◆ Pacific League Orix Buffaloes vs. Lotte (July 7th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Orix Buffaloes pitcher Ryuhei Sotani (25) joined pre-game practice at Kyocera Dome Osaka on the 7th for the game against Lotte. After his one appearance in the WBC in March, he has pitched in a total of three games in the open season and farm team. He has steadily increased his pitch count to 18, 45, and 73 pitches, and in the game against DeNA on the 2nd (Sugimoto Shoji BS), he allowed only one runs in 5 2/3 innings.

If all goes well, he is expected to start in the three-game series Rakuten Eagles starting on the 10th (Rakuten Eagles Mobile). For the right-handed mound in his fourth year as a professional, who said he "wants to get ready to pitch in the first team as soon as possible," this will likely be a chance to restart his career.