Lotte announced on the 2nd that pitcher Kazuya Ojima (30) will exercise his domestic free agency rights. As a valuable left-hander who can be entrusted with a spot in the starting rotation, multiple teams, including the Hanshin Tigers, are moving forward with investigations to acquire him.

He joined Lotte as the third-round draft pick in 2018 from Waseda University, and in this eighth season, he recorded 6 wins and 9 losses with a 3.53 ERA in 20 games. His career totals over 172 games are 69 wins and 63 losses with a 3.60 ERA. The comments released through the team are as follows.

Lotte's Ojima stated, 'I am reporting today that I have completed the procedures to exercise my free agency rights. I cannot express enough gratitude to The Marines for selecting me in the draft and opening the path to the professional world, as well as 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. Moving forward, 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 I won't 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.'