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

Lotte selected a total of nine players, including first-round pick pitcher Yuto Yonezawa from Kansai University, with six players for the main roster and three developmental players. The breakdown consists of five pitchers, two infielders, and two outfielders. Manager Saburo smiled and said, 'Except for the catcher position, I think we had a good balance of ages, including high school, university, and industrial league players. Mr. Tamatsuka and I didn't have the luck and missed out on the first-round lottery pick, but I personally think our haul is better than other teams. Our scouts are very satisfied. I believe it was a good draft.'

In the second round, they selected Yudai Maeda, a pitcher from Takaoka Daiichi and one of the top left-handers in high school baseball. 'Just being able to get Yonezawa and Maeda is a huge success for me. I hope that in the future, Genki (Ishigaki) and Maeda will become a double ace,' he said, expressing high expectations for their growth alongside last year's first-round draft pick, right-hander Genki Ishigaki.