With the trend of high pitching and low hitting becoming stronger, relief pitcher are more valuable than ever.

As the trend toward stronger pitching and weaker batting grows, the value of relief pitcher who can help teams hold on to narrow leads in the final stages of games, is becoming more important than ever. In other words, pitcher pitched in many games throughout the season can be described as indispensable to their teams.

This time, we will introduce the relief pitcher who pitched in 20 or more games in Pacific League in 2025, broken down by team. We will look back on the achievements of pitcher who literally played a role in supporting the backbone of their teams, and look forward to their continued efforts in the future.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

　Seigi Tanaka pitcher pitched in a team-high 49 games, posting 12 hold and 13 saves, with a career-high pitch of 1.32 ERA, a 9.06 strike out percentage, and a K/BB of 3.69. Yukiya Saito pitcher also appeared in 47 games, the most of his career, with 14 hold 3 saves and a ERA of 1.35, showing outstanding consistency.

　Taisho Tamai pitcher made a brilliant comeback from the previous year, when he finished without a first-team appearance with 17 hold 1 save and ERA 2.25 in 40 games. Kenta Uehara pitcher also supported bullpen as a left reliever, along with Nao Miyanishi pitcher, who achieved the feat of 900 appearances in 27 games, with 13 hold 1 save ERA and a 1.1 pitch 1 ERA.

　Taisei Yanagawa pitcher pitched in 37 games before leaving due to a breakdown, making 7 hold 11 saves and posting an ERA of 1.02 and a pitch strike out percentage of 10.95. Last season's best reliever pitcher, Ryusei Kawano pitcher, fell into a slump, while Takumi Yamamoto pitcher, Tsubasa Namatame pitcher, Takahide Ikeda In addition to the presence of talented players such as pitcher, Shoma Kanemura pitcher, who switched to reliever in the middle of the season, also brought depth to bullpen.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

　pitcher Masaya Nishigaki pitched in 63 games, second in the league, and tied for the team lead with 7 wins, showing outstanding pitch with ERA 1.96 and strike out rate of 9.65. pitcher Shoma Fujihira also pitched in 62 games, posting excellent results with ERA of 2.11 and strike out rate of 9.96, and also pitched at full capacity as part of the winning pattern with 21 hold and 12 saves.

pitcher 　Naoto Nishiguchi overcame injury to return to the team before the start of the season, where pitch dominantly with 31 hold, a 1.07 ERA, and a 12.43 strike out rate in 52 games. In addition, Ren Kajiya​ ​Ryuta Konno pitcher pitcher both in their first year after the transfer, pitched in 54 and 42 games, respectively, recording ERA in the three-point range. The number of pitcher making a comeback is also notable.

pitcher Shoten Suzuki showed his true colors this season with 19 hold, 5 ERA, and an 11.14 strike out rate in 46 games. 　Takahiro Norimoto​ ​Sora Suzuki removed from closer midway through the season, but he still put up a good fight in 56 games with 10 hold 16 saves, and ERA of 3.05. Rookie pitcher Masahiro Ehara also posted solid results with a 3.45 ERA in pitcher games, making his presence felt alongside pitcher Shota Watanabe and dual-role Uchi Seiryu pitcher

Saitama Seibu Lions

This season, Kaima Taira pitcher impressive pitch with a 1.71 ERA and a pitcher strike out rate, earning him his first career Most Saves Award with 31 saves, tied for the league lead. Wingenter also showed impressive pitch with 31 hold, a 1.74 ERA, and a 13.31 strike out rate in 49 games, supporting the team as a bullpen pillar since his first year in Japan.

pitcher 　Haruto Yamada had a breakout season with 17 hold in 49 games and a ERA ERA, while Shinnosuke Hada pitcher made his presence felt with a 2.95 ERA and 10.55 strike out rate in 24 games. pitcher Hiroshi Kaino who was injured last season, also recorded 33 hold in 47 games and ERA, showing his potential as a winning combination.

pitcher Yuta Kuroki who joined the team this season, pitched in 29 games with a 3.38 ERA and showed consistent pitch, supporting bullpen since the summer along with second-year transfer pitcher Yuta Nakamura. Fellow newcomer pitcher also posted a solid 1.01 ERA and 9.45 strike out rate in 27 games, raising expectations for even greater success.

Chiba Lotte Marines

　Shunsuke Nakamori pitcher supported bullpen the first half of the season with outstanding stability, ERA 1.23 in 25 games, but due to a breakdown, he was unable to pitch after the All-Star season. In addition to that, he made a leap forward the previous year Shota Suzuki pitcher and Riku Kikuchi pitcher and even supported bullpen for many years! Naoya Masuda pitcher The second half of the season was a difficult one for the team, as they were forced to fight in a difficult kitchen situation.

In the midst of all this, Rikuto Yokoyama pitcher pitched in a team-leading 50 games ERA with a 2.08 ERA, and had a huge 20 hold 12-save performance. He was a long reliever. Shuta Takano pitcher He was also selected as a set-up man and posted an outstanding 15 hold, 53.2 inning in 37 games, with a ERA 1.84 and a strike out rate of 10.23.

　Fumiya Ono pitcher also overcame a breakdown and made 10 hold appearances in 47 games, ERA 2.59, and strike out returned with a rate of 8.86. Yuto Kimura pitcher was pitching well as a reliever in the early games with a ERA 2.75 as of June 8, but since June he has switched to a starter and is struggling in his new position.

Orix Buffaloes

　Machado As pitcher served as the closer as he did the previous year, appearing in 58 games, the most on the team, and recording excellent metrics such as 9 hold, 28 saves, ERA 2.28, strike out rate of 11.06, and a K/BB of 4.25. Perdomo As pitcher he pitched in 50 games, recording 33 hold, and led his team to win many times as a setup man.

Joined the team via trade mid-season Sho Iwasaki As pitcher recorded 16 hold in 37 games, with ERA 2.12 and a strike out rate of 9.00, making a comeback as a setup man in his new home. Kaito Saiki As pitcher also had a breakout season, with 11 hold 4 saves in 38 games, ERA 1.87, and a strike out rate of 9.62, making his presence felt as part of the winning team.

　Taisuke Yamaoka As pitcher he pitched in a career-high 41 games, recording 13 hold, and although his ERA was only 4.25, he recorded excellent indicators with a strike out rate of 8.00 and a K/BB ratio of 4.00. Kento Kawase pitcher, Yasuto Takashima pitcher, Raiku Katayama The fact that young players such as pitcher are achieving consistent results is also something to look forward to as we look ahead to next season and beyond.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

　Kazuki Sugiyama pitcher appeared in a league-leading 65 games, posting an impressive pitch with a ERA of 1.82 and a strike out percentage of 11.89. Due to Osuna pitcher 's poor condition, he served as closer from the middle of the season and recorded 31 saves, which was tied for the top in the league, and showed a great performance by shining in his first title and the most saves.

　Yuki Matsumoto pitcher also showed outstanding consistency with a ERA of 1.07, a strike out rate of 9.95, and a K/BB of 4.31 in 51 games, earning his first Best reliever pitcher Award with 44 hold points. And Koya Fujii pitcher has an impressive ERA of 1.44, a strike out rate of 13.50, and a K/BB of 5.36 in 51 games, surpassing the two mentioned above, forming an ironclad winning pattern and leading the team to win.

　Yuki Tsumori pitcher and Hernandez pitcher have dropped slightly compared to the previous year, but they still have a certain number of ERA in the 3-point range. Haru Matsumoto pitcher also pitched well as a reliever, going 12 consecutive games without runs before switching to the starting lineup, and Ryo Oyama pitcher has also shown growth with a ERA 2.35 ERA in 26 games.

Will each pitcher be able to continue pitch to win next season and beyond?

It is not easy for relief pitcher who have pitched in many games throughout the season and have been battling fatigue and exhaustion to continue to perform well in the following years. For this reason alone, we hope that the players featured in this article will continue to pitch well and demonstrate performance that directly contributes to their team's win.

Written by Ryota Mochizuki