On the 14th, Rakuten announced that they had agreed to a contract with pitcher Daichi Shibata as a controlled player.

Shibata commented through the team, "First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for being given another chance. Now that I have been given this chance, I will pitch aggressively to give courage to the fans. To that end, I will work hard to rebuild my body during the off-season and prepare so that I can perform at my best from the start of camp. I will do my best to become a valuable asset to the team, so I would like to ask all the fans for your continued support."

Shibata joined Rakuten this season through the active player draft, pitching 6 games and 8 2/3 innings with one win and a 2.08 ERA. He also pitched in 45 farm team games with a 4.30 ERA, but was released on October 29th. This is an unusual re-signing for a controlled player.