◆ Pacific League: Seibu Lions vs. Nippon-Ham (25th, Belluna Dome)

On the 25th, ahead of the game against Nippon-Ham (Belluna Dome), the Seibu Lions registered three players to the active roster: outfielder Masayuki Kuwahara (33), outfielder An-Ko Lin (29), and outfielder Seiya Watanabe (23). On the previous day, the 24th, when there was no game, the team had removed three players from the active roster: pitcher Haruto Yamada (22), infielder Takayoshi Yamamura (23), and infielder Taiyo Sato (24).

Watanabe was sidelined after being diagnosed with a "left orbital floor fracture" when he was hit below the left eye by a bad hop while on defense during the Softbank Hawks game on the 9th (Belluna Dome) and was unable to stand up, resulting in a mid-game substitution, but he returned in a third-tier game on the 20th. In this season, his second year as a professional, he has appeared in 102 games, recording 7 Home Runs, 38 RBI, and a .257 batting average.

Watanabe looked back on the unexpected accident about two weeks ago, saying, "I knew the ball bounced and was coming toward my face, but my memory from there is a bit... It hit me, I looked down, and at first, I thought it was a dream. I didn't really know what happened. I thought it might be a dream. I could hear the cheers from the crowd, and when I looked down, I saw the grass and realized I was in the stadium. I was like, 'Ah,' and it started coming back to me. For a moment, I didn't know what had happened. It was to the point where I couldn't even tell if I was seeing double or not. My eyes were open to some extent, but I was like, 'I wonder how they are,' and then they opened properly, and my vision fully returned." Even so, he declared, "I think there was almost no effect on my eyes. My vision is the same as usual, and I have no fear regarding defense at all. Since there's almost no pain, I think I'm in perfect condition."