Shohei Tateyama and Takahiro Saeki, who appeared on "Professional baseball News 2026" broadcast on Fuji TV ONE on the 19th, mentioned Nippon-Ham.

Nippon-Ham was second, 4.5 games behind last season's 83-57-3 league champion Softbank Hawks. This offseason, the Softbank Hawks were successful in acquiring the Pacific League most-winning Kohei Arihara of the year, who became a free agent, adding depth to the starter lineup.

Tateyama commented, "The roster has gotten a lot stronger. Last year, the team was leading the league in complete game games, and now that pitcher Arihara is joining the team, it really shows how serious Manager Shinjo is about this."

Saeki said, "First of all, it's scary. Last year, Arihara had 14 wins and 9 losses, giving him a lead of five points. That was the difference between Softbank Hawks and The Fighters. If The Fighters had won by five points, they would have won the championship. I'm hoping that he can close the gap of four points."

Nippon-Ham led the league complete game games last season with 23. Their starting ERA was 2.56, second in the league. Along with ace pitcher Hiromi Ito, who won the Sawamura Award, Arihara's "two most wins" will be a powerful weapon.

☆ Cooperation: Fuji TV ONE "Professional baseball News 2026"