◆ Manaka: "There haven't been many opportunities this year..." "It really touches me, I understand how you feel."

Lotte's Naoya Masuda achieved his 250th career save in the game against Seibu Lions on the 4th, becoming only the fifth player in history to do so.

Regarding this remarkable achievement in his 15th professional season and 795th game, commentator Yasushi Tao of Fuji TV ONE's "Pro baseball News 2026," which aired on the 4th, commented, "The first thing I feel is that he did a great job. As closer pitcher, you're under tremendous pressure, knowing whether you can hand over the win to pitcher who came before you. There were several times in the latter half of the season when he made mistakes, so I think it must have been incredibly difficult mentally to switch his mindset in those situations."

Another commentator, Yosuke Hiraishi, praised Masuda based on his own experience facing him, saying, "He's been really active right from the start. When Masuda was in his second year, I was the first-team hitting coach and studied him well. He was a good pitcher, so I was trying hard to find out if he had any bad habits, but he always managed to get the better of me. He did have a few bad habits at one point, but they've disappeared now. He was a truly wonderful pitcher." When MC Mitsuru Manaka pointed out, "176 hold is also amazing, isn't it?", Hiraishi replied, "He's been pitching in the winning pattern all this time. I think he had a particularly tough time last year with a series of failures, but this year there are two games left, and the fact that closer them down so well last time means he's got a chance, so that's good."

Furthermore, Manaka said, "This year, Rikuto Yokoyama is working hard as the closer, so I don't think I have many chances, but still, I want to maintain my mental state and be ready to play anytime, and watching the final closer moments somehow really hits me..." "You can understand how they feel, right? That closer deeply somber expression," he speculated on his feelings, expressing his hopes for his future performance, saying, "I want this to be a stepping stone and to further improve his numbers from here."

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