TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwanese baseball star Gu Lin Ruei-yang (古林睿煬) faces an extended absence from Japan's premier professional league after sustaining a significant muscle injury during a closely watched Tuesday (June 3) matchup. The right-handed pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (日本火腿), one of Japan's most storied baseball franchises, was forced to leave the mound during a tense contest against the Hanshin Tigers (阪神虎), with medical examinations later confirming damage to his left internal oblique muscle.
Medical assessments indicate Gu will require approximately eight weeks of recovery, according to detailed reports published by Nikkan Sports (日刊體育), a leading Japanese sports publication, and several other prominent media sources. Team officials became concerned when radar guns detected a precipitous decline in Gu's fastball velocity, which plummeted from 155 kilometers per hour (96.3 miles per hour) early in the contest to just 141 kilometers per hour (87.6 miles per hour) by the third frame.
Alert to these troubling signs, pitching coach Takeji Kato (加藤武治) intervened after Gu's 39th pitch, immediately removing the struggling hurler from competition. The pitcher subsequently underwent comprehensive medical evaluation at a hospital facility in Sapporo (札幌市), the largest city on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, where specialists confirmed the oblique muscle strain.
Prior to this setback, the Taiwanese pitcher had been enjoying a breakthrough campaign in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, compiling a stellar statistical record across five starting appearances. Gu's season performance includes two victories against a single defeat, highlighted by a complete-game shutout, while maintaining an impressive 2.70 Earned Run Average (ERA), a key metric for evaluating pitching effectiveness.
Multiple Japanese sports analysts have characterized Gu's absence as potentially devastating for the Fighters' rotation and playoff aspirations. Following Gu's unexpected exit from Tuesday's contest, replacement pitcher Yukiya Saito (齋藤友貴哉) entered in relief, but despite his efforts, the Nippon-Ham Fighters suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat to the visiting Hanshin Tigers. ◼