On March 24th, Ryota Igarashi appeared on the third episode of "Monday's Patere Iki" broadcast on the official Pacific League TV YouTube channel and talked about the impact that Takuya Kai's transfer will have on Fukuoka Softbank.

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"Monday is on Patere" was started with the desire to create time for professional baseball and Pacific League fans to enjoy even on Mondays, when there are few games. In the second half of the program, a viewer asked, "From pitcher 's perspective, what impact does the transfer of Kai Takuya have on The Hawks?" Igarashi replied, "(Kai) was the starting catcher, so it's painful."

"I was in bullpen, but I feel reassured when I see signs from catcher who has been doing it for a long time. There are times when you think, 'I'll be fine with this guy,' or 'Even if the sign is a little different (from what I had in mind), if he gives it, it's OK,' so I wonder how it will affect things now that Kai is gone..." he said, using his own experience to explain the importance of a player who has been the starting catcher for many years.

He continued, "The other day, Satozaki (Tomoya) and I were talking about how, 'To be recognized, you have to be either catcher can win or catcher can hit.' It's true that Kai's batting average isn't that high, but he is highly regarded because he is catcher for the championship team, the Japanese national team.' He added, "I think that watching Fukuoka Softbank (without Kai) will be exciting and tense."

Who will be in the starting lineup as catcher for the opening starting line-up?

LIVE broadcast program "Monday is also Pate-tele"
・Streaming date: Every Monday from 9pm (scheduled to be available until October during the season)
・Streaming destination: Pacific League TV official YouTube channel
・Cast: A pair of former professional baseball players will appear each week
(Ginji and Yuji Kaneko / GG Sato and guests / Ryota Igarashi and T-Okada / Motonobu Tanishige and Tomoya Satozaki)

Next week on the 31st (Mon), Tomoya Satozaki and Motonobu Taninaga will be appearing. Don't miss it!