On the 6th, former Lotte player and former Rakuten manager Toshiaki Imae sent his support to his PL Gakuen senior, Saburo, who has been appointed as the new manager of Lotte.
Mr. Imae visited ZOZO for the recording. Noting that Matsui Hataro and Tachinami Kazuyoshi, both from PL Gakuen, resigned as managers of Seibu and Chunichi respectively last year, including himself, Imae said, "Somehow, in that sense, I hope (Saburo) will do his best as a senior at PL Gakuen," expressing his hopes for Saburo, who was a major player with the Lotte baseball team during his playing days and is a seventh grade senior at PL Gakuen. I hope he will do his best as a senior at PL Gakuen," he said.
On the 5th, after the final game of the season, Lotte announced the resignation of manager Masahito Yoshii, who had been in charge for three seasons, and the appointment of head coach Saburo as his successor. The new manager will hold a press conference in the near future to kick off the season.
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・ [Lotte] 7 players including Yuki Kuniyoshi, Kota Futaki, and Seiichiro Oshita are no longer part of the team
・ [Lotte] Head coach Saburo will assume the new managerial position next season. "We will forge ahead with courage to realize our big dream of becoming the best team in Japan."
・ [Lotte] Manager Masahito Yoshii, who will resign at the end of this season, tearfully apologized at the ceremony after the final game, saying, "I'm sorry for causing any discomfort."
・ [Lotte] First-team chief defense base running coach Makoto Kaneko and second-team chief pitcher coach Tomokazu Ooya announced that they will be leaving the team due to the expiration of their contracts.
・ [Lotte] First-round draft pick Misho Nishikawa finished with a batting average of .281. "I hope I can look forward to the fierce Rookie of the Year competition."
