After being released from the roster, Softbank catcher Kota Makihara visited Mizuho PayPay and signed a contract as a development player. He joined the team as the third pick in the 2020 draft from Nihon University Fujisawa High School. He was unable to be promoted to the first team in his five years as a professional.
This summer, when the third team played against The Giants on a Tokyo tour, he was reunited with Kai, who had been transferred as a free agent. "I wasn't getting the results I wanted in the third team, so I was feeling down and worried, but Kai told me to 'do my best.' He didn't say 'do your best,' he said, 'do your best,' but more like 'really do your best.' It was like he was saying 'seriously hang in there,' so it really hit me. Kai is also someone who has worked his way up from the bottom, so it's flipped a switch for me once again," he said, with the encouragement of his senior in mind as he aims to return to the main team.
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