◆Farm League West Division Orix Buffaloes 3-2 Hiroshima (19th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Orix Buffaloes pitcher Kohei Azuma (26) showed signs of a smooth progression in his career. The right-hander, who underwent cleaning surgery on his right elbow in November 2013, made his third appearance since his return on the 19th in a farm league game against Hiroshima (Kyocera Dome). Starting the game, he pitched three innings, allowing only three hit and no runs, strike out that reached 151 km/h, a truly impressive performance.

"We've been putting slider and two seam fastball on the agenda and it's getting better. struck out I've been able to get two and three from the previous game, so I guess that's good. He was able to show that he can compete with any type of pitch by getting two struck out each with a straight ball and slider and three with two seam fastball. After returning to the farm on April 2 in an exchange game against Lotte (Sugimoto Shoji BS), he steadily got inning through the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd innings. He said, "I'm feeling the strain from throwing the ball, but I don't have any particular problems. I've been told that I hope to go 5 (inning) next time, so I think it will continue to grow.

In the starting rotation, Yamashita underwent ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery on his right elbow in the United States, and ace Miyagi also traveled to the US to prepare for surgery on his left elbow. The "unbeatable man," who has been undefeated with eight consecutive wins since his debut in 2022, promised a full recovery, saying, "I will be preparing so that I can be called up (to the first team) at any time. The starting pitchers who are currently on the mound are all very good pitcher, so I will do my best to be able to compete with them properly." (Shunta Nanbu)