TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Eiji Sawamura Award, which recognizes the most outstanding starting pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball, will have no winner for the first time since 2019, its selection committee decided Monday.

The five committee members narrowed the field to two candidates, Shosei Togo of the Yomiuri Giants and Kohei Arihara of the SoftBank Hawks, but could not settle on a winner.

The committee ordinarily looks for a pitcher who has met the seven selection criteria of 15 wins, 150 strikeouts, 10 complete games, an ERA of 2.50 or lower, 200 innings pitched, 25 games started and a .600 winning percentage.

Central League strikeout leader Togo satisfied four of the criteria, while Pacific League wins co-leader Arihara met three, but the committee could not reach a consensus.

Giants right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, who led the CL in wins, and the Nippon Ham Fighters' Hiromi Ito, the other PL wins co-leader, were also mentioned in discussions but ultimately not considered.

The committee's chairman, Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer Tsuneo Horiuchi, said it had been a "very difficult" selection process.

"We haven't been able to settle on one winner," Horiuchi said. "In the current era, where pitchers are at an advantage, we would like them to improve their performance a little more."