Roberto Osuna is heading to the 2026 Japan Series, but not as the pitcher who dominated SoftBank’s bullpen all season. The native of Juan José Ríos, Sinaloa, is on the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ postseason roster for their series against the DeNA BayStars — which opens Saturday, October 24 in Yokohama — in a coaching capacity rather than as an active arm.
It’s his second shot at a championship in Japan, and this time he’ll be earning it from inside the dugout.
Solid Regular Season, Different Postseason Role
Osuna’s 2026 regular season was the real deal. In 46 appearances as a middle reliever, he went 45.1 innings with a 2.58 ERA, 23 holds, and 41 strikeouts — numbers that make clear he still belongs in the NPB, five years after arriving in Japan. When the postseason came around, though, SoftBank placed him on the roster in a support role: coach, not pitcher.
The exact scope of that role — whether it’s a physical trainer, bullpen support, or inactive player on an expanded roster — is still being confirmed with the team directly. What is clear is that he won’t be taking the mound as a starter or designated reliever.
The Ring He Couldn’t Fully Celebrate in 2025
This isn’t Osuna’s first time on a Hawks championship roster. In 2025, SoftBank won the Japan Series over the Hanshin Tigers — but a right shoulder and elbow injury kept him out of the entire postseason. He received a ring without throwing a single pitch in October.
That made him the third Mexican player to win an NPB title, following Luis Mendoza in 2016 and César Vargas in 2022. Now in 2026, he has another chance to be part of the celebration — just in a different way than he imagined.
Across five NPB seasons, Osuna has built a career line of a 2.34 ERA, 68 saves, and 55 holds in 189 games. He arrived in Japan in 2022 after two years away from professional baseball, when Houston let him go following the 2018 controversy. The NPB gave him his career back.
SoftBank vs. the Postseason Cinderella Story
The Hawks come into this 77th Japan Series as the NPB’s best team in 2026: a 91-49-3 record, a .650 winning percentage, and an 11.5-game cushion over second place in the regular season. They swept the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in the Climax Series and are chasing the franchise’s 13th title.
On the other side, the DeNA BayStars finished the regular season at 71-69-3 (.507) — but they’ve been unstoppable since October, winning six straight road games to eliminate the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers. This series is also a direct rematch of the 2024 Japan Series, which DeNA won 4-2 over these same Hawks.
- Games 1 & 2: Yokohama Stadium
- Games 3–5: Fukuoka
- Games 6 & 7 (if needed): Back in Yokohama, October 31 and November 1
