Motonobu Tanishige and Akihiko Oya, who appeared on the “Pro baseball News 2026” program aired on Fuji TV ONE on the 26th, discussed the pitching of Seibu Lions, Kanario, walk-off, Nippon-Ham, Yua Tamiya, and catcher.

Kenta Uehara, who took the mound in the top of the 9th inning with the score 3–3, threw a ball on his first pitch to Canario (cutter). The second pitch (cutter) was fouled off, bringing the count to 1 ball, 1 strike. On the third pitch (fastball), Canario sent the ball into the left-field stands (walk-off), sealing the loss.

Tanishige asked, "Mr. Oya, what I was thinking was, cutter, cutter, then fastball. What do you think of this approach in this situation?" Oya replied, "Looking at catcher 's stance, the third pitch was quite far inside. From catcher, it was a pitch that could have been a ball. However, what you have to be careful about is that going for an inside pitch to a batter who can hit home run is something that only pitcher with considerable control can do, or one who can be absolutely certain that it will be a ball."

Taniguchi pointed out, "It was a bit careless, I think. I wanted to see more gestures or a more assertive attitude from catcher." Oya added, "If it were Taniguchi, he would probably look at the swing and, if he was asking Canario to just throw the ball, he would have moved a little closer or asked him to throw it with more power."

☆ Cooperation: Fuji TV ONE "Professional baseball News 2026"