Hiroshima Toyo Carp at Koshien Stadium, he recorded his 20th home run of the season in the fourth inning against Yusuke Nomura. He became the first Hanshin right-handed hitting lifer (a player who has played with only one team) to reach 20 home runs since Osamu Hamanaka hit 20 in 2006 (Hamanaka was a lifer at the time he recorded twenty home runs). In 133 main squad game appearances, he led the team in RBIs and home runs (61 RBIs, 20 home runs), with 99 hits and an OPS of 0.697. His performance earned him a 12 million pay raise, making an estimated annual salary of 36 million yen for 2018. 2018 Nakatani fell into a slump during spring camp in 2018 and batting only .143 during the exhibition games. Nakatanie failed to make it into the main squad when the season started. His slump continued in the farm, (39 games, .197 average, 3 home runs), but when the main squad needed batting reinforcement, he got called to play on May 22. In the 9th inning of a May 26 game against the Yomiuri Giants, with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd, Nakatani notched his 1st career walk off hit at Koshien. From June onwards however, his performance began to deteriorate, and with the improving performance of other outfielders, his starts gradually decreased. He only appeared in a total of 77 games, hit 26 RBIs with only 5 home runs. 2019 Nakatani played in 62 games for Hanshin in 2019, also playing in 43 games for the farm team. In 131 plate appearances, Nakatani posted a tepid .181/.264/.379 slash with 6 home runs and 19 RBI. 2020 In 2020, the season was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nakatani spent the majority of the year with Hanshin's main team, logging a .215/.267/.304 batting line with 2 home runs and 16 RBI in 70 games. 2021 Nakatani began the 2021 season with Hanshin's farm team after poor performance in the seasons prior. With the farm team, Nakatani posted a .266 average with 5 home runs and 26 RBI. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks On July 2, 2021, Nakatani was traded to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in exchange for Akira Niho. In 2021 season, he never had a chance to play in the First League. 2022 On May 6, 2022, Nakatani made his first appearance as a Hawks player and recorded his first