On the 23rd, Softbank Hawks Chief Baseball Officer (CBO) Kenji Jojima, General Manager of Scouting and Player Development Tomohiro Nagai, Assistant CBO Kyohei Makita, and Scout Akira Matsumoto paid a post-draft visit to Aoyama Gakuin University pitcher Taisei Suzuki, for whom they acquired the negotiating rights as their first-round draft pick.

At the draft meeting on the 22nd, after a competitive bid with Lotte, CBO Jojima successfully drew the winning ticket for Suzuki. In the interview immediately following the draw, he excited the crowd by saying, 'I'll be there in 15 minutes,' but later 'corrected' himself during the press conference after the first-round picks for all 12 teams were finalized, stating, 'The draft is still ongoing, so I will go tomorrow.' Having successfully completed this year's draft, where a record-high total of 24 players were selected across both the main roster and developmental categories, he visited the Aoyama Campus of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo today.

When meeting Suzuki for the first time, he presented the winning lottery ticket to him, saying, "A good ticket was left over." After their meeting, he shared his impressions, stating, "He is a fine young man. I thought he had a very intrepid look on his face."

Regarding the right-hander expected to be a starter, which is a team challenge, he reiterated his expectations for him as an immediate asset, saying, 'He is a complete pitcher. Whether he has the physical strength and muscle power to fight through all 143 games in a year is something I would have to ask our specialists, but we evaluate his pitches and raw talent as the best among university players.' Furthermore, regarding Suzuki, who named second-team manager Kazumi Saito as the pitcher he admires, he seemed impressed by his communication skills, commenting, 'I think he was being a bit diplomatic (laughs). He can already make statements with the awareness that they will appear in print as a professional. As expected, I thought he truly is the number one university player.'