Lotte, which sank to the bottom of the standings, had Manabu Mima retire from active duty this offseason, Ayumu Ishikawa, Hirokazu Sawamura, and Takashi Ogino leave to continue active duty, and Kota Futaki, who wore number 18 until this season, left without a contract for the next season, leaving the young number position open at once. In addition, 9, which was carried by Kazuya Fukuura, the current second-string manager who retired in 2019, during his active career; 17, which was worn until last season by Akinori Sasaki, who challenged for a major league contract through the posting system last offseason; 13, which Taiga Hirasawa moved to Seibu in the active draft; 0, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18 and 20, in the young number numbers available as of November 1, 2013.
13 was worn by infielder Hirasawa for 9 years until last season, but the number of the 10th series is often worn by pitcher in the Japan baseball world. If you look at the young pitcher who have a big number, Rikuto Yokoyama, who recorded career highs in all categories, including achieving his long-standing goal of 50 appearances, 20 hold, 12 saves, etc., is "60", this season, his second year of high school graduation, his first professional appearance, his first professional win, his first professional hold, his first professional save, Yuto Kimura 's number, who recorded his first professional shutout game win in the Seibu game on September 24, which was his last appearance of the season, was "53", and this season, in his fifth year of high school, he was entrusted with the 8th and 9th innings of winning games before leaving due to a breakdown, and Shunsuke Nakamori 's number, who also participated in his first All-Star Game, was "56", In the first half, Haruya Tanaka, who threw 3 wins and a ERA of 2.48 in the starting rotation, is wearing a number "35".
Looking at pitcher, which has been changed to the 10th series in recent years, Kazuya Ojima, who wore "43" for three years after entering the pros, changed to "14" in the off-season, when he achieved his first regulation innings pitched and double-digit win in 21, the third year. At the time of the change of number, Kojima said, "It is also a number that people who have been active in Lotte have been wearing for a long number time, and it is also a number worn by a senior at Waseda The Marines innings pitched. I climbed to the ace of the game.
Atsuki Taneichi also wore 63 for three years after entering the pros, but in the third year, he tied for the team's most wins in the same year, and although he did not reach the regulation innings pitched, he marked 135 strike out, which is 4th in the league, and was changed to the current "16" off. In an interview on January 6, 20, immediately after changing the number to 16, he said, "I was simply happy when I was told, and I thought it was early, but I changed my mind and felt like I was going to work harder," and now he has grown into a pitcher that represents the Japan.
◆ Rookie pitcher
The first-round draft pick, right-handed pitcher Genki Ishigaki (Kendai Takasaki High School), with a top speed of 158 km/h, and the second-round pitcher Kaito Mori (Meiji University), are pitcher who can contribute immediately.
Misho Nishikawa, the first pick in last year's draft, was entrusted with the "I think number 6 is very special for Chiba Lotte Marines, and I am grateful to the team for entrusting us with number. I will do my best for the rest of my life." by Hiromitsu Ochiai, Kiyoshi Hatsus fielder hiba, and Sukehito Iguchi. In the Ishigaki Island spring training, just as he said, “I want to do my best to make a better appearance, ” he showed his performance in his 1st year as a pro, ranking 6th in the league with a batting average of. 281 and leading the league with 27 doble, which was as good as number. When asked after the season if he felt the weight of being No. 6, he said, "Don't feel that much. I have a very good number, so I am happy to play, and I am proud of number. I'd like to keep doing it."
There are also rookie players who have achieved solid results through their own efforts without feeling the weight of the number. There was no vacant number in the 10th division, and the rookie pitcher carried the 10th series from the first year, and pitcher the 19th draft pick Akira Sasaki's "17" is the last, but if such a young number is vacant, there is a high possibility that the rookie pitcher will suddenly be entrusted with the young number.
Among fielder Ryusei Terachi who reached the required number of at-bats despite being in his second year after graduating from high school, had 65; Akito Takabe, who did not reach the required number of at-bats but still had a batting average of .286, had 38; Ryusei Ogawa Tatsunari, who has become an indispensable member of the team in terms of offense, running and defense, had 57; and Daito Yamamoto who hit the most Home Run of any Japanese team with 11, had 61.
By the way, the only players who changed their number last offseason were the management, excluding players whose contracts were switched from controlled to development players. It will be interesting to see if there will be any shuffling of uniform number this offseason, including for pitcher and fielder.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
