Rakuten 's Shoma Fujihira has once again made an outstanding presence in bullpen this season.

During his time at Yokohama High School, he was known as one of the "High School BIG 4" and attracted a lot of attention, joining the team as the first pick in the 2016 draft. He was given number "19" and was expected to do great things, recording three wins in his first year. He was unable to perform as well as expected from his second year onwards, and number was changed to "46" in 2022. He only pitched in eight games that year and 11 games in 2023, but was transferred to relief last season and made a comeback, appearing in 47 games with 20 hold, one save and ERA of 1.75. After the season ended, he was selected to represent Japan in the Premier 12.

While he was expected to make further progress this season, he didn't perform as well as he should have from the start of the season. After pitching on April 18th, ERA was 5.06, and he pitched in eight games in May with a monthly ERA of 1.13, which seemed to be a return to form. However, starting with the game against DeNA on June 4th, runs in three consecutive games. After the game The Giants on June 8th, ERA was 5.31.

After this appearance, the number of appearances closer to zero increased, and he went 6 consecutive games without runs from the Chunichi game on June 11th. From the Softbank game on July 11 to the Orix game on October 5, which was the last appearance of the regular season, he runs 29 consecutive games. After mid-August, he was also entrusted with the closer.

In the end, he pitched in 62 games, with 2 wins, 2 losses, 21 hold, 12 ERA 2.11, a consistency that made up for the inconsistent pitch in the first half of the season.