Akihiko Ohya and Tomotaka Sakaguchi, who appeared on Fuji TV ONE's 'Professional baseball News 2026' broadcast on the 12th, mentioned Nippon-Ham's Shu Yamagata.

Yamagata played in 61 regular season games with a .227 batting average, but in the third game of the CS first baseman stage against the Seibu Lions, he hit a doble in the 5th inning, led to a run with a fake squeeze in the 7th inning, and achieved a multi-hit game with a hit to left field in that at-bat.

Hiroki Nomura, who served as the program MC, said, "What I thought during this three-game series is that there is a player who seems like a lucky boy, and that is Yamagata. He even got a hit after a fake squeeze, totaling two hits." Ohya evaluated him, saying, "He had one mistake of his own, but he also had a chance to make up for it, and he is playing baseball with great spirit."

Sakaguchi said, "That's great. Softbank Hawks has a left-handed pitcher going forward, and if fielder’s choice is not in top form, Yamagata can come in and add a lot more variety to the offense. It was a huge boost."

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