Teammates expressed their expectations that Masahiro Tanaka, who led the team to the number one position in Japan for the first time in Japan, will return to professional baseball Rakuten for the first time in eight years since 2013.
Of these, pitcher Yuki Matsui, who has been training independently every year during the off-season, said, "I dreamed of playing baseball together in the same uniform once in my baseball life. I'm glad, "he smiled.
In addition, Ginji, who contributed to Japan's number one in 2013 with pitcher Tanaka, said, "I'm really looking forward to working with him again. I think I'm closer to Japan's number one."
Hideto Asamura was the last batter to strike out from pitcher Tanaka in the 9th inning in the match where Rakuten decided to win the league for the first time in 2013.
Asamura said, "I don't like it because I only watch the video on TV these days, but I'm looking forward to playing with him. I've always thought that he was the number one pitcher in Japan. We want to support him when he throws it." I was happy to be a teammate.