On the 12th it was revealed that DeNA Shoichi Ino (34), who exercised the rights of a national free agent (FA), had decided to become a giant. That day, Ino informed the giant of her intention to join the group.

On the 6th of the lifting of the bargaining ban, Ino immediately attacked a hotel in Tokyo and submitted a contract totaling 200 million yen for two years and a uniform number “21”. Director Hara also expressed his enthusiasm in words.

He scored 50 victories in total in 8 years. Using a straight ball over 150km, a fork with enough head and a severed ball, he started 17 games this season with 6 wins and 7 losses and a stable throw rate of 3.94.

The giant announced the acquisition of Kajitani, who exercised the FA rights to DeNA on the 11th. Yakult also made an offer to Ino, but good news came for the second day in a row for the team with the goal of winning the league title by third time in a row and reconquer Japan by winning the battle including DeNA, which allowed the declaration to stand. The meeting is scheduled for the 14th.

◇ Ino’s Comment I am thankful that the team was nominated at the draft meeting at the age of 26 and was thrown onto the mound of an army from rookie days. I believe that I was able to acquire the rights to the FA thanks to the directors, coaches and teammates that I have been involved with. Even if the fans throw the ball in the match, they say, “I’ll ask for the next board! I was very encouraged by the warm words. I can’t forget the cheers from the fans at the Tokyo Dome, who were entrusted with the first match when the team advanced to the climax series for the first time. It was a really strong eight years. Thank you so much.

◇ Comment from DeNA Kazuaki Mihara, Team Representative I am grateful that she played various roles and helped the team. I am very sorry for us because I think it is the answer that concerns me, but I would like to respect your decision. Like Kajitani, we will be rivals in the same league, so I would like to prepare well until the beginning of next year so that we can achieve good results.