Kenji Tomashino, who appeared on 'Professional baseball News 2026' broadcast on Fuji TV ONE on the 29th, mentioned Nippon-Ham's Naoki Arizono.

In the 5th inning with Nippon-Ham trailing 6-7, they created a scoring opportunity with runners on second and third and no outs following consecutive hits by the leadoff Reyes and Yuki Nomura off Lotte's second pitcher, Fumiya Ono. However, Arizono swung and missed at the second and third pitches, both fastballs, after a 1-ball count, and was eventually retired on a right-field foul fly on the seventh pitch, a slider, with a count of 2 balls and 2 strikes. The next batter, Yuma Imagawa, hit a go-ahead three-run home run, and Nippon-Ham won 9-7.

Mr. Tomashino prefaced his remarks by saying, "Even in a win, there are things to reflect on. In the intense battles ahead, there's one thing I really want to say, so I've deliberately chosen a different topic." He then criticized Arizono's batting, saying, "It's about Arizono's at-bat with no outs and runners on second and third, trailing by one run. The (Lotte) infield was playing deep. Here, he took full swings at two high-inside pitches and missed both. If he had hit a ground ball toward the second baseman, they would have scored a run and had a runner on third, and then it would have been Imagawa's turn at bat. The opposing battery didn't want him to easily roll the ball toward the middle of the infield, so they attacked him high and inside. Once he was behind in the count, he should have been even more conscious of that, but he hit a mindless foul fly. In the end, Imagawa bailed him out for this mistake."

Mr. Tomashino said, "While winning with home runs in the games ahead is the best, if they don't play in a way that properly executes these kinds of situations, they will end up losing games they should have won. I want them to reflect on this and carry it forward to the next one."

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