On the 28th, it was decided that Softbank Hawks pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa (32) will be the opening pitcher for the game against Nippon-Ham on March 27th (Mizuho PayPay). On the 27th, when he returned from a tour of Taiwan, manager Hiroki Kokubo (54) nominated Uesawa, saying, "I want you to be a pillar (of the starting rotation) for the whole year." He received two handwritten letters with his heartfelt thoughts.

This will be his third time taking on this important role, and his first time The Hawks in his second year with the team. "It's an honorable position that only 12 players across all 12 teams get to play," he said with a determined expression. He was win (1 loss) in 2019 and 2021 while playing for Nippon-Ham. With the possibility of becoming the 23rd player in history to win all teams at stake, he vowed to "third time's the charm" against his former team, saying, "The previous two times, I was nervous and felt a sense of responsibility, and things didn't go as I wanted. This time, I'll try to enjoy it as much as possible."

Last season, he tied his career high with 12 wins. His ERA of 2.74 was a career high. During the offseason, he began to work on his pitching form. He resolved to "rewrite my own records in every category." He showed pitch worthy of the Pacific League champions' start. (Nobuo Moriguchi)