Two first-inning homers launch Japan’s 10–4 warm-up win
Seiya Watabe’s three-run homer and Shinya Hasegawa’s two-run shot powered Japan’s opening exhibition in Miyazaki. Yumeto Kanemaru added four strikeouts over two scoreless innings.
Source
Baseball · NPB · Left-handed pitcher
Yumeto Kanemaru
2026 Season performance
Kanemaru worked 160⅔ innings over 25 appearances for Chunichi in 2026, going 5–12 with a 2.91 ERA, 146 strikeouts and 34 walks. The win–loss record alone does not capture his season; workload and limiting free passes are more useful measures of his progress.
Updated 2026-11-10Career background
Kanemaru progressed from Shinko Tachibana High School to Kansai University before Chunichi selected him in the first round in 2024. The left-hander began his first-team career in 2025, throwing 96⅔ innings with a 2.61 ERA in fifteen appearances. His university background led directly into the longer workloads associated with professional starting.
He recorded 78 strikeouts against nineteen walks as a rookie, limiting free passes across a workload approaching one hundred innings. Moving from Kansai University into Chunichi’s rotation, he took on sustained starting assignments and repeated matchups against the same league’s hitters in his first top-level season.
Related stories