Rakuten Eagles announced on the 17th that manager Hajime Miki, who had been on leave since the 10th, would be stepping down from the team.

In addition, with the appointment of Masato Yoshii as the new manager, Tatsuya Shiokawa will return as head coach, and Yasunaga Makishi will return as general coach for player development. It was also announced that, as the new manager Yoshii's number will be "81", pitcher coach Koji Aoyama's number will be changed to "82".