<figure id="attachment_465638" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-465638" style="width: 2908px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d06cbea0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/d6056c2bfd260cdd7399eb5831938b8d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-465638" class="wp-caption-text">At the press conference when he joined the team, he said with enthusiasm, &#8220;I want to play second.&#8221; &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h2> His body was not squeezed!</h2>
 Kazunari Ishii, 31, an infielder, joined Seibu from Nippon Ham last offseason after exercising his domestic FA rights. Although he joined the team with a bang, he unexpectedly suffered the humiliation of being dropped to the second team after only three cards from the opening day of the season. There are whispers that there was a &#8220;personal problem&#8221; behind the disappointment, which even the leaders were not happy about.
 Ishii was drafted second overall by Nippon Ham in 2016. He made a breakthrough in his rookie year, playing in 114 games, but just when he thought he had a shot at a regular spot, he suffered an injury and lacked decisiveness.
 He should have contributed to the team as an unshakable top-ranked hitter, but in nine years he played in more than 100 games only four times. His most recent salary, estimated at 40 million yen, was not high, but the team was gradually changing generations.
 Ishii was aware of the team&#8217;s move and exercised his FA rights, believing his position to be in jeopardy.
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 Seibu did not let up in their efforts to strengthen their lineup, acquiring outfielder Masashi Kuwabara (32), who exercised his overseas FA rights from DeNA, on a multi-year contract with an estimated annual salary of 200 million yen plus piece value, in an attempt to bolster their fielding corps in order to get out of the B class for the third straight year.
 Ishii&#8217;s body was not in shape at the start of the spring training camp in February, perhaps because he was relieved to have been transferred to the new team. In his private life, he recently had a baby, and his whole family came to the camp to cheer him on. Ishii told the team officials, &#8216;I love my child so much. I want to spend as much time as possible with them,&#8217; he said with lowered eyes. Apparently, he was so attached to his child that he had fallen behind in his adjustment.
 The birth of a child is a blessing, and I understand that the presence of family is the best motivation, but in the first year of a &#8230;&#8230;FA transfer, results are required more than ever. But since he was clearly not in good condition, people were concerned, &#8220;Are you sure you&#8217;re OK!&#8221; (source close to the baseball team).
 The team&#8217;s expectations were high because they had acquired the player at great expense, and Ishii made the first team lineup for the season opener even though his conditioning was not up to par. &#8230;&#8230;
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 Natsuo Takizawa (22) was the starter at second base in the season opener, and Ishii started in the middle of the lineup. After that, he started in three games, but a .091 batting average with 11 hits was no help. He also did not do well in the open game, batting .081, so manager Fumiya Nishiguchi (53) ordered him demoted to the second team and told him, &#8220;Go down there and work out! It is no wonder that manager Fumiya Nishiguchi (53) ordered him to be demoted to the second team. The other leaders also said, &#8220;I understand your feelings, but as a professional, you need to switch on and off at &#8230;&#8230;.
 Kuwabara had established himself as an unshakable No. 1 hitter, but he was injured in a game against Softbank on April 21. I hope the two FA warriors&#8217; &#8220;big miscalculation&#8221; doesn&#8217;t have a negative impact on the team. &#8230;&#8230;

 Kyodo News

 Kazunari Ishii, 31, is an infielder who joined Seibu from Nippon Ham last offseason after exercising his domestic FA rights. He was a big-name member of the team, but after only three games, he was unexpectedly dropped to the second team, a situation that was the cause of the leaders' anger.

Seibu&#8217;s Kazunari Ishii: &#8220;His children are so cute&#8230;&#8221; Seibu&#8217;s Kazunari Ishii &#8220;demoted to the second team&#8221; whispers about &#8220;personal problems&#8221; that even the leaders find embarrassing.

Seibu’s Kazunari Ishii: “His children are so cute…” Seibu’s Kazunari Ishii “demoted to the second team” whispers about “personal problems” that even the leaders find embarrassing.

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