Lotte's 2026 season has come to an end. With 63 wins, 77 losses, and 3 draws, they finished 5th in the league, 28 games behind the Softbank Hawks, who won their third consecutive league title.
Although they finished 5th in the league, there were many positive elements. Regarding the fielders, second-year player Misho Nishikawa tied with Ryoma Nishikawa (Orix Buffaloes) for the most hits title in the final game, Ryusei Ogawa established himself as the regular second baseman, and Koki Yamaguchi hit 38 Home Runs, the most in a season since the move to Zozo Marine Stadium. Although he slowed down toward the end of the season, Kyota Fujiwara reached the regulation number of plate appearances for the second consecutive year, and Toshiya Sato also recorded 18 Home Runs, the most in a season for a catcher since the move to Zozo Marine Stadium.
Until last year, there were many players who seemed to be developing but weren't, or vice versa. However, Nishikawa and Ogawa have performed well for two consecutive years, and it is fair to say that Yamaguchi, Fujiwara, and Sato have grown into players who can be called the core of the team and relied upon consistently.
Although I felt the depth at short stop was somewhat thin, Ogawa was playing there at the very end of the season, and with Kyuto Ueda, whose selling point is his hitting, moving into second baseman, the options have expanded.
With players such as Tsuyoshi Yamasaki, Akito Takabe, Naonori Yasuda, Raito Ikeda, Atsuki Tomosugi, Kyuto Ueda, Kota Inoue, Daito Yamamoto, Ko Matsukawa, and Ryusei Terachi, the depth of the roster has undoubtedly improved across the catcher, infield, and outfield positions. It is significant that even when someone's performance dropped, other players stepped up to replace them. Yamaguchi, who was promoted to the first team on May 12th to replace the injured Fujiwara, secured his position by hitting 38 home runs. It can be said that competition has thickened the depth of the fielder group.
The starting rotation was unstable
On the other hand, regarding the pitcher staff, it was thought that the starting rotation would become quite powerful if Haruya Tanaka and Yuto Kimura could establish themselves as starters based on last season's results. However, although Haruya Tanaka recovered after August, he was unable to pitch in the first team throughout the season, and Yuto Kimura was also sidelined due to injury. Above all, the injury-induced absence of Atsuki Taneichi, who excelled as a member of the Japan national team in the WBC and for whom expectations had grown that he would sweep individual titles this season, was extremely painful.
The only pitcher to reach the regulation innings pitched was the new foreign player Jackson, who threw 150 2/3 innings, followed by Kazuya Ojima with 117 1/3 innings; only Jackson and Ojima threw more than 100 innings. Before the start of the season, there were many starting candidates such as Shuta Ishikawa, Yuji Nishino, Yuki Karakawa, Tokito Kawamura, Yuto Yoshikawa, and the rookie Kaito Mori. In addition to the three main starters Taneichi, Ojima, and Jackson, it was expected that Tanaka and Kimura would fill the fourth and fifth spots, with multiple players competing for the sixth spot, but there was a series of miscalculations.
Looking ahead to next season, there are bright spots: Shuta Takano, who was converted from a reliever to a starter mid-season, recorded 3 wins and 1 loss with a 1.67 ERA over 4 starts and 27 innings; Lucchesi, who joined mid-season and showed brilliant performances with each successive appearance; and Haruya Tanaka, who remained stable from the summer onwards.
The relief squad, which was a weak point last season due to the inability to fix a winning pattern, saw the establishment of a winning pattern with Shota Suzuki in the 8th inning and Rikuto Yokoyama in the 9th inning, following the lifting of appearance management rules such as no pitching three days in a row and no more than four appearances in a week. Both Suzuki and Yokoyama went on to win individual titles. Shunsuke Nakamori, who missed the second half of last season due to injury, did not leave the roster once after being promoted on May 4th, fighting through to the end of the season and appearing in 42 games primarily as the 7th-inning man in winning games. Naoya Masuda, who finished last season with the worst stats of his career, also saw success from changing his approach starting last autumn. After producing results in practice games and exhibition games to secure a spot on the opening day roster, he mainly pitched in relief during trailing games in early spring. However, he moved up the hierarchy, recording his first save of the season against the Orix Buffaloes on July 10th and achieving his 250th career save against the Seibu Lions on August 4th, fighting through the entire season with the top team.
Akira Yagi had a breakout season, appearing in 46 games and earning 9 wins, primarily as a long reliever in games where the team was trailing. With the starting rotation being unstable, his ability to stabilize games as a long reliever following the starter was a valuable asset for the team. Keisuke Sawada and Fumiya Ono also appeared in over 40 games each, supporting the bullpen.
Regarding the entire pitching staff, one point of concern is that no high school graduate pitchers have emerged to follow Haru Tanaka and Kimura, which wasn't much of a worry until last season because those two were developing smoothly. Next year, a crucial factor will be whether the young high school graduate group—starting with the 'first-year high school graduate trio' of Genki Ishigaki, Raito Okumura, and Yuto Nakayama (who is currently a developmental player)—can break into the first-team competition.
Long-standing issues
As a team, the challenge was that we were unable to overcome the long-standing issues of 'fluctuations in team performance' and 'stalling after the summer season.'
In 2023, the team was 3.5 games behind the leader with 10 games over .500 before the All-Star break, and reached a peak of 13 games over .500 on July 30th. However, they stalled after August and fell to 2 games under .500 by September 28th, eventually getting caught up in the Climax Series race and securing a second-place finish to advance to the CS by winning their final game. In contrast, this season they struggled to win in early spring, and as of the Nippon-Ham game on May 13th, they were 9 games under .500 and in last place, 9 games behind the leader.
After winning four consecutive games from the Nippon-Ham game on May 14 to the Orix Buffaloes game on May 17, the team finished interleague play with a winning record of 10 wins, 6 losses, and 2 draws, and also won two consecutive games against the Rakuten Eagles after the league season resumed. By June 21, they had paid off a deficit that was as high as 9 games and built up a surplus of 2 games. Their record from May 14 to the end of June was 20 wins and 10 losses. Although it seemed they would carry this momentum into the summer after reaching a winning record in just a month and a half, they finished with losing records in July (7 wins, 14 losses), August (11 wins, 13 losses), and September/October (11 wins, 16 losses).
During this year's spring camp, many players practiced for long hours not only during team sessions but also in individual practice. Having endured such rigorous training, there were high expectations for the battles from summer onwards. However, despite the challenge of the heat at their home field, Zozo Marine Stadium, which is an outdoor stadium, it was undeniable that the team ran out of stamina as the summer progressed.
Regarding the fact that we couldn't win at dome stadiums, couldn't win on the road, and were unilaterally beaten by the Softbank Hawks and Orix Buffaloes, there is no need to worry too much because as the year changes, the character of each team changes, and there have been cases where we had a winning record against teams we previously lost heavily to. However, unless we overcome the long-standing issues of 'the team's ups and downs' and 'the stall-out after the summer,' a league championship will remain out of reach.
The issue of not being able to perform well for two consecutive years was solved through an abundant amount of practice, and key players for both pitching and hitting have emerged. Until last season, the concern was whether the fielders were all present, but for next season, if the starting rotation is complete, the young fielders are developing well enough that a league championship might be within reach. The remaining factor is whether they can secure wins from the summer onwards. The young and mid-career players are undoubtedly growing, and the question is how each player will apply this year's experience to next season to lead to the team's win. Using this frustration as fuel, both the team and individual players are required to spend the time until next year's opening day with a sense of self-awareness.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
