Team Contemplates Activating Star Pitcher for Neo-Tokyo Cup

October 15, 2020, Toyama – The Cliff Notes staff has learned from anonymous sources that ace pitcher Akira Watanabe, who has been on the Disabled List with an inflamed elbow since late August, has been quietly working out for the past two weeks, and last night successfully threw a simulated game off a mound.  The source says that the team is contemplating activating the staff ace as they enter that all-critical last Neo-Tokyo Cup clash with Niihama-shi. If true, it would represent one of the more remarkable narratives in a season full of remarkable narratives.

Watanabe started the season with a bang, throwing a no-hitter against Naha on April 7th. He was nearly untouchable in the first three months of the season, going 7-3 with a 2.26 ERA.

“He carried us on his back in April,” said shortstop Shiro Adachi earlier this year. “It was a time when Shinobu (Takeuchi) was struggling, and the team wasn’t getting a lot of runs.  But Akira was really on.”

Amid this blistering run, the team signed Watanabe to a juicy 5 season contract worth something in the ballpark of $38M. It was a gamble, of course. Watanabe is 25 years old, and no matter how you want to coat the story, the team will be playing up in class next season. But, as GM Ron Collins said at the time “Akira Watanabe is the class of the Japanese ballplayer. We don’t see it as a risk at all.”

Then July saw his ERA balloon, though, and whispers began to circulate about his health. It was no surprise when the team put him on the DL on August 28th, saying at the time that they considered his season to be done. He had won 11 ball games. To activate him would be to play a high-risk game. On the other hand, the team has made no secret that they view this season as paramount. They want to see the last Neo-Tokyo Cup sitting in their trophy case worse than an aging star wants that last big hit.

“No one knows how he’ll recover from the simulation,” the source said. “If he has normal sensation over the next three days, he could pitch again, but he may not.”

So the question must be asked, will the club do it? One assumes Akira Watanabe, as is the wont of all professional athletes, will tell the training staff he’s fine. So the call is with the front office.  Will they do it? Will they put all the chips on the table and spin the wheel? Will they take a hit on 17? Will we see Akria Watanabe in the yellow, red, and pink once again before the League of the Rising Sun goes blazing into the distant past. Will this be one final bombshell in a season full of bombshells?