◆ Pacific League Nippon-Ham 0-6 Rakuten Eagles (August 8, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham Yuya Gunji catcher (28) wore the catcher for the first time this season. In the 7th inning with a score of 0-6, he came in as a pinch hitter for Tamiya and entered the catcher from the defense of the 8th inning. This was his first appearance in catcher in about a year since the starting line-up against Lotte (at ESCON) on August 13 last season. He teamed up with third pitcher Yi-Lei Sun and pitched two innings without runs. In the 9th inning, he also got caught by a throwing ball.

He has been tentatively selected as the cleanup hitter and third baseman for the opening game of the season, and has been focusing his practice on third base since spring training. He has hardly practiced wearing catcher gear.

Prior to the defense this season, Gunji had a batting average of .230 with 4 Home Run. There were many candidates for the first base, third base, and left field positions he played this season, including Kiyomiya Yuki, Nomura, Yoshida, Arizono, and Mizutani.