Japan Times: Lions rookie hurler Kikuchi sounds like a young man in a hurry

The NPB has ramped up its efforts to speed up games over the past few seasons.

Saitama Seibu Lions rookie pitcher Yusei Kikuchi plans to do his part.

Kikuchi has told reporters he wants to finish games in under two hours if possible, to prevent fans from becoming bored.

“Like high school baseball, the game should finish between 90 minutes and two hours,” Kikuchi was quoted as saying after a bullpen session earlier this week.

The young hurler certainly didn’t spend too much time on the mound at Koshien last year, with a 2-hour, 24-minute contest against Hokkaido area high school Mukawa in the summer, the longest of his seven outings during the annual spring and summer editions of the National High School Baseball Championship.

His shortest outing was a 1:38 affair against Nagasaki Nichidai in the spring version of the tournament.

The NPB can only hope all of its players share Kikuchi’s mind-set on the issue.

The league introduced the NPB Green Baseball Project in 2008 in an effort to get the average time of games under three hours. The program was started with the intention of baseball doing its part to help the environment.