On the 10th, Rakuten Eagles announced that, following discussions between the team and manager Hajime Miki, Manager Miki will take a leave of absence, and Head Coach Tatsuya Shiokawa will serve as interim manager.

In his second year as manager, Miki had managed to get the team into contention for the top spots in April, even rising to second place, but May saw a significant losing record of 7 wins and 18 losses, causing the team to slump. As of the 9th, the team had a record of 21 wins and 36 losses, 15 games behind, and was in last place, 14.5 games behind the league-leading Seibu Seibu Lions.

Furthermore, Head Coach Shiokawa will take over as acting manager starting with the game The Giants on June 10th.