Shohei Otani will make his fourth start of the season on Thursday, Nippon Ham Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama revealed Tuesday.

Otani, who threw 78 pitches in his previous start last week, a 5-2/3 inning win over the Rakuten Eagles, is expected to throw around 100 when he takes the mound at Sapporo Dome against the Pacific League champion SoftBank Hawks.

"I believe he will do a good job of pitching," Kuriyama said of his ace, whose season has been hit hard by injuries.

The slugging right-hander tuned up by throwing about 30 pitches at the Fighters' practice facility in Sapporo on Tuesday.

"I'm not particularly concerned about my opponents," Otani said. "I want to prepare and go out and do what I have been doing, and that's to execute those things I do well."

Otani was unable to pitch at all since picking up an ankle injury last October. His mound return was further delayed when he injured his left thigh trying to beat out an infield single in April before he was fully fit.

In his start on Sept. 12, Otani had good velocity on his fastball, hitting 163 kilometers per hour, but couldn't locate it consistently. Despite that, his slider appeared to be in mid-season form.

Although he has not been pitching regularly, Otani has been the Fighters' principle designated hitter for the second straight season. In the batter's box this season, he entered Tuesday's games batting a career-high .341, but with slightly less power than he exhibited in his 22-home run 2016 season.

At the end of last year, Otani asked the Fighters to post him after the 2017 season and the team has indicated it will do so.

Last Wednesday, an informed source said Otani's desire to play overseas next year has not wavered, although the player himself has not confirmed this to the media, and team officials said last week they had yet to hear anything from him directly.