Carp Fans Excited as First-Round Pick Ren Hirakawa Powers Up During Farm-League Resurgence

The Hiroshima Carp may have another potential difference-maker waiting in the farm system.

First-round rookie Ren Hirakawa has been turning heads during his recent adjustment period, and his latest performance has only increased the excitement surrounding his eventual return to the first team.

On August 22, Hirakawa launched a massive leadoff home run in a Western League game against the Orix Buffaloes.

Batting first in the bottom of the first inning, Hirakawa attacked the very first pitch he saw from Orix pitcher Renno Yamaguchi and drove the fastball deep into the middle section of the right-field stands.

It was the kind of swing that immediately caught everyone's attention.

But the home run itself was not the only thing fans noticed.

Hirakawa's physical transformation has become a major talking point.

The 20-year-old is officially listed at 187 centimeters and 93 kilograms, but his build now appears considerably more imposing than those numbers suggest.

Fans reacted to his noticeably thicker physique:

“Was Hirakawa always this big?”

“Is that really Hirakawa?”

“He's gotten huge.”

“He looks even bigger than before the injury.”

The physical change is particularly striking because Hirakawa has spent much of the season recovering and rebuilding after injuries.

The Hiroshima first-round pick from Sendai University entered professional baseball with considerable expectations.

During the preseason, he recorded 21 hits—the most among all 12 NPB teams—and earned a spot on Hiroshima's Opening Day roster.

However, his promising start was interrupted by a defensive injury shortly after the season began. He was later removed from the first-team roster again in June and has been working to regain his form in the farm league.

So far, that adjustment period has gone extremely well.

In 14 farm-league games, Hirakawa is batting .347 with two home runs and a .937 OPS.

Those numbers suggest that his bat is rapidly returning to form.

The latest home run was particularly impressive because it came on the first pitch of the game and traveled deep into the stands, demonstrating the raw power that made Hiroshima select him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft.

A video posted by DAZN's official social media account also drew plenty of attention, with fans joking that they hope Hirakawa can develop into a hitter with the kind of power associated with Hanshin's Teruaki Sato.

For Hiroshima, the timing could hardly be more important.

The Carp entered August 22 with a 43–60 record and a .417 winning percentage, sitting at the bottom of the Central League.

The team has struggled to generate consistent offense, making the potential return of a powerful young hitter especially intriguing.

Hirakawa still needs to prove that he can stay healthy and reproduce his farm-league production against NPB pitching.

But if the stronger-looking version of Hirakawa can combine his improved physicality with the hitting ability he showed during spring training, Hiroshima could eventually have a very different-looking lineup.

The Carp desperately need a spark.

And right now, their first-round pick is making a pretty convincing case that he could be it.