Pitcher Kohei Arihara, who played in the major leagues until last year and joined professional baseball Softbank this year, held an interview and expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "I will do it like a rookie."
Arihara won 8 wins in 2015, his first year as a professional at Nippon-Ham, and won the Pacific League Rookie of the Year.
In the 2021 season, he transferred to the Rangers of the major leagues, but due to the effects of surgery on his right shoulder, he was a free contract with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses for the two years until last year. Joining the group has been decided.
Pitcher Arihara held a press conference in Fukuoka on the 28th and commented on his feelings when he received the offer from Softbank, saying, "I had the impression that it was difficult to play and strong, so I was really happy to hear from such a team. '' he said.
On top of that, he said, "I haven't been here for the past two years and don't know Japanese baseball, and I think it's completely different from when I was there, so I'll do my best with the feeling of a rookie. I want to contribute to the championship for one year. I will throw it," he said enthusiastically.
Softbank, which is aiming to win the league championship for the first time in three years, has been faced with the issue of developing the starting pitchers, as the ace Kodai Senga, who has won double digits for seven consecutive years until last year, will go to the major leagues.
Under these circumstances, Softbank decided to reinforce a pitcher with a track record of 60 wins in the six years he was in the Japanese baseball world.