Seibu Lions owner Takashi Goto (76) visited the first-team spring training camp in Minamigo, Nichinan City, Miyazaki Prefecture on the 2nd.

This season, the team added two free agents: Kuwabara from DeNA and Ishii from Nippon-Ham. After addressing the management and players, the owner addressed the press, saying of Kuwabara, a two-time Golden Glove Award winner as center center fielder, "He was the MVP when DeNA became the best in Japan. He's a very competitive player, and I watched him take batting practice yesterday, and it was impressive to see him putting his all into every pitch. In that sense, I'm very excited that he'll bring a breath of fresh air to the team." Regarding Ishii, who had a batting average of .387 last season with the Belluna D, he said, "He was extremely strong against The Lions, and he himself says he loves the Belluna D. This is a huge thing. The absolute value has gone from negative to positive. The swing has doubled." He expressed his hopes for further growth.