Koki Yamaguchi Two Home Runs Behind Leader with 38 on the Season… Chases Home Run Title in Today's Finale

Chiba Lotte's Koki Yamaguchi, with 38 home runs, is 2 behind Pacific League leader Kurihara (40). If he hits 3 in the final game against Seibu on the 6th, he will take sole possession of first place.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Three-Line Summary

Koki Yamaguchi hit his 38th home run of the season against Seibu on October 5 and is second in the Pacific League in home runs.
Leader Ryoya Kurihara finished the season with 40. Yamaguchi would tie for first with 2 homers in the final game and take sole first place with 3.
This year's 38 home runs are 2.4 times his previous career high of 16 in 2022, and his first home run of the season came on May 13.

"It was perfect." According to Sponichi, Koki Yamaguchi (Chiba Lotte) said this after hitting his 38th home run of the season, a leadoff solo shot off Kona Takahashi in the bottom of the 3rd inning against Seibu on October 5. The 38 is, measured against his career single-season high of 16 set in 2022, 2.4 times that total. His first home run of the season came against Nippon-Ham on May 13. In other words, he went more than a month after the start of the season without a homer.

Yamaguchi Second in Home Runs… 2 Behind Leader Kurihara

According to NPB official records, the Pacific League home run leader is SoftBank's Ryoya Kurihara with 40 (as of 9:00 on 2026.10.06). Yamaguchi is second with 38. He has 6 more than Reyes and Kensuke Kondo, who are tied for third with 32. Nippon TV NEWS NNN reported that Kurihara was substituted out during the final game on the 5th, locking in his total of 40. The leader's mark will no longer grow.

2026 Pacific League Home Run Standings (as of 9:00 on 2026.10.06; records through games completed on the 5th)

Rank	Player	Team	Home Runs	Notes
1	Ryoya Kurihara	SoftBank	40	Season over
2	Koki Yamaguchi	Chiba Lotte	38	2 behind leader
3	Reyes	Nippon-Ham	32	Tied for 3rd
3	Kensuke Kondo	SoftBank	32	Tied for 3rd
5	Tomoya Masaki	SoftBank	28

The remaining math is simple. With 2 homers in the final game, he would tie for the lead at 40, but he must hit 3 homers to take sole possession of the lead at 41. It would be a mistake to read "overcoming a 2-homer gap" as "2 homers is enough for the sole home run title." It means he needs 3 home runs in a single game. If he finishes with 1 or fewer, his bid for the lead is over.

Yamaguchi Has 5 Homers in Last 5 Games… 4 in 3 Straight Games

According to Sponichi, 5 home runs came in the 5 games from October 1–5. Four of them were bunched in 3 straight games from the 3rd to the 5th. On the 4th he hit his 36th and 37th, setting a new franchise single-season home run record since the team moved to Chiba, and also broke the ZOZO Marine Stadium single-season record (20). Sports Hochi wrote "2 straight games" in the headline of its game report. However, the same outlet's home run article and Sports Chosun agree on "3 straight games."

His pace over the whole season has also changed markedly. Through the 2025 season, he hit 48 home runs in 381 career games, or 0.13 per game. This year it is 38 in 112 games, 0.34 per game. That is a jump of about 2.7 times. In August he won Monthly MVP with 10 home runs in the month. It is the first 30-homer season by a Marines Japanese player since Hiromitsu Ochiai in 1986. His batting average is also 0.277, higher than his career 0.228.

Chiba Lotte Final Game Against Seibu at 18:00 on the 6th… Remaining Variables

Nikkan Sports reported that Chiba Lotte lost 1-7 to Seibu on the 5th, clinching fifth place in the league. The team standings race is over. In the regular-season finale against Seibu at 18:00 on the 6th (the same time in Korea and Japan), the remaining point of interest is Yamaguchi's home run chase. His salary this year is an estimated 30 million yen according to media reports. That is about one-fifth of Kurihara's estimated salary of 140 million yen.

Baseball commentator Masaki Saito assessed that there is a chance he could hit 2 more in the final game. The records in this article are as of the end of the October 5 game. At the time of verification, 9:00 on the 6th, the final game had not started. The salary figures are estimates by news outlets, not contract amounts disclosed by the club.

Related Official Sites

NPB Pacific League Home Run Standings — Check the confirmed home run standings after the final games
NPB Koki Yamaguchi Official Records — Season-by-season home runs, batting average and RBIs
Chiba Lotte Marines — Official club schedule and results

Lead image · Archive photo · Not a photo of the game described in this article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Hotta Akahane), CC BY 4.0