◆ Mr. Iwamoto: "It feels like it has to be done." The answers from the nine commentators were...

Nippon-Ham who were in a close race with Softbank Hawks but ultimately missed out on the league championship, had their predictions for reclaiming the title next season discussed by nine commentators on Fuji TV ONE's "Pro baseball News Year-End Grand Reflection Special," which aired on the 16th.

Six people answered that they thought they would win, while three answered that they would not. Tsutomu Iwamoto said, "It feels like we have to win," but Yasushi Tao said, "Softbank Hawks stumbled this year and has been climbing back up. They have managed to accumulate more than 30 wins even though they have hardly ever had their planned regular players available. When you think about whether you can beat a team with that kind of strength, it's just..." expressing the difficulty of winning the championship.

Furthermore, Mitsuo Tatsukawa commented, "Manager Shinjo said he would try to stick to a fixed starting lineup next year, but this year he used players in the right positions and made good use of players who were in good form. Manager Shinjo is the type of person who doesn't change his mind once he's made up his mind, so the question is how long he can be patient." Shohei Tateyama pointed out, "Each team is getting used to baseball at ES CON FIELD, so they will probably start to keep an eye on him. I don't think he'll be able to complete game as many complete games as he did this year."

☆In cooperation with: Fuji TV ONE "Professional baseball News 2025"