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

Lotte manager Saburo expressed his expectations for the first-round draft pick, Kansai University left-hander Yuto Yonezawa, a pitcher, saying, "He is a starting pitcher who can get struck out from the left side. I hope he will start for us, make good use of the Marine Stadium wind, and get even more struck out."

They missed out on Suzuki from Aoyama Gakuin University, who was also contested by the Softbank Hawks. In the consolation first-round pick, Miyahara from Kindai University was contested by Chunichi, and they missed out again, resulting in two consecutive losses in the lottery for university pitchers. 'It couldn't be helped. However, we were able to get the pitcher (Yonezawa) whom we had evaluated as a first-round draft pick. Even after missing those picks, we were able to get him, so I think it turned out well in the end. Our team has many people from the Kansai region, so I think it will be a fun team, and I hope he plays freely and enjoys himself. Let's do our best,' he sent as a message.