Orix Buffaloes finished the regular season in 4th place. The "Professional baseball Draft Meeting supported by Lipovitan D," which will be a step toward a comeback next season, will be held on October 22.

One year ago in the fall, six players were selected by Orix Buffaloes in the draft and joined the team under standard contracts. Four additional players joined as developmental players. This time, we pick up two players who made their first-team debut. We look back on their rookie year.

The fourth-round draft pick high school outfielder experienced facing top Central League pitchers in the first team.

Fourth-round draft pick Yosuke Kubota (Sapporo Nihon University High School) made his professional debut on June 5th, replacing Haruto Watanabe. The following day, June 6th, he made his professional debut as a pinch hitter in the top of the 5th inning against Hiroshima. Although he closer out looking against Hiroshima's ace pitcher Masato Morishita, he took his first struck out as a professional baseball player. On June 11th, he appeared as a pinch runner in a game against Tokyo Yakult, but was removed from the roster the next day. His first year as a professional ended with only two appearances in the first team.

In the minor leagues, he played in 95 games, the second most on the team. He had a batting average of .178, 2 Home Run, 20 RBI, and 12 stolen base, making for a successful rookie year.

Draft 5th pick Shu Takaya pitcher (Hokkai Gakuen University) became the only university graduate player under control. He was promoted to the first team for the first time on April 1st and made his professional debut in the bottom of the 6th inning of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham game on the 3rd. In his debut game in his hometown of Hokkaido, he struck out Kotaro Kiyomiya looking with a runner on first and no outs, but left the mound after allowing 5 runs in 1 inning, including a 3-run home run to Chusei Mannami. He was removed from the active roster the following day, but continued to pitch in the farm system, finishing with a record of 0 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 3.67 in 22 games.

Among the rookies on the active roster, five players, including first-round draft pick pitcher Atsuya Fujikawa and the previously mentioned Kubota, were high school graduates, so it became a season where most new players spent their time training thoroughly in the farm system.

Furthermore, among the developmental rookies, two players who joined from independent leagues made a strong impression. Developmental first-round pick Haruto Mikata (Tochigi Golden Braves) hit 8 Home Runs, tying for 5th in the Western Division. Second-round pick pitcher Matthew (Toyama GRN Thunderbirds), who made 25 appearances, recorded 11 saves, ranking 2nd in the Western Division.