo, a pitcher who was champion this year with Parma Clima in the Italian Professional League (Serie A).
The standings in section B present Japan (3-0) in the place of honor, followed by Chinese Taipei (2-1), South Korea (2-2), Cuba and Australia (1-2) and the Dominican Republic ( 1-3), the latter eliminated from any possibility of advancing to the next instance.
Venezuela (4-1) and the United States (3-2) obtained the two tickets in dispute in key A to access the final round, to be played in Japan from the 20th to the 24th of this month.
jcm/blc
