While the team is struggling, the young players are proving to be impressive.

This season, Chiba Lotte ‘s team win rate has not improved since the beginning of the season, and they continue to sink to the bottom of the crowded Pacific League. On the other hand, due to the team’s struggles, young players have more opportunities to play, and some of them are starting to emerge.

This time, we have picked three pitcher and three fielder who are 23 years old or younger this season and are making their presence felt on the first team stage. We will look back on each player’s performance in the first half of the season and look forward to their continued progress in the future. (*Status as of the end of the game on July 18th)

Two young pitcher fought hard as starters, and pitcher also pitched well as part of the winning lineup.

The main pitcher under the age of 23 who are performing well for Chiba Lotte this season are as follows:

pitcher under the age of 23 who are performing well for Chiba Lotte in 2025 ©PLMpitcher under the age of 23 who are performing well for Chiba Lotte in 2025 ©PLM

　Haruya Tanaka pitcher made his first-team debut in 2024, his second year of high school, starting four games and posting a ERA 1.80. This season, which was expected to make a further leap forward, he continued to pitch as a part of the starting lineup from the beginning of the season, and in April, he started three games and showed outstanding pitch with a ERA of 2.12, a strike out rate of 11.12, and a K/BB of 7.00.

He also started three games in May and continued to pitch steadily with a ERA 2.37 per month. In June, he continued to start three games and took struck out at a high pace with a monthly ERA of 3.12 and a strike out rate of 12.46. In 11 starts so far, he has shown an impressive pitch as a starting right-hander who can take ERA 2.62, strike out percentage of 9.37, K/BB 3.24 and struck out, and is expected to perform even more in the second half of the season.

​Yuto Kimura pitcher, a second-year high school graduate, entered the opening team as a reliever, and recorded his first professional win on March 30 by closer a three-way retirement in inning Fukuoka Softbank games on March 30. In April, he threw 10 inning in five games, but Walk showed impressive control with just one, and he hold two to ERA 0.90 for a month, which is an excellent pitch for a long relief.

In both May and June, his form dropped to the 4-point range of ERA per month, but he returned to the first team as a starter from June 17th. In the Tohoku Rakuten game on July 2, he showed the pitch to make the game with 3 runs in 6.2 innings, marking his first win as a starter. He has pitched in 17 games throughout the first half, pitching 35.1 innings with a ERA 2.80 ERA, so he wants to establish himself in the starting rotation.

　Shunsuke Nakamori pitcher accompanied the first team as a reliever from the opening, and at the beginning of the season, he mainly pitched as a long relief agent. At first, he focused on pitching in games where he was behind or had a wide margin, but he continued to pitch well and won the trust of the leaders, and was promoted to a set-upper from the middle of May. In the same month, he pitched in 8 games and scored 5 hold, leading the team to win with a ERA 1.23.

In the following June, he continued to play a stable pitch as part of the winning pattern, and was reassigned to a closer from the middle of the exchange match. In the same month, he pitched in 8 games and showed a perfect pitch with runs, 4 hold points and 4 saves, and continued to pitch well in July with no runs in 3 appearances. Although he had been canceled from the player registration due to back pain, he also made his first appearance at the ball banquet on the 24th. Will he be able to show full rotation as the center of bullpen in the second half?

The positive thing is that the team is starting to have strong hitting players at the core and on both wings of outfield.

Next, let’s take a look at the main under-23 year old fielder who are performing well for Chiba Lotte this season.

Chiba Lotte fielder under the age of 23 who are performing well in 2025 ©PLMChiba Lotte fielder under the age of 23 who are performing well in 2025 ©PLM

　Ryusei Terachi made his first appearance in the opening game of the season in his second year after graduating from high school, and showed impressive batting skills in 13 games in April, hitting two Home Run and batting average of .344. He made the most of the opportunities he was given, and showed some of his high potential as a “catcher can hit.”

His batting performance has led to starting line-up being featured in the starting lineup more often, and since the interleague games he has been used as an aggressive No. 2 hitter, posting consistent numbers of .275 Home Run and 5 home runs so far. On July 17th, he was the No. 4 hitter for the first time in his career, recording 2 hit, and is expanding his field of activity. At just 19 years old, he is on the verge of becoming the starting catcher, making him a very exciting player to watch.

　Daito Yamamoto was a star player in Eastern League in 2024, winning the double crown in Home Run and RBI, but struggled in the first team with a batting average of .111 in five games. This season, he also lacked consistency in April with a batting average of .133 in 10 games, but since May, he has hit two Home Run in 18 games and is showing signs of adapting to the first team with a monthly batting average of .267.

His performance was recognized and he was selected as the No. 4 hitter when the interleague games began. He hit 5 Home Run and 10 RBI in 18 games during the interleague games, living up to the expectations of being a central Home Run. This 22-year-old prodigy hit double digit Home Run runs in the first half of the season alone, and it will be interesting to see if he continues to grow into the long-awaited Japanese big gun for the team.

First-round draft rookie Misho Nishikawa had a batting average of .410 in the exhibition games, and successfully won a place in the opening starting line-up. He started well, hit in five consecutive games from the opening game, but his batting average in April was .129 and he fell into a slump after that. On May 18th, he hit a walk-off hit in the 12th extra inning of a game against Hokkaido Nippon-Ham, but his batting average in May was also .129, and he struggled with the wall of professional baseball.

However, in June, he had an outstanding batting average of .441, and showed great competitive spirit with 7 RBI in 10 games. In July, he also recorded a batting average of .281 in 14 games, which is above a certain level. On July 17, he was selected as the leadoff batter and recorded 2 hit, and the batting sense that has been highly praised since his college days is finally being demonstrated on the first team stage.

Will the players featured in this article be able to solidify their status as mainstays in the remaining season?

The emergence of young talents who could become the core of the starting and relief pitchers, as well as the batting lineup, is a very encouraging factor in predicting the future of the team. In the remaining season, it will be interesting to see whether the six young warriors featured in this article can solidify their position as mainstays.

Written by Ryota Mochizuki