Lotte's Toshiya Sato has had a year plagued by injuries.

Last season, he had a batting average of .278, fourth in the league, and made his presence felt as catcher could hit. After the season ended, he represented Japan at the "LUXAS presents 3rd WBSC Premier12" tournament. In an interview after the end of last season, he spoke of his awareness as the center of the team, saying, "I think it just comes naturally as I'm catcher. I don't think I have to motivate the team in any weird way, but as catcher, I think I have to speak up when necessary."

At the Ishigaki Island spring training camp, he was the oldest catcher on the team. "Looking around, there are a lot of younger players. Takabe is also the oldest outfielder, so I think our generation is now young, and we're the ones who have to lead the team."

Rakuten catcher He was a reliable leader of the team in the spring training camp, but he was diagnosed with a fracture of the first phalanx of his right foot after hitting himself on the right foot during a free hit on February 13, and left the game. Nippon-Ham On March 15, he played in the second game at No.3 DH, and returned to the game. starting line-up On March 21, he had a multi hit in an open game against The Giants. 0-0 in the 2nd inning with one out runner without any at bats, Shoyuki Togo threw the third pitch from strike, a 143 km fastball, to left hit. 0-5 in the 4th inning with two outs runner without any at bats, Izumi threw the third pitch from strike, a 149 km , to left , to left . 0-5 in the 4th inning with two outs . 149 km fastball in front of left hit was "typical hit."

He managed to make it in time for the opening game, and in the opening game against Softbank on March 28th, he hit his first two-run home run of the season, saying, "I was in good form, so I went for the first pitch and hit it aggressively, so I'm glad I was able to get it in one hit."

He got off to a great start, but struggled with a batting average of .105, and was removed from the first-team roster on April 23rd. "I'm training alone. Since I wasn't training, I'm training where I need to, and starting from scratch." He did have some typical hitting, hitting two hit in the opposite direction in an exhibition game against The Giants, and Home Run run in the opening game.

However, in an interview on May 7th, he revealed, "It didn't feel right at all, and it just felt like it had become a hit by chance, which was a really weird feeling, so I didn't understand it at all."

"Right now I'm focusing on swinging and being able to swing, so rather than swinging in the opposite direction, I'm always thinking about swinging properly and doing what I want to do while at bat."

After being promoted again, he had two hit in a game against Hiroshima on June 10th, and seemed to be showing signs of recovery, but he was removed from the first-team roster on June 14th due to another injury.

On July 26th, he returned to the actual game in the DeNA second team match "No. 2 catcher", and was promoted to the first team on July 29th. In the Rakuten game on July 30th, in the first at-bat without two outs and runner in the 5th inning of 1-7, Takayuki Kishi hit a 131 km outside angle doble change-up from 1 strike to the left center, and then in the second at-bat of the 6th inning with two outs and 2 outs and 3 bases at 3-7, he said, "I'm glad I was able to become a force I'm glad I was able to respond to the cheers in this at-bat as well," he said, hitting a two-run timely doble.

On August 30th, in his fourth Softbank in the eighth inning with the score at 5-4 and no runner on base, Shuto Ogata hit fastball on the fourth pitch, with a 2-2 strike, into the front row of the right-field stands for his first home run since the season opener.Then, the next day against Softbank on the 31st, in his first at-bat in the second inning with the score at 0-1 and no runner on base, he hit a 132 km/h slider on the second pitch from Haru Matsumoto on a 1-ball count to right field, Home Run for the second game in a row.In August, he batted .324 (12 hit At Bat-bats), with two Home Run and three RBI, demonstrating his presence as catcher can hit.

In September, he hit hit in three consecutive games since the 3rd against Nippon-Ham, and in the 7th against Seibu, "It was good to get an extra run," said Hibiki Shinohara in the second at bat with two outs in the 1-0 3rd inning. slider, the fifth pitch he threw from 3 balls 1 strike, was his fourth two-run shot.

In an interview on September 8th, Sato commented on his batting, "I'm hitting well, but I think my timing is getting better." He continued, "Batting is all about timing, so I think I'm getting the timing really good. When I can't get the timing right, I can't hit, so I think the area where I'm getting better is that I'm getting the timing right."

When we interviewed him in May, when his batting form was not improving, he said he was conscious of "swinging using his lower body," but I wonder if he is also conscious of timing.

"Of course it's all about timing, but you have to hit with your lower body. When I'm not in good form, my hands tend to get ahead, so I start with batting practice so that I can hit using my lower body as much as possible without worrying too much about my hands."

He maintained his batting form after this interview, hit five consecutive games from the game against Seibu on September 7th to the game against Rakuten on the 12th. In the end, he played in 68 games with Home Run average of .207, 4 home runs, and 18 RBI, but after the All-Star break he had a batting average of .266 (33 hit At Bat), 3 Home Run, and 12 RBI.

After the season ended on October 10th, he underwent a painful triangular bone removal surgery in his left leg. This season has been a year plagued by injuries. With Saburo as the new manager next season, he wants to make a strong presence as catcher can hit.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita