On the 8th, Lotte announced that pitcher Keisuke Sawada 's number will be changed from 66 to 54.
Sawada said through the club, "Number 54 is the number that contains the soul of Johnny (Tomohiro Kuroki pitcher coach). I really wanted to put it on. While I was always receiving various guidance from Johnny, I was once again impressed by how amazing it was when I saw videos of pitching during my active career. It's not the same, but I hope to be able to show you pitching with the same feeling as Johnny next year with this number on my back at mound."
This season, Sawada's third year with Lotte, he has pitched in 29 games, with a record of 1 win, 1 loss, 1 ERA, and an ERA of 3.95.