Hokkaido Nippon-Ham finished the regular season in second place, just like last year. As the heated battles of the 2025 Persol Climax Series Pacific League continue, the 2025 Professional baseball Draft supported by Lipovitan D is fast approaching.

The draft conference nominates future stars. How did the players selected last fall fare in the 2025 season? This time, we'll be looking at Hokkaido Nippon-Ham rookies Leo Shibata and Shu Yamagata Hide. We'll be looking back at their performances in first-division games in their first year as pros with videos.

Leo Shibata made his first-team debut in July, and Shu Yamagata contributed to the team's batting performance towards the end of the season.

Shibata, who joined the team as the first pick in the draft from Fukuoka Ohori High School, challenged the "two-way pitching and hitting" at the farm. The first appearance was on April 20th, in the Oisix Niigata game of Eastern League. When you go up to the starting mound, you struck out missed, missed struck out, and missed struck out from the leading hitter. With an impressive pitch, 1 inning was a three-way retirement.

As for hitter, the first happy arch will pop out in the Eastern Yokohama DeNA match on June 28th. Yasuaki Yamazaki pitcher experienced swing the breaking ball to the fullest. He threw it into the light stand.

In July, he participated in the "Wrexham Fresh All-Star Game 2025". Eastern League He was entrusted with the starting lineup and finished his big role with 1 hit 1 Walk 1 strike out runs in the first inning. Then, on July 26th, he was promoted to the first team for the first time. On the same day, he was selected as the first professional appearance and first start in the Chiba Lotte Marines game.

In the top of the first inning, he hit the leading player Kyota Fujiwara with the first pitch, and then pushed with a fastball and started a three-way retirement. In the top of the second inning, he took his first professional struck out from Daito Yamamoto, and the following Misho Nishikawa player also finished off with a struck out swing. In the top of the 3rd inning, he also retired with 3 outs and left the game on this day. He made his debut with 39 pitches in 3 innings.

The second professional match was the Fukuoka Softbank match on August 23rd. He took the mound in second place from the 6th inning and closer 2 inning with no runs, but in the 3rd inning, he scored 1 run with 3 consecutive hits from 2 outs. Still, he threw hard against Fukuoka Softbank opponent, who nominated him at the draft meeting, and left an impression following his first appearance. He started 2 games in September and finished the regular season with 4 games, 0 wins, 0 saves, 1 hold, 1 HP, and a ERA 2.92 ERA.

Yamagata joined the team from Waseda University with the 5th pick in the draft. Although he missed the opening first team, he made his first professional appearance in the Chiba Lotte Marines game on April 15th. On April 18th, he made his first starting line-up in the Orix match with "No. 8 second baseman". Alen Kuri won his first professional hit in the infield hit from pitcher to short stop. In April, he played in 8 games and appealed with a monthly batting average of .300 (10 At Bat 3 hit).

In the Orix match on May 13th, Soichiro Yamazaki pitcher hit a timely hit that became his first professional RBI. Then, on June 4th, in the Hanshin Tigers match, the long-awaited shot exploded. In the bottom of the 4th inning with the score tied, with 2 outs and 1st base, Keito Kadobetsu pitcher sharply swung the ball and drove the winning 2 runs into the left stand, which became the first professional game.

On the other hand, the monthly batting average was sluggish in May and July, and there was a period of adjustment at the farm in August. However, in September, he recorded hit in four consecutive games. Furthermore, on September 9, he hit Home Run in two consecutive at-bats from Moinero pitcher, the best ERA, and made ES CON FIELD very excited with his first 3 hit & most 3 RBI in the pros.

He finished the regular season with a batting average of .232 (185 At Bat 43 hit), 3 Home Run, 11 RBI, 3 stolen base, and an OPS of .561 in 84 games. He also made his first appearance at Persol CS Pa and scored his first postseason hit in the second round of the first baseman stage. In the final stage, he also home run in Game 3 and contributed to win with a timely triple in Game 4.

During his time at Waseda University, he showed his solid defensive skills in the professional world, committing only four errors in 62 league games. This season, he defense short stop in 57 games, committing just one error, and second baseman in 28 games, committing just one error. With a wide defense range and accurate throw even in difficult positions, he racked up outs, and showed outstanding stability despite being a rookie.

Text by Ayako Kikuchi