Tohoku Rakuten Eagles will not sign a contract for next season with Hikaru Ito

Rakuten Eagles announced that they have notified Hikaru Ito that they will not be offering him a player contract for the 2027 season. Hikaru Ito joined Rakuten Eagles this season and appeared in 22 games.

Saitama Seibu Lions' Kaima Taira and Taiga Kojima have won the Best Battery Award.

Saitama Seibu Lions pitcher Kaima Taira and player Taiga Kojima have won the "2026 professional baseball Best Battery Award" established by Sports Nippon Newspapers. This is the first time both pitcher Taira and player Kojima have won the award, and the first for the club since pitcher Tatsushi Masuda & player Tomoya Mori in 2019. Additionally, this is the first time in history that a rookie catcher has won the award.

▼pitcher Taira Comment▼
"I am happy to win such a wonderful award for the first time together with Kojima. Despite being a rookie, Kojima really fought well for the whole year. I think it was very difficult being in his first year as a professional, but fighting through the season and winning this award is truly amazing."

▼Player Kojima Comment▼
"Taira-san taught me many things, and I believe I was able to win this award thanks to Taira-san. Next time, I want to contribute with my own strength and work hard to win this award again. Taira-san's pitches are so wonderful that I felt they wouldn't be hit no matter where he threw them, and I learned a lot from being able to form a battery with him from my first year. Not only do I want to grow as a catcher, but as a hitter, I also want to become able to hit pitches from a pitcher like Taira-san."

Saitama Seibu Lions' An-Ko Lin returns home

Saitama Seibu Lions announced that An-Ko Lin has returned home. In the first year of his two-year contract, he played 76 games with a .220 batting average, 8 Home Runs, 29 RBIs, and an OPS of .675.

▼An-Ko Lin Comment▼
"This season, my first year in Japan, was a year where I learned many things and was able to grow. On the other hand, I feel frustrated that I could not fight with the team until the end due to the impact of injuries. Taking advantage of this year's experience, I will do my best to achieve even better results next season and contribute to the team's championship.

To all The Lions fans, thank you very much for all your warm support this season. I look forward to your continued support next season."

Orix Buffaloes announce guest MC for 'Bs Fan-Festa 2026'

Orix Buffaloes announced the guest MCs and the program for "Bs Fan-Festa 2026," which will be held at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Sunday, November 22. This year's event is titled "Who Will Win? Meow!? Woof!? Bs Fan-Festa 2026." The guest MCs will be the two members of Takion, and the assistant MC will be Takashi from Ambitious.

In the first part, a talk event will be held on stage. In the second part, a team-based softball tournament will be held using the entire ground. In addition, many events where fans can interact with players, such as "Player Autograph Session," "Player Photo Session," and "Player High-Five Session," are scheduled to take place.

Fukuoka Softbank to dispatch 3 pitchers to the Puerto Rico Winter League

Fukuoka Softbank announced that they will dispatch three pitchers, Keishin Nagamizu, Kaito Uchino, and Yusei Tobita, to the Puerto Rico Winter League. The dispatch period is from October 27 (Tue) to December 15 (Tue), and Felipe Natel, the 3rd team chief pitching coach, and Kazunari Matayoshi, the farm athletic trainer, will accompany them as staff.

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