Nippon-Ham pitcher Kota Tatsu (22) reflected on the 17th regarding this season, his fifth year as a professional, which ended with 5 wins, 8 losses, and an ERA of 2.96 across 27 games. He had arrived in Fukuoka on the 16th to prepare for his start in Game 5 of the CS Final Series on the 18th, but the team was eliminated on the 16th. His opportunity to pitch did not come, so he returned to Hokkaido on a flight today and visited Es Con Field for training. 'I didn't get the wins, but the quality itself was quite good, so personally, I don't think the 5-8 record reflects how I actually performed,' he said. This season, in which he secured a spot in the opening rotation for the first time in his professional career, he was not blessed with wins during the first half, but he increased his innings pitched from 107 2/3 last season to 124 2/3. In the second half, he demonstrated a clear level-up, recording High Quality Starts (7 or more innings with 2 or fewer earned runs) in 6 out of 8 games.

Furthermore, he intends to continue training for next season while giving his body a rest this off-season, stating, "I think I'll stop pitching for a while and focus on training." He added, "I'll wait until I feel like pitching. I think that's a very important indicator. Instead of pitching aimlessly, if I rest until I want to do it from the bottom of my heart, the motivation to pitch will definitely return." He will re-examine his own body as he strives toward his final form as a pitcher.

Regarding their arch-rivals, the Softbank Hawks, against whom they finished with 5 wins, 18 losses, and 2 draws this season and suffered three consecutive losses in the Climax Series, he commented, 'My impression is that the difference in strength is clear, but I believe The Fighters also have the power to compete. I don't think our individual abilities are inferior at all; I think it's just a matter of whether everything clicks together or not. I think it would be good to focus on improving individual abilities during the off-season.' He will continue to stoically face himself during the off-season to become the strongest pitcher.