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 is his third time taking on this important role, and his first with The Hawks in his second year since transferring. "It's an honorable position that only 12 people out of 12 teams have played in," he said with a serious expression. In 2019 and 2021 while with Nippon-Ham he was win (one loss). With the opportunity to become the 23rd player in history to win every team, he vowed to make it the "third time lucky" with his former team, saying, "The two times I've played, I felt nervous and responsible, and things didn't go as well as I wanted. This time, I'm trying 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)