Pitcher Daiki Kikuchi, who joined Nippon-Ham pitcher from The Giants in the active player draft, attended a press conference at ESCON on the 12th. number was decided to be "55." Wearing The Fighters blue tie, Kikuchi appeared on stage with acting GM Kida and said enthusiastically, "I've been feeling a bit down for the past two years without seeing any results, so when I got the call that I'd been accepted, I thought it was a huge opportunity, and right now I really want to perform well on the first team stage once again."
This season, he returned to the regular roster in July and recorded one win and one loss with ERA of 1.80 in seven appearances. Armed with a fastball, fork, and slider, he made his presence felt at Doctor K, strike out 16 batters in 10 inning and boasting strike out rate of 14.40. In the Eastern League, he recorded four wins and two losses with ERA of 1.98 in 23 appearances. "My strengths are a strong fastball and breaking ball, and my selling point is that I can get struck out," he said in his self-introduction.
Acting GM Kida also gave his stamp of approval, saying, "I think he's pitcher who has been getting struck out since he entered professional baseball, and (as a team) we've always kept an eye on him, having seen him in high school when I was assistant GM and having information on him, and especially since he entered the professional league, he's pitcher we've had our eye on as a team, so it feels like he's finally come to The Fighters."
At Nippon-Ham, he is in the same grade as Kiyomiya Yuki and Kitayama. At fan appreciation events, there is a group called "Kiyomiya Friends" where Kiyomiya Yuki and others dress up in drag and perform dances and songs. "I've been watching it on YouTube recently, and I'm looking forward to it. I haven't done much of that kind of thing, so I'm really looking forward to meeting them, hoping that I can continue to do that kind of thing in my new environment," he said, looking forward to meeting his new teammates.
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