Yoshii Masato, who served as manager of Lotte until last season, appeared on the popular "Sports Opinion Leader" segment of "Sunday Morning" (TBS) which aired on the 22nd, and commented on Lotte's Atsuki Taneichi of Samurai Japan.

Yoshii praised Taneichi, saying, "Taneichi is amazing," and added, "His fork drops really well, and he throws a good fastball with a lot of spin, so he's pitcher who can get a lot of struck out."

Taneichi's fork drops in various trajectories, but Yoshii analyzes, "He says he does it on purpose, and it's quite difficult to control fork, but I think it changes naturally.It curves to the right, curves to the left, or drops straight."

Taneichi, whom Yoshii has been coaching since his time as a coach with the Lotte Marines, has been selected for the Japan national team. Yoshii expressed his expectations, saying, "I haven't really praised Taneichi much since my time as a coach, but that's because I believe he will become a truly amazing pitcher, and I've always spoken harshly to him with the desire to not be satisfied with his current situation, but I'm glad he's finally been included in the Samurai team."