Lotte, which finished last this season for the first time in eight years, just finished its regular season on the 5th, but began fall practice at Zozo Marine Stadium three days later on the 8th.

Watching the batting practice, I noticed that they were now practicing in one cage, instead of two at the end of the season. When asked why, batting coach Kenta Kurihara explained, "One reason is that with one cage, we can concentrate on running base running."

During last year's fall training, the team practiced batting with the mindset of "focusing on inside pitches, outside pitches, and all in opposite directions," and current second-team manager Fukuura Kazuya explained the aim of this at the time, saying, "Basically, one thing is to make sure the bat doesn't go around the outside. The idea is to imagine it coming in from the inside. You can't hit it unless you hit the inside straight pitch in the opposite direction without being late to the inside straight pitch, and you can't hit it unless you catch it earlier, so what I mean by hitting the inside straight pitch hard. You can't hit it unless it goes to the inside of the bat."

Watching batting practice this fall, on the first day of batting practice on the 8th, right-handed hitter such as Aito and Shingo Ishikawa hit in the opposite direction from center fielder, but Kyota Fujiwara pulled the ball more often.

Fujiwara said, "The manager told me to try to hit home run with a high probability, so I'm trying to determine the angle and ball that will allow me to pull the home run and hit home run."

I wonder if the players use this as a theme for their batting practice.

Coach Kurihara explained, "Yes, I've talked with Coach Saburo about making Fujiwara, Yasuda, (Nishikawa) Shisho, (Ueda) Kiyoshito strong and go far, so yes." He continued, "There is a period of autumn practice and autumn camp, so it's not just about that, but also about being conscious of each period."

However, when watching batting practice, some right-handed hitter batters are hitting in the opposite direction from center fielder. I wonder if some players are being asked to bat in a way that suits the situation.

"Case batting and batting according to the situation will become important. I tell the players not just to hit, but to do it with a sense of purpose."

When asked if he gives feedback to the players about the day's practice after practice, Coach Kurihara replied, "It depends on the individual, so I first listen to what kind of mindset they have, and then I try to align what I think with what the players think and make sure they're not going in different directions, so I think that's what I'll do."

On the second day of autumn practice on the 9th, five players, Akito Takabe, Naonori Yasuda, Koki Yamaguchi, Kyuto Ueda, and Ryusei Terachi, took part in individual batting practice. In addition to batting practice in the cage, they also practiced with split tee shots and swinging using a tube, and finished with long tee shots.

As Coach Kurihara explained, "Individually, we tried to cut down on the amount of time spent resting. It's a waste to have too much time resting, so we had them do something, like pulling tubes. The focus was mainly on strengthening the lower body, but we also tried to incorporate that into the split tee exercises." The players swung their bats without a break.

Regarding long tee shots, he explained his intentions, saying, "It's the finishing touch at the end. I include it (in my menu) because it involves using your body in a big way and hitting the ball powerfully and far."

During the long tee session, while the other players were finishing their practice, Yamaguchi was hitting the ball longer than the others. Coach Kurihara explained, "There were five players in the individual session, so we decided that the player who won the most would play rock-paper-scissors and hit the ball alone, so that was Yamaguchi."

In terms of batting, the team finished with a batting average of .241, Home Run, and 441 runs scored, all of which were fifth in the league. In addition to simply improving their batting ability, they are also required to improve their accuracy in areas such as advancing bases, bunting, and batting according to the situation.

Coach Kurihara vowed, "If each player can improve their individual level, I think they will be able to compete well next year. I think each player has identified issues throughout the season, so I would like to support them so that they can overcome these issues even if only a little during fall practice and camp." This fall has just begun. It will be a tough fall for the players, but once they overcome it, a bright future awaits them.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita