[Rakuten Eagles] Hikaru Ito makes his first start starting line-up in an open game since joining the team, going 0-At Bat-1 at the plate. He joined the team after exercising his overseas hit agency rights. | Pacific League

[Rakuten Eagles] Hikaru Ito makes his first start hit starting line-up an open game since joining the team, going 0-At Bat-1 at the plate.

Sports Hochi

March 12, 2026 14:37

Naoto Nishiguchi (right) and Hikaru Ito (camera, Tomomi Watanabe) exchange a touch after finishing one inning of pitching.

◆Exhibition game: Rakuten Eagles vs. Nippon-Ham (12th, Shizuoka)

catcher Hikaru Ito, who exercised his overseas free agent (FA) rights and transferred from DeNA to Rakuten Eagles, made his first start starting line-up in a preseason game since the transfer, but went 0-At Bat-1 hit.

In his first at-bat in the second inning, with the team trailing by one point, he hit a fastball from Rao but hit a fly ball to center field. He was replaced by Horiuchi in the fifth defense and returned to the bench.

Hikaru Ito joined Orix Buffaloes in the third round of the 2007 high school draft. He transferred to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars midway through the 2018 season. In his NPB career, he played in 1063 games, with a batting average of .235, 262 RBI, and 30 Home Run.