On the 8th, both the Central and Pacific Leagues announced the winners of the June “Daiju Life Monthly MVP Award.” In the pitcher category at Pacific League, Koki Kitayama pitcher (27) of Nippon-Ham won the award for the first time in his fifth professional season.

In June, he started four games, recording one complete game and one shutout game, achieving four wins and no losses, and an astonishing ERA of 0.91, earning him his first award without question. "As a professional baseball player, I've always wanted to win this award someday, since I'm allowed to pitch in the starting rotation. I'm honestly very happy to receive it for the first time," he said, savoring the moment.

His most memorable game was the game against Yakult on June 7 at Jingu Stadium. In his rookie year in 2022, he pitched as the closer in that game, giving up walk-off home runs in two consecutive games and earning a professional baptism. After five years, he pitched at the same stadium, pitching 9 innings with 4 hit and 1 runs to complete game win. "We gave up one run at the end, but we complete game and pitched until the end. In that game, we had already used a lot of reliever in the previous game, so I had to pitch alone, so I felt I was able to fulfill my role well, so it was very impressive." The game where he cleared his humiliation and showed growth became a turning point.