Rihito Yoshii, the new manager of professional baseball Lotte, held an inaugural press conference on the 18th and expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "I am very excited. I want to aim for the championship."
New manager Yoshii was active in the major leagues during his playing days, and after retiring as a coach at Nippon-Ham and Softbank, he coached Lotte as a pitching coach for three years.
He's the pitching coordinator this season, and it's his first time as a manager.
On the 18th, a press conference was held at ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba City.
Regarding his appointment as director, he said, "I was very surprised when I received the offer. I thought about it all night before answering, but there was no reason to refuse. I was given a good opportunity, so I wanted to do my best." Did.
After that, "I'm very excited. I'm a professional, so it doesn't make sense if I don't win. My goal is to win. First of all, I want to see the individuality and style of the players so that I can win. I was determined.
Also, regarding pitcher Aki Sasaki, who is in his third year as a professional pitcher, who coached for two years when he was a pitching coach and made a big leap this season by achieving a perfect game, he said, "Next season will be one step higher than this year. My goal is to get on the mound in good health, playing about 25 games in 6 days, once a week. I had high hopes.
New manager Yoshii's jersey number has been decided to be "21", which he has been wearing for a long time.