Neither RailCats manager Greg Tagert nor pitching coach Alain Quijano were sure what was going to happen Wednesday night when Yasutomo Kubo made his debut with the RailCats.
Two scoreless innings from Kubo changed that.
“His (velocity) jumped up to 88 and 89 and he was filling up the strike zone,” Quijano said. “We got the guy we were told we were going to get and it was beautiful to see.”
Kubo, a 37-year-old veteran and former rookie of the year who pitched 304 games in Japan’s top professional baseball league, started for the RailCats against the Chicago Dogs.
He surrendered only one hit and one walk with two strikeouts in his American professional baseball debut.
“We were concerned,” Tagert said. “In all of his practice sessions, he was in the mid-80s. With the communication barrier, we kept saying we needed to see him at 100 percent, but we’re not sure, in his mind, if he was thinking that.”
Kubo has picked up some English in the nearly four weeks he’s spent with the RailCats, but still communicates mostly through a translation device he carries.
“The result was good,” Kubo said.
But then he started laughing as he joked: “No control.”
When asked about areas for improvement, Kubo said: “More control,” and “fastball.”
It’s taken time for Quijano to break down the language barrier with his new pitcher, but Quijano said he’s getting there.
“(Kubo) has been very patient,” Quijano said. “The things we go through on a daily basis, it’s hard because I’m used to talking through my expressions. But you can’t read that off of him. He has to act it out for you like it’s a game of charades.”
And Kubo said he’s been able to communicate enough.
“There’s definitely a wall of words,” he said through his translation device. “But the feelings are transmitted.”
Kubo has impressed Tagert with his lengthy pregame routine, something Tagert said has been a staple of the players who have come to the RailCats from Japan.
“He gets to the field as early as he can,” Tagert said. “With most American teams, it’s usually four hours prior to game. In Japan, it’s usually six or seven hours.”
And despite being over a decade older than most of his teammates, Kubo has had no issues meshing with the RailCats, according to Tagert.
“He’s closer in age to me than he is to the players,” Tagert said of Kubo. “But as far as baseball goes, he’s acclimated well. He’s been a wonderful teammate.
“The team genuinely wanted to see him do well (Wednesday night).”
And that affinity for Kubo will only increase if he can help the RailCats with their main objective.
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“With that control and his ability, Kubo has a chance to be very good for us,” Tagert said. “We love a nice story, but our ultimate priority is whether or not he can help us win games.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.