Lotte develops promising players, not just in Futures League but also overseas! Includes exchange matches with Yomiuchi Development Team in May and June; participates in Japanese independent league

*This content was translated by AI.

The Lotte Giants of professional baseball are expanding their development stage for promising players beyond domestic leagues to include overseas venues during the regular season.

On the 7th, Lotte announced, "To strengthen future team capabilities, we will send players to the Shikoku Island League plus and hold exchange matches with the Yomiuri Giants Development Team."

The Shikoku Island League plus is an independent league based in the Shikoku region of Japan. It features four independent league clubs from Tokushima, Kagawa, Kochi, and Ehime, along with two Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) clubs. The league is recognized as a vibrant platform where players aiming to advance to NPB are actively competing.

Lotte will participate in a total of 12 games in the Shikoku Island League plus. These matches will be counted as official league results and will be conducted in a real-game competitive environment, not merely as practice games. The deployment period will last approximately six weeks, from May 19 to June 25. Among these, two exchange matches against the Yomiuri Giants Development Team will be held on the 9th and 10 at the Yomiuri Giants Baseball Stadium in Kawasaki City, Japan.

Through participation in the Shikoku Island League plus, Lotte aims to expand the real-game experience of its promising players and improve their skills through exchanges with the Japanese independent league. Additionally, there are secondary benefits, as the independent league players they face could potentially become future Asia quota players. The participating group, including players, coaching staff, and support personnel, will number approximately 35. The player roster will be primarily composed of promising talents such as pitchers, catchers, and position players.

Lotte General Manager Park Jun-hyuk stated, "This exchange match with the Yomiuri Giants and the deployment to the Shikoku Island League plus are programs designed to provide promising players with real-game opportunities in line with the club's medium-to-long-term development direction. We expect that experiences gained in various game environments will become valuable assets for player growth." He added, "Moving forward, we will continue to support our players by expanding exchanges with overseas leagues, enabling them to accumulate diverse experiences and build competitiveness."

Meanwhile, the Lotte club plans to support its players in experiencing diverse game environments through this participation in overseas leagues. The club will focus on laying the groundwork for diversifying future player development and exchange programs.

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*This content was translated by AI.