After suffering 91 losses the previous year, Saitama Seibu entered the 2025 season as a rebuilding year, finishing with a record of 63 wins, 77 losses, and 3 draws. Despite the losing record, young players emerged and the team built up a winning streak during the first half of the season, showing signs of potential. The man who led the team through this was new foreign player Nevin. We spoke to Nevin about his first year in Japan.

"What I do remains the same" - he came to Japan with the same mindset

The new environment was new to me, and I enjoyed it."

Nevin chose to play in Japan and started camp in February. baseball Nevin says, "I was conscious from the spring camp that what I was going to do would be the same, rather than feeling like I was going to baseball play in Japan.

When asked what was difficult about playing against Japan's pitcher, he replied, "The most important thing was how to attack. The way they attack, including their pitch distribution, is quite different. The open games were a valuable opportunity for me to learn how to counter these differences," he said. "It was great to see what kind of balls they actually throw and the atmosphere of the stadium. I was able to hone my senses there and adjust surprisingly quickly.

In May, he won the monthly MVP award with a .292 batting average and 4 Home Run 17 RBI. In June and July, he continued to lead the batting lineup with a batting average over .300. He also led the batting lineup in June and July with a batting average over .300. "Of course there were areas where I had to make adjustments, areas that required patience, but I am very happy that I was able to persevere and make adjustments and come this far," he said looking back on his first year.

On September 28, the day before the interview, he hit No. 20. He said, "20 looks better than 19," and later that day he hit No. 21. He says this about his batting.

I'm not trying to hit home run, but I'm trying to hit the ball hard and hit it line drive well, and I think that's what's producing those results. I want to continue to do that. In the end, his batting average was .277 in 137 games, 21 Home Run 63 RBI, one of the best in the league.

"Japanese people are very friendly" Life in Japan and interactions with peers

「ライオンズの全員、チームメイト全員が温かく迎え入れてくれて、自分が環境に慣れやすいように接してくれました」

　そうチームメイトに感謝したネビン選手。来日前には横浜DeNA・オースティン選手からもさまざまなアドバイスをもらっていたというが、「春のキャンプからどういう流れだとかを教えてくれた」と、特に仲がいいという平沼翔太選手の名前を挙げた。

「今もずっと仲良くしています。球場の外でも一緒にご飯へ行ったりする仲なので、非常に良い関係を築けていると思います」


　また東北楽天・ボイト選手とは「父がヤンキースでコーチをしていたというつながりがあった」といい、試合前に会話する姿も多く見られた。「英語が喋れる人がいれば、どうしてもコミュニケーション取りたくなってしまいます。お互い良い刺激になっていますし、どんな感じか情報を交換したり、非常に良い時間を過ごしています」と良い機会となっているという。

　最近ハマっている食べ物に「たい焼き」を挙げたりと、日本での生活も充実している様子のネビン選手。「日本人はすごくフレンドリー。違う国から来た人に対しても優しい。買い物に行ったとき、何も分からない状況でも助けてくれたりますし、そういう日本人の優しさというのは感じています」と日本で過ごす日々を語った。

（後編へつづく）

取材・文　丹羽海凪