◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026 Rakuten Eagles vs. Hiroshima (June 12th, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)

Rakuten Eagles Eagles pitcher Kenta Maeda (38) joined the first team on the 12th. He adjusted his pitching with catch practice at the team's home base. "There were many parts of pitch form that were falling apart. In my last appearance with the first team, I gave up a lot pitcher walk, and my strength has always been control, so I think it's important to make adjustments, re-evaluate my pitching style, and then do it properly with the first team. I hope I can continue to do that," he said with conviction.

Kenta Maeda returned to NPB this season after an 11-year absence. So far, he has appeared in 5 games for the first team, with a record of 0 wins and 2 losses and ERA of 4.82. He started the game against Nippon-Ham on May 20th (at Escon Stadium), but was pulled in the middle of the 3rd inning after giving up 4 hit, 3 Walk, and 2 runs. His first win since joining the team was put on hold, and he was removed from the active roster on May 21st.

After joining the farm team, he made a strong case for a recall. On May 31, he started against the Chunichi in the Farm League, pitching 4 hit 3 runs through 7 innings. Furthermore, on June 6, against the Seibu Lions in the same league, he pitched 7 hit 0 runs innings, allowing 7 strike out hits.

During his time adjusting in the minor leagues, it was announced that manager Miki would be taking a leave of absence. "I wasn't able to contribute at all. I feel responsible for that, and I wonder if things would have been a little different if I had been able to pitch properly from the start of the season. The manager and coaches direct the game, but it's the players who play. If the players had won properly, I don't think we would have ended up with this result. I don't think this applies to everyone, but I myself wasn't able to contribute at all, so I feel very sorry about that. People had high expectations of me, so I'm sorry that I couldn't contribute," he said, biting his lip.

After practice, he interacted with his former teammates from Hiroshima, including manager Arai, and rekindled old friendships.