On the 18th, Takenori Emoto appeared on Nippon Broadcasting System's Show Up Night Special and spoke about Nippon-Ham who are currently in 4th place in Pacific League.

Emoto analyzed, "Nippon-Ham was my top pick this year. They're within striking distance now, so the question is how they'll improve from here." He added, "Ito, Kitayama, and complete game pitchers have become more consistent lately, so I think they've started to take shape to some extent. Nippon-Ham 's true strength is slowly emerging. I think it's up to manager Shinjo's skill to bring them this far."

Furthermore, Emoto predicted, "If they start to bring in players like Reyes and those kinds of players, and if they get involved with pitcher, they'll be strong going forward. They'll rise to the top." He added, "But Softbank Hawks are tenacious. I think Pacific League is going to have a fierce season."

Nippon-Ham They suffered three straight losses in their final three-game series before the Interleague Play—against the Softbank Hawks—and entered the Interleague Play with a 3-game deficit.After sweeping the first Interleague series—a three-game set against Hanshin Tigers—they went on a nine-game winning streak from the June 4 game against Hiroshima through the June 13 game against Chunichi. Although they finished the Interleague season with a 14-4 record, placing third out of 12 teams, they entered the resumption of the regular season in fourth place, 5.5 games behind the league-leading Seibu Lions.