Lotte's challenge is that their home-grown young and mid-career players have not been able to perform well for two years in a row.

Atsuki Taneichi has reached the required innings pitched for the fifth consecutive year, Kazuya Ojima Taneichi has reached the required innings pitched the second consecutive year, and Rikuto Yokoyama has pitched in more than 40 games for the second consecutive year, all of which have produced results for two consecutive years. However, when looking at the number of required at-bats as a criterion, since 2020, the only player among fielder to have reached the required number of at-bats for two consecutive years is Shogo Nakamura, and there are no hitter who have reached the required number of at-bats for two consecutive years.

In 2020, Naonori Yasuda reached the required number of at-bats for the first time, and while there were hopes that he would become a regular, he struggled to secure a regular position. In 2022, Akito Takabe won stolen base base title and the Golden Glove Award, and it seemed as though he had secured a regular position, but in 2023 he was unable to play in the first team due to injury. In 2024, he won the monthly MVP in July, and although he did not reach the required number of at-bats, he still managed to hit .300, and it seemed that he would be a permanent regular this season, but his batting performance did not improve as expected immediately after the start of the season, and he was demoted to the second team. After August he batted .337, but was unable to become a permanent regular.

In the same year, 2010, Koki Yamaguchi hit the most Home Run on the team with 16, and reached the required number of at-bats for the first time in 2011, but last season he only hit two Home Run season, he hit Home Run in four consecutive at-bats, from his fourth at-bat against Rakuten on August 20th to his third at-bat against Rakuten the following day on the 21st, but has been bouncing between the first and second teams.

In 2012, Toshiya Sato recorded a batting average of .278, fourth in the league, and was active as a `` catcher can hit.'' After the season ended, he was selected to represent Japan in the Premier 12, and this season, he was expected to be the starting catcher, but he was plagued by injury and only played in 68 games.

pitcher He was also a member of the Shota Suzuki team, which posted a 27 hold and ERA 0.73 record in 51 appearances last season, and ERA 4.82 in 29 appearances this season. Riku Kikuchi, who became a fixture in the lineup after last summer with fork the grip he learned from former manager Masato Yoshii, looked like he might be in a winning pattern this season, but his ERA 5.32 record in 21 appearances was not enough.

Nevertheless, this season saw three fielder—Kyota Fujiwara, Misho Nishikawa, and Ryusei Terachi—reach the required number of at-bats for the first time. Daito Yamamoto also hit 11 Home Run, the most of any Japanese player on the team. While he didn't reach the required number of at-bats, Ryusei Ogawa batted .264 and was error-free defense after the All-Star break. Fourth-year player Raito Ikeda achieved career-high performances in many areas, and second-year Home Run Kyuto Ueda hit his first professional home run. On pitcher staff, Shuta Takano started as a long reliever but gradually rose through the ranks, eventually pitching the eighth inning of a winning game. Yuto Kimura, a second-year high school graduate, began the season as a reliever and transitioned to the starting lineup midway through the season, recording three wins and his first professional shutout game. Both fielder and pitcher showed growth, with Shunsuke Nakamori and Haruya Tanaka making their presence felt in the first half of the season Koshiro Hiroike in the second half.

However, the current situation is that "it seems like they are growing but they are not," or "it seems like they are not growing but they are."

When asked why the young players have not produced results for two consecutive years, Manager Saburo replied firmly, "I think it's because they haven't practiced enough." He continued, "I want to train them hard, practice hard, and create players who don't get told things like that."

Next season, under Coach Saburo's guidance, if the young players can flourish and even one more player can become a full-fledged player, the team's standings should be higher than this season.

Interview by Yuta Iwashita