Lotte's Yuki Karakawa only pitched in two games for the first team this season, but in the game Seibu innings, hit three hits, strike out, and closer no runs, becoming the win pitcher with a record of 1 win and 1 loss and ERA of 4.00.

Karakawa pitched 90 pitches over six innings in a game Rakuten on July 27th last season, hit three hits, strike out four, BB one, and allowing one runs, earning his first win as starter since a game against Orix on July 5th 2018. He went on to pitch 38 innings over eight games, finishing with a record of three wins and two losses and ERA of 2.37.

During his off-season training in preparation for this season, he focused on the theme of "The first thing I regret about last year is that I injured my shoulder, so now I need to make sure my body is strong enough to respond to my improved performance."

He spent his spring training camp in Miyakonojo, and pitched in an exhibition game against Softbank on March 9th, throwing 46 pitches over three innings, hit three hits, striking pitch three strike out, and allowing no runs. However, this was his only appearance in the exhibition game, and he will start with the farm team for the opening game of the season.

On March 18th, he started in the farm team against Oisix, pitching 3 1/3 innings and giving up one runs. On this day, he said, "As I'm entering actual games, I think that this is the only way to get a feel for it, so I'm trying to pitch aggressively," and threw many cutter and fastball balls to left-handed hitter and right-handed hitter on the inside. With the score at 0-1 in the third inning with one out and a runner on first, his seventh pitch, a 143 km cutter on the inside, was a good one, striking out right-handed hitter struck out with one ball and two strike. "The line was a little off, but I feel like I was able to pitch with a good balance," he reflected.

He also threw both fast and slow curveballs that day. When asked about his intentions, he explained, "I think it feels different when I'm trying to get count and when I want to control the ball low, but to me they're basically the same. I do vary the speed a little."

In the following game against Rakuten 2nd Division on March 27th, he pitched six innings and gave up only one runs, but on that day he threw a lot of slider, which he has often said he was "practicing" in interviews since last year. Perhaps it's because he has become more confident in throwing slider.

"I wouldn't say I've become more confident, but I was able to hit some long balls in the game against Rakuten and the batters were swinging at me with ease, so I feel like I've started using more slider to change things up a bit."

At the end of April, he threw 5 games and 23 1/3 innings on the farm, with a stable record of 2 wins and 1 loss, 20 strike out, and a ERA 2.31, and on May 6, he had a chance to start for the first time this season in the Rakuten game, but he was unable to pitch due to rain cancellation. The next day, on the 7th, he started in the Seibu second team match. He was adjusted as a starter until May, but on June 1, he threw 1 inning in relief against the second team on Nippon-Ham, and was promoted to the first team on June 4. He took the mound in the 11th inning of the 2-2 game against Hiroshima on June 11 and closer the first inning to runs, but lost 4 runs in the 2nd inning and left. On June 13, his first-team registration was canceled.

On August 6th, he took the mound for the first time since the June 11th game against Hiroshima in a game against Nippon-Ham second team, and on August 23rd, in a game against the DeNA BayStars' second team, he raised his left foot and smacked glove to time his pitching, but he explained, "I wanted to make sure I was at the top of my form when I pitched, so I think I was searching for that timing and it came out in various forms."

After that, he pitched in three games in the farm team, and finally got his first opportunity to start in the first team this season in a game Seibu on September 23rd.

Although the team's circumstances were unfortunate, such as a rainout while making an adjustment as a starter and a relief appearance, "It was a chance I was given, so the most important thing was to enjoy the stage and pitch as much as I could," he said, going up to mound with the intention of enjoying his first first start in a long time.

"When I was Nishikawa, I was aiming for the outside of the first pitch, but I think the others were aiming inside and went inside, although it was a control mistake," he reflected, but he struck out the lead Manaya Nishikawa with a cutter with an outside angle of 148 km, and the following Natsuo Takizawa also swung at an outside angle of 145 km cutter, struck out the third Seiya Watanabe He flew in the in-course 145 km cutter and finished the first inning with only 13 pitches.

"I wasn't able to switch between pitches well in the first and second innings, but I was throwing some good balls, so I think I was able to switch between pitches little by little," he said. From the third inning onwards, right after giving up the first run, he was able to switch between his signature cutter and pitch it accurately.

He threw only one straight pitch to Takayoshi Yamamura, and focused on cutter, slider, and the occasional change-up. closer Seibu batting lineup runs for seven innings, earning his first win of the season. While fastball produced results as a starter early in the season, the first-team starting lineup was stronger in the early spring. He also faced a short six-game streak and was unlucky, missing a chance to start due to rain. However, he delivered a hit when he did get the chance to start. The team sank to the bottom of the league, and many of the players who had supported the team for many years, along with Karakawa, left the team at the end of the season. I hope that next season, under new manager Saburo, will be a year in which Yuki Karakawa 's presence will grow.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita