◆Mynavi All-Star Game 2026: Pacific League 7-8 Central League (June 29, Toyama)

5. In a game where “Home Run” chants rang out, the All-Central team held on to a one-run lead to secure a win victory. Softbank Hawks and Yuki Yanagita outfielder, the first All-Pacific players selected via the “Plus One” voting system in the All-Star Game’s ninth edition, took the field as the “No. 5 batter and designated hitter.” In the third inning, he hit a three-run homer that briefly put his team ahead and went on to win the Mynavi Dream Award and the Fighting Spirit Award.

Trailing by two runs in the third inning with two outs and runners on first and second base, he swung at the first pitch from Hiroshima's Endo and hit a three-run homer to left field, temporarily giving his team the lead.

On this day, he used the torpedo bat used by Seibu Lions 's Nevin from his very first at-bat. "I thought it was a distinctive bat when I was playing against him. Nevin has hit a lot of home runs against me, so I was hoping to get one too," he confessed. He usually uses a regular bat that gradually gets thicker from the root, but he hit a home run in his second at-bat with the torpedo bat, and he himself seemed surprised, saying, "It's a miracle. I was thinking, 'Is that even possible?'"

In the second game of the 2022 All-Star Game (Matsuyama, Ehime), he borrowed a bat from Nippon-Ham 's Yuki Kiyomiya, hit Home Run, and was named MVP. Looking back on that time, he said, "I had a feeling that it would be better to do that in a situation like this," and his hunch proved correct. He won two awards, and as for whether he will use it in the second half of the season, he said, "Yes, I'll see when the time is right," indicating he will consider it.