On the 5th, Seibu Lions officially announced the acquisition of infielder Kazunari Ishii (31), who had declared free agency from Nippon-Ham. In a press conference that day, General Manager Hiroike of the team revealed, "We have agreed to the acquisition." Ishii's annual salary this season is C-rank, so there will be no personnel compensation.
Ishii joined the Nippon-Ham team from Waseda University with the second pick in the 2016 draft. This season, in his ninth year, he played in 108 games as a regular second baseman in Nippon-Ham, with a batting average of 20.5 and 9 percent, and a record of 6 Home Run. Seibu Lions 's second base has a batting average of 20.0.6%, which is the lowest in the position category this season, and Ishii, who has both batting power, is indispensable to the championship since 2019. The general manager said, "The batting indicator is good, and the defense number of second baseman is very good infielder. He is a player who can contribute both offensively and defensively, so I hope he will play in the game and contribute."
This is the team's second free agent addition, following the signing of Kuwahara from DeNA. This is likely to be a major boost to the team's strength as they look to bounce back from their fifth-place finish this season.
◆ Kazunari Ishii (Ishii Kazunari) Born May 6, 1994 in Tochigi Prefecture. 31 years old. At Sakushin Gakuin, he played in Koshien tournament for three consecutive seasons, starting in the summer of his second year. At Waseda University, he played in league games from the spring of his first year, and was named to the Best Nine shortstop team in the spring of his third year. He also served as captain in his fourth year. He joined Nippon-Ham as the second pick in the 2016 draft. His younger brother, Takumi, joined Yakult as the sixth pick in the 2013 draft. His career stats are a batting average of .223, 28 Home Run, 156 RBI, and 33 stolen base bases in 743 games. He is 182 cm tall and weighs 86 kg. He throws right and bats left.
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