◆ Mr. Saito also offered criticism: "Their facial expressions and head tilts are very noticeable."

Lotte's Kazuya Ojima started on the mound against Softbank Hawks on the 5th. In the first inning, he gave up a three-run Home Run to Kensuke Kondo, and after 3 innings, throwing 58 pitches, he allowed 2 hits, hit 4, strike out 3, Hit by Pitch gave up 3 runs, suffering his 5th loss of the season.

Kojima was pulled from the game after giving up 3 runs in 2 innings against Softbank Hawks on June 28, failing to fulfill his role as a starter for the second consecutive game. On the May 5th broadcast of Fuji TV ONE's "Pro baseball News 2026," MC Tsutomu Iwamoto said, "I think he's an extremely serious player. I'm very impressed by how gloomy his expression is mound." Commentator Akio Saito analyzed, "I don't think his pitches themselves have changed. There are times when the results just don't follow," but added, "Looking at him this year, he's given up a lot of runs early in the game. pitcher have always been told not to show their emotions on mound even if they're not in good form, and not to tilt their heads, but it seems like he's making a lot of those kinds of gestures, and I think manager Saburo, who was watching from the dugout, probably commented that he was just trying his best to keep up with his own performance."

Another commentator, Kenichi Tanizawa, said, "As a junior from Waseda University, I want to say a word to him: he's not composed on mound. His backswing is too fast, and he charges towards catcher. I wish he'd pitch a little more calmly." Iwamoto nodded and said, "Perhaps he's rushing to strike and rushing to get outs."

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