Lotte's Kenta Chatani was promoted to the first team for the first time this season on the 20th.

Chatani played in the first team for the entire season for two consecutive years, in 2023 and 2024, and appeared in a career-high 88 games in 2024. However, last season he appeared in 43 games, batting .222 RBI.

He started the season in the minor leagues, and in Nippon-Ham minor league opening game on March 14, he had one hit and one Walk, and in the game Oisix on March 29, he had three hit and one RBI, showing good performance with a batting average of .538. However, he did not play in the first team after the game against Oisix on April 3, and on May 29 he underwent "endoscopic decompression of the separation site" at a hospital in Hyogo Prefecture.

On July 30th, he participated in the team practice at Lotte Urawa, taking batting practice and fielding first baseman at first base, and made his return to competitive play in a Yakult minor league game on July 31st. He got his first hit since his return in The Giants minor league game on August 9th, and recorded two hit in a Nippon-Ham minor league game on August 11th.

In an interview after a minor league practice on August 18th, he commented on his current batting, saying, "There are still many things I can't see, or things that I'm not ready for, or things that I'm behind on." He then looked ahead, saying, "I'll do my best to make up for it."

Chatani is known for his aggressive approach, swinging at the first pitch, but on August 11th, in a game against Nippon-Ham minor league team, he hit triple cutter thrown by Sorato Kawakatsu on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, with a 2-ball, 2-strike. On that day, he threw 6 pitches in his first at-bat, 7 in his second, 6 in his third, and 4 in his fourth, showing that there were days when he made the pitchers throw a lot of pitches. Perhaps he wanted to see more of pitcher 's pitches while at bat?

"Yes, since I've been away from actual matches for a while, I'm trying to be aggressive in my attacks, and then be able to persevere when I'm cornered."

He has also been playing defense since The Giants' minor league game on August 7th, playing at short stop and first baseman base. "I'm really grateful to be given the opportunity to play, so when I get the chance, I want to do my best to produce results, not necessarily for the team, but in any way I can," he said humbly.

Regarding his movements since his back surgery, he said, "I still feel like I'm not quite back to my old sense of speed, so I want to work on catching up in that area."

Chatani has earned his place on the team by consistently producing results since his days as a developmental player. Is he ready to seize this opportunity?

"Now is the time to really give it my all. There aren't many games left, so I want to do my best to make the most of the opportunity when I get the chance."

He can play all infield positions, and at bat, he's aggressive from the first pitch, successfully executing both of sacrifice bunt opportunities in the first team last season. He will contribute to the team's win in the remaining games.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita