Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles right-hander Takahiro Norimoto will pitch his team's Opening Day, manager Hiromoto Okubo said Tuesday.
Norimoto, 24, will be the starting pitcher for the third straight year since his rookie season. He is only the second player since the start of the two leagues in 1950 to be assigned the role three years running. Tadashi Sugiura was the Opening Day starter for the Nankai Hawks from 1958 to 1960.
The game will take place on March 27 against Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' ace Shohei Otani at Sapporo Dome.
Norimoto, who went 14-10 with a 3.02 ERA in 2014, had been slowed by a right elbow strain but was deemed fit based on the results of an MRI exam.
"There were absolutely no problems in the results of the exam. Also there wasn't any pain, so no reasons to be pessimistic," Norimoto said.