Yugo Maeda Moves to 12-0 as SoftBank Hawks Close In on Pacific League Title

Yugo Maeda continued one of the most remarkable pitching seasons in Japanese baseball on Friday, improving to 12-0 as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines 11-1 and moved another step closer to the 2026 Pacific League championship.

FUKUOKA, Japan — Yugo Maeda entered the 2026 season with only one career NPB victory. Less than six months later, the 21-year-old left-hander stands alone atop the Pacific League wins leaderboard without a defeat.

Maeda allowed one run over seven innings on September 11 as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks overwhelmed the Chiba Lotte Marines 11-1 at Mizuho PayPay Dome. He gave up five hits and one walk while striking out a career-high nine, throwing 105 pitches in his 17th appearance of the season.

The victory improved Maeda to a perfect 12-0 with a 1.90 ERA, while SoftBank strengthened its position at the top of the Pacific League.

And with every victory, Maeda’s season is moving deeper into rare NPB territory.

Yugo Maeda reaches 12-0 with career-high nine strikeouts

Lotte managed to score against Maeda in the first inning, but the early run did little to disrupt him.

The left-hander adjusted after the opening frame and kept the Marines off the scoreboard for the remainder of his outing. He escaped further trouble along the way, including situations with runners in scoring position in the fifth and seventh innings.

Maeda later pointed to the quality of his fastball and his ability to maintain a good pitching tempo as important factors in the performance. SoftBank manager Hiroki Kokubo also praised the young starter’s ability to make adjustments after not being at his best in his previous outing.

His final line was another demonstration of how dramatically his role has changed in 2026:

7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

Through September 11, Maeda has made 17 appearances and thrown 99⅓ innings, allowing 80 hits and 25 walks while striking out 81. He has surrendered only 21 earned runs, producing a 1.90 ERA and a 12-0 record.

His 12 victories now lead the Pacific League outright.

Maeda’s 12-0 start puts him in rare NPB company

The significance of Maeda’s unbeaten record extends well beyond the 2026 standings.

According to historical data reported in Japan, Maeda became only the 11th pitcher to begin an NPB season with at least 12 consecutive winning decisions, and the first to reach that mark since Yomiuri Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano started 13-0 in 2020.

For a pitcher this early in his professional career, the achievement is even rarer.

Since Japanese professional baseball adopted its two-league structure in 1950, Maeda is only the third pitcher within three years of graduating high school to open a season with at least 12 consecutive wins.

Toshihiko Hayashi went 12-0 to begin the 1965 season for the Nankai Hawks, while Tsuneo Horiuchi reached 13-0 as a rookie with the Yomiuri Giants in 1966. Maeda has now matched Hayashi’s Pacific League mark in that specific category.

Within Hawks history, the streak also carries considerable weight. The last SoftBank pitcher to open a season with a longer winning streak was Kazumi Saito, who started 15-0 in 2005.

Maeda therefore has both a modern target and a much larger historical benchmark ahead of him.

Masahiro Tanaka’s legendary 24-0 season for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2013 remains in a category of its own. Tanaka is the only pitcher to finish an NPB season undefeated while also leading his league in victories. Maeda’s 12 victories currently put him in position to at least keep that extraordinarily difficult combination relevant entering the final weeks of the regular season.

From one career win to Pacific League wins leader

Maeda’s emergence is especially striking because his first-team résumé was still extremely limited when 2026 began.

SoftBank selected the left-hander out of Osaka Toin High School with its first pick in the 2023 NPB Draft. He was regarded as one of Japan’s leading high-school pitching prospects, but the Hawks did not rush his development.

He made only one NPB appearance in 2024, allowing six earned runs in three innings. In 2025, Maeda appeared three times and went 1-1 with a 3.97 ERA across 11⅓ innings.

His career record entering this season was therefore just 1-1.

The transformation in 2026 has been dramatic. Maeda has already accumulated nearly 100 innings while carrying a sub-2.00 ERA and has gone from a highly regarded prospect to the Pacific League’s outright wins leader.

Across his first three NPB seasons, his career record now stands at 13-1 with a 2.53 ERA in 113⅔ innings.

SoftBank offense gives Maeda plenty of support

Maeda did not need to protect a narrow lead for long Friday.

After Lotte scored first, Tomoya Masaki immediately tied the game with his 25th home run of the season in the bottom of the first.

SoftBank then broke the game open with a seven-run fourth inning.

Yuki Yanagita started the rally with his 16th home run of the year. Hikaru Kawase added a two-run double before Masaki and Kensuke Kondo delivered RBI hits. Ryoya Kurihara then drove in two more runs with a double as the Hawks sent 11 hitters to the plate in the inning.

Hotaka Yamakawa later added his 10th homer, a two-run shot in the seventh.

SoftBank finished with 18 hits and three home runs, while Masaki went 4-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs. The Hawks knocked former SoftBank pitcher Shuta Ishikawa out after 3⅓ innings, charging him with eight runs on 10 hits.

The result gave SoftBank its fourth consecutive victory.

SoftBank Hawks reduce Pacific League magic number to nine

Maeda’s personal milestone arrived in the middle of a rapidly developing Pacific League pennant race.

Following Friday’s games, SoftBank stood at 79-45-3 with a .637 winning percentage, seven games ahead of the second-place Saitama Seibu Lions.

Seibu’s 5-4 loss to the Orix Buffaloes later Friday reduced SoftBank’s championship magic number to nine.

The Hawks are pursuing a third consecutive Pacific League championship, and their September form has accelerated the countdown. SoftBank has won seven of its first nine decisions in September, including three consecutive victories over the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters immediately before opening the Lotte series.

With fewer than 20 games remaining, a seven-game advantage has put SoftBank firmly in control of its own path to another pennant.

How far can Maeda’s unbeaten season go?

The championship race may soon be settled, but Maeda has created another reason to follow every remaining SoftBank series.

His next decision could put him alongside Horiuchi and Sugano at 13 consecutive victories to open a season. Beyond that are even rarer numbers, including Saito’s 15-0 start for the Hawks in 2005.

Reaching any of those marks would further elevate a season that already represents one of the biggest pitching breakthroughs in NPB.

Maeda began 2026 as a 20-year-old former first-round pick with four career appearances.

He enters the closing weeks as a 21-year-old with 12 victories, zero losses, a 1.90 ERA and sole possession of the Pacific League wins lead.

SoftBank is closing in on another Pacific League championship.

One of the biggest reasons is that every time Yugo Maeda has received a decision this season, the Hawks have won.