"I'm happy to be a part of Chiba Lotte Marines The Marines."
Lotte's top development player, Nakayama Yuto (Mito Keimei High School), was delighted to join The Marines after completing his contract.
Nakayama, a right-handed pitcher with a top speed of 146 km/h, pitched perfect game against Mizuki in the Ibaraki Prefecture Tournament preliminaries held this summer. fastball which he throws to the outside corner of right-handed hitter and the inside corner of left-handed hitter, is very good. Nakayama himself says that fastball is "a ball I'm confident in." As a professional, he is enthusiastic and says, "I want to consistently throw 155 km/h."
He also throws breaking ball such as slider, change-up, and splitter. Watching the video, slider and change-up thrown to the inside of left-handed hitter were impressive. "I throw slider with the awareness that they curve sideways and are fast," he said. Of breaking ball, he is most confident in his two pitches: splitter and slider. After turning pro, he said, "I want to improve splitter."
He also throws at different distances depending on hitter, throwing at different times to throw off hitter 's timing. "I was thinking about that as well," he revealed.
When asked what prompted him to start changing the distance at which he threw, he explained, "There were times when I couldn't closer the batters with straight balls and breaking ball, so I started changing the timing to try and closer them better."
His goal for the future is to become pitcher who is known as the number one in the baseball world. To become the number one pitcher, he said with shining eyes, "I'm thin, so I want to get bigger and improve the quality of my balls, and become pitcher who is first class in all areas."
Two pitcher from the same year and drafted at the same time, No. 1 pick Genki Ishigaki (Kendai Takasaki High School) and No. 3 pick Yorihito Okumura (Yokohama High School), are teammates and rivals in their quest to become the best pitcher in baseball. When asked what he is not inferior to the two in, Nakayama said, "I think I can beat him in terms of control." In the future, he hopes to hone his skills and pitch alongside them in the first team. Incidentally, he is acquainted with Ishigaki, saying, "I've talked to him before, and he's a kind person."
When asked what kind of performance he would like to show at Lotte, Nakayama answered with confidence, "I would like to pitch in the game that decides the championship." Although he joined the team as a development player, if he can develop his professional physique, he will likely become a leader in the future for The Marines 'pitcher staff, along with Ishigaki, Okumura, and even Haruya Tanaka and Yuto Kimura.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
▼ Yuto Nakayama
Date of birth: April 18, 2007
position: pitcher
Height / Weight: 182 cm / 65 kg
Throwing/Hitting: Right/Left
Career: Mito Keimei High School - Lotte (first pick in development draft)
