Lotte announced on the 2nd that pitcher Kazuya Ojima will exercise his domestic free agency rights.

Kojima joined Lotte as the third-round draft pick in 2018. Starting from his second year in 2020, he threw over 100 innings for seven consecutive years, and reached the regulation innings pitched for five consecutive years from 2021 to 2025. In 2024, he threw a career-high 163 1/3 innings in a single season. He achieved double-digit wins three times (2021, 2023, and 2024).

In this 8th season, he pitched 117 1/3 innings across 20 games, finishing with a record of 6 wins, 9 losses, and an ERA of 3.53.

Kazuya Ojima

I would like to report that I have completed the procedures to exercise my free agency rights today. I cannot thank The Marines enough for selecting me in the draft and giving me a path into the professional world, and I am truly grateful to the manager, coaches, teammates, and all the fans for raising me to where I am today. I struggled a lot with the decision of whether or not to declare free agency. Through both good times and bad, for eight years, I have swung my arm thinking only of the team rather than myself. I reached this decision because I have a strong desire to directly hear how other teams evaluate my professional baseball life and to look at myself objectively. I am truly grateful to The Marines for understanding my feelings. From now on, I intend to sincerely listen to what every team that speaks with me has to say and make the decision that I am most satisfied with. Of course, my feelings of gratitude and attachment to The Marines, who have taken care of me until now, are very strong. I want to carefully consider the option of staying and make a decision that I will not regret. Looking back, these eight years since entering the professional world have gone by in a flash. I want to make a decision after thinking it through thoroughly so that I can make the remainder of my baseball life fulfilling.