Nippon Nippon-Ham Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo confirmed on the 17th that pitcher Hiromi Ito, who participated in the WBC as a member of Samurai Japan and joined the team that day, will be used as the opening day pitcher as planned. Ito gave up a go-ahead three-run homer in the quarterfinal against Venezuela, and there were concerns about his mental state, especially after he was subjected to slander and defamation.

After the game against DeNA (at Escon Stadium), manager Shinjo spoke to reporters and stated, "He's 5000% going to be the opening day pitcher. He's not a weak pitcher. He's not a weak person. He's the type of person who will get even stronger after having an experience like that. Ito and I have both become mentally stronger over the past few years. We're both the type of people who get told that (laughs). We'll be fine."

However, he revealed that he was chosen to start on opening day because he had closer hits, saying with conviction, "If he had kept them in check, I wouldn't have made him the opening day pitcher. I probably would have made him fifth or sixth. But since he gave up hits, let's go for it." He also plans for him to pitch in the exhibition games, explaining, "I'll let him pitch. He needs to get a feel for the ball." He showed great confidence in him, saying, "I want him to pitch well on opening day, and that will give him confidence. If the results are bad, he'll get a lot of flak, but we'll overcome that together."

Kitayama, who is also participating in the WBC and is scheduled to play in the second game of the season, indicated that he would decide after meeting the players in person on the 18th.