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Young Talent Swapped in Rare NPB Trade

by Yuri Karasawa
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Richard Sunagawa and Yuto Akihiro

This week in Nippon Professional Baseball: more dominant pitching performances, clutch game-winning hits, and a rare trade as the SoftBank Hawks shipped corner infield slugger Richard Sunagawa to the Yomiuri Giants for prospect Yuto Akihiro and left-handed pitcher Ryusei Ohe.

Sunagawa, 25, has hit nearly 100 home runs in the minors since 2020 but always struggled to make contact consistently at the NPB level. The Giants hope he can tap into his colossal power while superstar Kazuma Okamoto is out with injury. Akihiro, 22, is the tallest Japanese player in NPB history at 6-foot-7. He showed great promise as a rookie in 2023 and was nicknamed “Shin-Godzilla” after Hideki Matsui. The Hawks will look to develop him to reach his full potential.

Also, JapanBall’s annual NPB tour is still ongoing! Please check out the Extra Innings Travel Instagram page for updates. Now let’s dive into the rest of the action.

Tuesday (May 13)

Hiromi Itoh’s gem
  • Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) struck out ten batters over eight scoreless innings against the Buffaloes. The JapanBall tour was in attendance!
  • Richard Sunagawa (Giants) homered in his first game since being traded.
  • Elehuris Montero (Carp) walked off the Giants in extras.

Wednesday (May 14)

Spencer Howard’s NPB debut
  • Spencer Howard (Eagles) threw seven shutout frames in his NPB debut. JapanBall tour in attendance.
  • Taishi Hirooka’s two-out grand slam in the eighth inning ignited a 9-5 comeback victory for the Buffaloes against the Fighters.
  • Reigning PL ROY Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) returned from injury and won his 2025 debut.

Thursday (May 15)

Bryan Sammons’ first NPB win
  • The Carp handed Iori Yamasaki (Giants) his first loss of the season.
  • Bryan Sammons (Marines) won his first game in NPB against the Eagles. JapanBall tour in attendance.

Friday (May 16)

Sachiya Yamasaki’s complete game shutout
  • Sachiya Yamasaki (Fighters) threw his first complete game shutout in eight years. JapanBall tour in attendance.
  • The Swallows and BayStars combined for five home runs as DeNA came from behind to win, 8-6.

Saturday (May 17)

Natsuo Takizawa’s walk-off
  • Natsuo Takizawa (Lions) walked off the Buffaloes in extras. JapanBall tour in attendance.
  • Foster Griffin (Giants) threw seven scoreless innings against the Dragons, out-dueling Hiroto Takahashi.

Sunday (May 18)

Taisei Makihara’s walk-off
  • Yasuhiro Yamamoto hit two home runs as the Dragons took down the Giants, 7-4.
  • The Marines walked off the Fighters after Austin Voth threw eight shutout innings.
  • The Hawks walked off the Eagles in extras. JapanBall tour in attendance.
  • The Tigers defeated the Carp in the rubber match of the series between the two top teams in the CL.

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