In the 2025 season, under new manager Mamoru Kishida, Orix Buffaloes finished in third place with 74 wins, 66 losses, and 3 ties, a winning percentage of .529, making them a Class A team for the first time in two years. In this article, we look back at the 2025 season for Orix Buffaloes fielder.

The team's hit performance has improved, with the most hits in the league.

This season, the team's batting average is .255 (2nd in the league), with 1,252 hit (1st), 100 Home Run (3rd), and 502 runs (3rd). This is a significant improvement compared to last season's results (.238 batting average, 1,113 hit, 71 Home Run, and 402 runs). Furthermore, defense, which had the most errors in the league last season with 78, has now dropped to the lowest in the league with 64 errors.

Although he narrowly missed out on the batting hitter, Ryoma Nishikawa showed his batting prowess

Ryoma Nishikawa showed his true worth in his second year after the transfer. His batting average in the preseason was a meager .051, but he got three hit in the opening game and had multiple hit in six of the seven games played up until April 5th, showing off his impressive start. He played his 1,000th game on May 20th, and five days later, on the 25th, he hit a two-run leadoff home run against Fukuoka Softbank, achieving his 1,000th career hit. He also had a 13-game hit streak from June 13th, posting a .357 batting average in June, earning him the Taiju Life Monthly MVP Award. However, he was forced to leave the game on July 1st after suffering a left ankle injury in a game against Saitama Seibu Lions.

He returned to the first team on August 19th and hit his first Home Run since his return on the 21st. He continued to play mainly as DH and competed for the batting hitter until the end of the season, but on September 20th, he suffered a right tibia fracture in a game against Fukuoka Softbank and was forced to leave the team again. Although he missed out on the title by 31 at-bats, he still had a solid batting average of .310 and hit.

Keita Nakagawa is third in the league with a batting average of .284 and hits 12 Home Run, tying his career high.

　Keita Nakagawa He doubled his games played to 119 compared to last season when he was struggling with a breakdown, but he got back on track in June and July, and hit walk-off home run for the first time in his career on July 16 against Tohoku Rakuten Eagles. He continued to hit .400 for the month of August, and hit in four consecutive games starting with a game against Saitama on August 17.

He continued to hit well in August, with a .400 monthly batting average and four consecutive Home Run hits, starting on August 17 against Saitama Seibu Lions. batting order Home Run RBI He was selected as one of the best nine for the first time in his seventh year as a professional.

In April, Ryo Ota tied the team record for hit in a month by right-handed hitter and had a career-high season.

Ryo Ota The player hit Home Run his first Pacific League in the season opener, and in April, he hit 39 hit for the month, tied for the most right-handed hitter by a baseball team. Although he was running neck and neck hitter for the top spot, he slumped in May with a monthly batting average of .158, and was out for about a month due to Hit by Pitch an injury he received on the 18th of the same month.

After returning to the lineup on June 13, he gradually got back on track and hit his first walk-off hit on August 26 against Chiba Lotte Marines. Although there were days when he was not a member of the bench, he continued to appear in the lineup until the final game of the regular season and reached the regulation batting lineup for the first time in 113 games, the most in his career. He enjoyed a breakthrough season with a .283 batting average, the fourth highest in the league, and career highs of 10 Home Run and 52 RBI in both categories.

Taishi Hirooka also hit an impressive arch in his career-high 118 games.

The 10th-year professional Taishi Hirooka player played in 118 games this season, the most of his career, mainly as center fielder and third baseman. Although he was out of the lineup for about a month from mid-June due to a fractured right rib, he contributed to the team throughout the season as the No.1 hitter. He also made his first professional appearance against on May 14 and his first professional appearance against on August 17.

He also made some impressive arches, including his first professional grand slam appearance on May 14 against Hokkaido Nippon-Ham and his first professional walk-off home run appearance on August 17 against Saitama Seibu Lions.

Yutaro Sugimoto hits double-digit home runs for the fifth consecutive year and leads the team with 16 Home Run.

Yutaro Sugimoto 's batting average exceeded 30% in April and June, and in the "Nippon Life Central vs. Pacific League 2025 Interleague Play" he recorded a batting average of .333, fifth among the 12 teams. His batting average slumped to single digits in July and August, but on August 2nd he hit double-digit Home Run for the fifth consecutive year. He regained his form in September, and on October 12th he hit the opening home run in the second game of the first stage of the "2025 Persol Climax Series first baseman League" against Hokkaido Nippon-Ham.

It was a year of ups and downs, but in the end he hit the team's highest 16 Home Run, had a batting average of .259, and RBI, improving on last season's numbers (11 Home Run, batting average of .233, 27 RBI), and made a significant contribution to the team's advancement to Class A.

Orix Buffaloes 's "walk-off man," Kenya Wakatsuki, plays in over 100 games for the first time in six years

Kenya Wakatsuki hit the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the opening game, and recorded three walk-off hits in the first half of the season. He had a batting average of over 30% in July and August, and continued to produce hit throughout the summer, reaching 100 hit in a season for the first time in his 12th year as a professional.

On defense, while fellow catcher Tomoya Mori was forced to withdraw, he wore the mask as the starting catcher in 118 games, pitcher Daiki Tajima to two shutout game and pitcher Alen Kuri to his first complete game since transferring. In addition to winning the Mitsui Golden Glove Award for the second time in two years, he was also selected to Pacific League 's Best Nine for the first time.

Veteran Masahiro Nishino shows his reliability on both offense and defense

fielder The oldest Masahiro Nishino player had few opportunities to play in the early part of the season, but gradually increased his opportunities starting in June. From then until the end of the season, he maintained a consistent monthly batting average of over .280, and also set a career high of 7 Home Run. He also showed solid play at second and third base defense and was a dependable player both offensively and defensively.

While the team has had a number of pitcher leave the team, fielder have performed consistently, and the team has made it into Class A for the first time in two years. We look forward to seeing the fierce batting lineup step up next season as they aim to win the league championship for the first time in three years since 2023, when they won three consecutive championships.

Written by Aoi Nishijima