◆Pre-season game: Seibu Lions 0-2 Nippon-Ham (4th, Escon)

Seibu Lions Yutaro Watanabe pitcher (25), the starter, surrendered 1 hit nothing runs and 4 strike out in 3 innings. He said he felt good about his performance.

Given the long gap since his last start in a real game, he approached this match with the theme of "remembering the feeling of being a starter one by one," and he pitched well, not allowing a single runner through the first two innings. In the third inning, with both teams scoreless, a fielding error by his teammates put him in a jam with two outs and runners on first and third, but the right-hander, with a change of perspective, managed to get out of the jam by striking out a pitcher, saying, "What I wanted to confirm most was the atmosphere of the game. It was good that runner got on base. That kind of thing is a good experience, or rather, a good sense of the game." He finished the game at ES CON FIELD, where he will also be playing in regular season, in an attempt to secure his first ever opening day start, and nodded, saying, "I was mentally prepared, the adrenaline was flowing properly, and I was able to perform just like in regular season with this unique feeling, which was good."