Masashi Kuwahara and Kazunari Ishii, hitter from Taiwan, join the Saitama Seibu Lions Lions in 2026
Pacific League Insight
2026.1.30(金) 11:00
Saitama Seibu Lions is in its second year of manager Fumiya Nishiguchi’s 2026 season, and we have compiled a list of new players who have joined the team this season as it aims to win its first league championship in seven years, since 2019.
(as of January 30, 2026)
*Name (honorifics omitted)/Position/ number
New players
Taiga Kojima / catcher / 10
Sasora Iwashiro / pitcher / 20
Shun Akiyama / outfielder / 35
Keita Horikoshi / pitcher / 40
Sowa Yokota / infielder / 59
Yushin Kawada / outfielder / 66
Yuto Arai / infielder / 111
Takumu Imaoka / infielder / 112
Yoshitoshi Saito / pitcher / 118
Sota Hamaoka / pitcher / 124
Hiroto Hiraguchi / pitcher / 128
Yuma Masaki / pitcher / 134
Gintu Ando / outfielder / 135
D〈Active Draft
Tokumasa Chano / outfielder / 31
[〈Transfer by free agent
Masashi Kuwahara / outfielder / 7
Kazunari Ishii / infielder / 4
[Claire] Foreign players.
Anka Lin / outfielder / 73
Alan Winans / pitcher / 30
Alexander Canario / outfielder / 25
[Claire] Training players.
Rei Takahashi / pitcher / 136
Jorge Gonzalez / pitcher / 144
Ronnie Oliver / pitcher / 145
Juan Corniel / infielder / 140
Saitama Seibu Lions is Masashi Kuwahara, who exercised his free agent rights, Kazunari Ishii Acquired players. Kuwabara won the Mitsui Golden Glove Award in 2017 and 2023, the Cycle Hit in 2018, and the MVP in the SMBC Japan Series 2024. center fielder He has led Yokohama DeNA offensively and defensively for many years as a regular in the
Also joining the team is Lin An-Ko, a outfielder player who has a .287 batting average, .881 OPS and 112 Home Run in seven CPBL seasons. Manaya Nishikawa Athletes and Shinya Hasegawa Players have emerged outfield reliable members of the team, and the competition within the team is likely to intensify.
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Ishii, who moved to Japan from Belluna Dome last season, had a .387 batting average (31 At Bat 12 hit), 1 Home Run and a .457 on-base percentage in nine games. He will be looking forward to making a good noise at Belluna Dome, which will be his home base.
AloJapan.com