On the 20th, the Rakuten Eagles announced that they will not be renewing the contract of catcher Hikaru Ito for the next season.

Hikaru Ito joined the Orix Buffaloes as a third-round pick in the 2007 high school draft. He became the regular catcher in 2013 and played in over 100 games for three consecutive years starting that same year. In 2014, he won both the Best Nine and Golden Glove awards. After being traded to DeNA in the middle of 2018, he appeared in 84 games in 2019. After exercising his international free agency rights at the end of last season, he moved to the Rakuten Eagles.

In his first season after the transfer, he appeared in 22 games and recorded a .133 batting average, 1 Home Run, and 2 RBI.

▼ Players who have been released

catcher

Hikaru Ito