◆SMBC Japan Series 2025 Game 5: Hanshin Tigers 2-3 Softbank (30th, Koshien)
Softbank Kohei Arihara pitcher (33) may be on the way out, it was learned on March 30. The right-hander, who returned to the NPB in 23 years from the U.S. baseball world, finished his three-year contract this season. It was learned that he is willing to try again in the majors.
Arihara recorded a total of 60 wins in six years with Nippon-Ham. He used the posting system to move overseas during the offseason of 2020. However, after undergoing right shoulder surgery in his first year in 2021, he only managed three wins in two years with the Rangers. Feeling unfulfilled, he chose to play in Japanese baseball. With Softbank win for three consecutive years. In particular, he served as opening pitcher for the past two years, winning consecutively the most wins in the Pacific League. While proving his skills were still intact, it seems his desire to play in the majors has also grown.
However, although he met the conditions for acquiring domestic free agent rights in April of last year, he does not have international free agent rights, and the team has a policy of not allowing him to transfer by posting. The team will do everything in their power to retain him as an indispensable player, but if he wishes to pursue his dream again, the realistic outcome is that he will become a free agent.
Arihara also started in Game 1 of the Japan Series, and in Game 5 on the same day, he gave up only two runs in the middle of the fifth inning with only four days of rest, and did not collapse. After the game, he only said, "The season just ended, so please let me get some rest for now," but if the right-handed pitcher who contributed to the team's first Japan Series title in five years becomes a free agent, other domestic teams will surely show interest. Furthermore, if he were to leave, it would be a major loss to the team's strength in their quest for a third consecutive league championship and a second consecutive Japan Series title.
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