2026 Professional baseball Draft Conference supported by Lipovitan D (22nd)

Lotte selected Taisei Suzuki from Aoyama Gakuin University as their first-round pick.

A competition with the Softbank Hawks ensued, and Manager Saburo stepped up for the lottery. The manager drew first with his left hand but was unable to pull the winning ticket. Although he had successfully won the lotteries for Misho Nishikawa in 2024 and Genki Ishigaki in 2025 after competitive bids, his winning streak in the lottery ended at two.

In last year's draft, Manager Saburo drew the winning ticket for Genki Ishigaki after competing with the Orix Buffaloes. Wearing a blue suit in the colors of Takasaki University of Health and Welfare High School, he demonstrated a "brainy play" by utilizing AI, stating that he "asked ChatGPT" whether he should pull the top or bottom of the lottery ticket. Genki Ishigaki made his first-team debut as a starter in the game against the Rakuten Eagles on September 17th at ZOZO Marine Stadium. For the pitcher staff that finished in fifth place as the starters struggled, he took a step that leads into next season.

Misho Nishikawa, the 2024 first-round draft pick and last season's Rookie of the Year, recorded 155 hit to tie with Ryoma Nishikawa (Orix Buffaloes) for the most hit title. While the pitcher rotation struggled, the reliever corps fought hard. Shota Suzuki earned the Best reliever award with 39 hold points, Akira Yagi secured 9 wins, and Rikuto Yokoyama shone with 35 saves to lead the league. In the lineup, eighth-year player Koki Yamaguchi had a breakout season with 38 Home Run and 81 RBI. He became the first Japanese player for the club to surpass the 30-homer milestone in 40 years since Hiromitsu Ochiai, and expectations are high for him to remain a key pillar next season.

Lotte's first-round draft picks over the past 10 years

2016: Missed - Seigi Tanaka (Soka University) Pitcher

Chihaya Sasaki (Obirin University) Pitcher

2017 x Kotaro Kiyomiya (Waseda Jitsugyo) Infielder

Hisanori Yasuda (Riseisha) Infielder

2018 Kyota Fujiwara (Osaka Toin) Outfielder

2019 Roki Sasaki (Ofunato) Pitcher

2020 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Waseda University) Pitcher

Shota Suzuki (Hosei University)

2021, Koo Matsukawa (City Wakayama), Catcher

2022 x Kosei Shoji (Rikkyo University) Pitcher

Riku Kikuchi (Senshu University) Pitcher

2023: Ryuki Watarai (ENEOS), Outfielder

Loss: Masaru Soka (Asia University) Pitcher

Haruki Hosono (Toyo University) Pitcher

Kyuto Ueda (Meiji University) Infielder

2024 - Misho Nishikawa (Aoyama Gakuin University) Outfielder

25 Genki Ishigaki (Ken-dai Takasaki) Pitcher