By Mishi Mitomitzo, Kure Daily
November 6, 2011

Christmas came early for Kure Arsenal fans as the arrival of Nobuhito Daikawa was announced late Saturday night.  The principles of the deal are a swap of Daikawa for outfielder Sadatake Chouda.  Kure will also send a 3^rd round pick in the 2012 draft to Lupin, and the Arsenal will receive Lupin’s 8^th round pick to complete the deal.

The legacy of Daikawa is well known to Kure fans, albeit a view from below.  In 2010, Daikawa was fantastic through 30 starts, compiling a 17-5 record and a 2.39 ERA en route to leading the Niihama-shi Ghosts to the Neo-Tokyo Cup.  His 174-25 K/BB ratio and 0.93 WHIP were overshadowed only by his performance in the Shining Star Group Wasei Junkesshou, where he came up the winner in three of the Ghosts’ four wins in an epic playoff battle over the Shin Seki Evas.

Daikawa was signed to a lucrative 4-year deal with Lupin that is due to pay him $27 million, an even $6.8 million per year.  But 2012 was a slightly off-year for Daikawa.  He lost 16 games after losing just 12 in the two previous years combined, and his ERA rose over one run to 3.63.  He gave up 22 HR after giving up just 11 the year before.

“I think it was a combination of things,” Daikawa told reporters outside the Castle of Cagliostro at a farewell press conference, “I think the short porch in left field gave me more problems than I expected, and I think overall it just wasn’t the match we thought it was going to be when we signed the contract.  I’m happy to be headed back to the group I’ve spent most of my career in.”

The short porch Daikawa spoke of, dubbed the Sparkle Ninja Gum Launching Cliff, sits a mere 310 feet from home plate, which is by far the shortest left field distance in the LRS.  At The Ballpark of Kure, Daikawa will have a buffer zone of an extra 28 feet.  Kure’s left field distance of 338 feet is 1 foot more than Daikawa enjoyed at Oikake Maze as a member of the Ghosts.

While Daikawa’s return to the SSG hardly makes Kure an immediate contender, it significantly upgrades the team’s starting staff.

“Our goal for the 2011 offseason was to add a staff ace; a left-handed staff ace, if at all possible.  We were set to explore the free agent market and there were a few options we liked, but most were likely to either carry significant risk or would just be entirely too expensive.  Daikawa, like any pitcher, comes with risk, but we think the upside is huge.”

When asked about Daikawa’s return to the division, Kevin Vail, GM of the Evas, was hardly enthused.  “From my perspective I am certainly not happy to see the man who almost single handedly dashed my 2010 playoff run return to the SSG.”  He added, “Anyway you slice it, the SSG is starting to look a lot more competitive.”