Nippon-Ham announced on the 28th that they have reached an agreement with pitcher Kohei Arihara (33), who had been released by Softbank Hawks. Arihara, who is returning to his former team after six years with an unprecedented four-year, 2.8 billion yen contract, commented through the team, "I am very happy to have the opportunity to return to Hokkaido, where my professional baseball career began, and to The Fighters." He vowed to repay his debt of gratitude to his former team, where he played for six years since joining in 2015.

With the addition of Arihara, who won the most wins title this season with 14 victories, a winning duo of Ito and Arihara has been realized. This is the first time since 2012, when The Giants' Utsumi and Holton (Softbank Hawks the previous year) had multiple pitchers who won the most wins title in the previous year, that the team has acquired multiple pitcher through transfers from other teams. "Under manager Shinjo, I want to throw with all my might to aim for the championship and contribute to the team by pitching for as many inning as possible," said Arihara. Shinjo's Fighters will aim for their first league championship in 10 years and the Japan Series title next season, centered around their double aces.