Yoshihisa Naruse was the new kid on the block back in 2006, a fresh face in his first season pitching for a Chiba Lotte Marines team that had won the Japan Series the year before.
Lotte's rotation was loaded with experience that season, with veterans Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Naoyuki Shimizu and Shunsuke Watanabe — a trio that helped Japan win the first World Baseball Classic prior to the '06 season — alongside longtime hurler Shingo Ono and second-year outlier Yasutomo Kubo.
A lot has changed since that season, when Naruse went 5-5 in 13 starts. The ensuing years saw the Marines fall one win short of a trip to the Japan Series in 2007; endure a fifth-place finish and manager Bobby Valentine's controversy-tinged exit in 2009; enjoy the highs of a Japan Series title in 2010; suffer through a last-place finish in 2011; and deal with manager Norifumi's Nishimura's departure after a disappointing 2012 campaign.