The jersey number is decided as “26”, and thanks to the old team
Pitcher Masayoshi Tanaka, who joined Nippon-Ham as compensation for Kensuke Kondo, an outfielder who transferred to Softbank FA, held a press conference on the 15th in Kamagaya City, Chiba Prefecture. His jersey number is decided as “26”. He expressed his determination, saying, “I will do my best to make a fresh start and become a force for the Fighters. Personally, I would like to be the starting pitcher.”
Tadashi Tanaka entered Softbank in 1st place in the 2016 draft following competing with five teams. At this time, Nippon-Ham had bid for the first place, but had lost the lottery. GM Atsunori Inaba, who was present at the press conference, said, “He’s not like this. I got him with great expectations. I threw a Fighters game last year, and he threw a great ball.”
Partly due to injury, he has pitched 34 games in 6 years as a professional, 0 wins and 1 loss, and an ERA of 4.25, and has not yet won a victory. However, the 28-year-old right-hander has a new determination, saying, “I have a strong feeling that this year will be the best, and I’m training steadily, so I want to make it a good year.” For his first professional victory, he said, “I was training on my own with the goal of being able to do it by the end of April, so I want to achieve that first.”
Regarding his former home Softbank, he said, “I can only thank you, but I will do my best to keep it down when I throw it at the PayPay Dome. I will make it a year that I won.” Nippon-Ham’s uniform number 26 was worn by Yutaka Enatsu, who was active as a guardian deity in the past, and Yoshio Itoi and Haruki Nishikawa in recent years. Can you demonstrate your power in the northern land? A remarkable year begins.
(Rie Machida / Rie Machida)
