The manager-selected players for the "Mynavi All-Star Game 2026" (June 28th at Tokyo Dome, June 29th in Toyama) were announced on June 13th, and Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Koki Kitayama (27) was selected for the second consecutive year. Last season, he pitched in the first game and recorded a personal best of 157 km/h. He pitched two hit innings with no runs allowed and received the "Fighting Spirit Award." Looking ahead to his second appearance at the festival, he said, "It's hard for pitcher to win MVP, so I want to do something impactful. I don't know what will happen inning, but I want to strike out three struck out in a row."

He also hinted at a legendary magic pitch. He and The Giants' Osei, with whom he fought alongside as a member of Samurai Japan in the WBC in March, had a lively discussion about breaking ball during the Samurai Japan training camp. "Osei lied to me and said he could throw a curveball... (laughs). When I asked him to teach me how to throw a curveball, he was completely clueless," he said, indicating that he didn't receive much serious advice from reliever pitcher, who is the same age as him and with whom he is close.

However, Oozeki has been quite talkative about the legendary pitch "Maika," which was spontaneously named by Oozeki in a YouTube project by the comedy duo Chocolate Planet, and Oozeki said with a mischievous smile, "He taught me how to throw Maika. I want to throw the Maika that Oozeki taught me." According to Oozeki, "Maika" is a fictional magic pitch that "leaves the stadium once" after being released. Oozeki was selected in the relief pitcher category by fan vote, but was removed from reliever roster on the 12th due to tightness in his right elbow. The hard-throwing pitcher from Shinjo's Ham Fighters will liven up the All-Star Game with the "predictive Maika" taught to him by Oozeki.