Overview
- Arihara was introduced at Es Con Field Hokkaido on January 13 in his first Fighters appearance in six seasons.
- The contract runs four years, with this season’s pay reported at ¥500 million plus performance bonuses.
- He chose jersey No. 74, describing it as a fresh start with his original NPB club.
- He pledged to anchor the starting rotation toward a title push and set a minimum goal of 180 innings.
- He said talks with team executive Yoshimura convinced him to return after an MLB stint and two straight wins titles with SoftBank.