Seibu Lions Lions manager Fumiya Nishiguchi (53) held a joint pre-game press conference with manager Saburo at ZOZO Marine Stadium on the 26th, ahead of their opening game against the Chiba Lotte Marines.

The announced starting pitchers were Watanabe for Seibu Lions and second-round draft pick left-hander Mori for Lotte. The manager revealed his expectations for the selection, saying, "He gained good experience last year, and I hope that this year will be a breakthrough year for Yutaro. Also, the opening game has a unique atmosphere, so I wanted pitcher without experience to get to experience that atmosphere as well, which is why I chose Watanabe Yutaro."

Looking ahead to the start of his second season as manager, aiming to bounce back from last season's fifth-place finish, he said, "We finished fifth last year. Last year we focused on winning through strong baseball, and I think we were able to do that to some extent. So this year, I want to try to win through baseball, and I want to increase the number of games where we score as many runs as possible."