SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- Yuto Kanakubo, the new Japanese pitcher for the Kiwoom Heroes, began his first season in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) as a middle reliever. But as Kanakubo became accustomed to his surroundings, his fastball velocity started ticking up and his confidence kept growing, too, eventually leading to the right-hander being promoted to the closer role this week.