"Especially in the second half of the season, I felt like I had grasped a lot of things, so I hope I can continue that for the whole year. I think that's the challenge, so I hope I can work hard so that I can stay in the first team for the whole year next year."

In his second year as a professional, Lotte's Kyuto Ueda played in 66 games this season, batting .211 with three Home Run, 20 RBI, and a .333 batting average in scoring position, demonstrating his strong hitting.

Looking ahead to this season, his second year, he said that during the off-season, "My main focus was batting, but until now I've been focusing on my left foot, so I've been rechecking how to make the most of that, and I've also been working on incorporating more firm footing with my right foot."

He did his own training with Shogo Nakamura and others, and said he learned a lot from them, saying, "He taught me a lot about defense and batting, and he also took care of me in my private life, so I think I should aim to be like him in the future."

During batting practice at the Ishigaki Island spring camp, he said, "Even during my personal training, I was working hard to swing and hit the ball, so I think they're looking for line drive that go through the gaps, but now that I'm swinging hard and my body is feeling it, I'd like to be able to change the angle of the ball." He hit many balls with an angle, and after the team practice, he faced himself and swung the bat in the indoor practice facility, saying, "While there are some things I need to fix, I was working on making a strong swing."

"I'll do my best to make an impression with my batting," he said, appearing as the fourth batter and third baseman in the first external game of the season against Rakuten Eagles Monkeys on February 16th, and getting off to a good start with three hit and one RBI, including a timely hit. In a training game against DeNA on February 20th, he showed great play with two At Bat in two hit one Home Run, and four RBI, and also recorded multiple hit in the exhibition game against The Giants on the 24th.

Even after the start of March, in an exhibition game against Softbank Hawks on the 7th, with the score at 1-0 in the sixth inning, with two outs and a runner on second base, he made his third at-bat and hit a timely hit to center fielder off change-up thrown by Haruhiro Hamaguchi on a two-ball count, earning him a spot on the opening day first team.

starting line-up started in the opening game against Softbank Hawks on March 28th as the eighth batter and third baseman, and hit doble in his second at-bat, his first hit of the season. However, after hitting hit in his second at-bat against Softbank Hawks on April 11th, he had not hit in 16 at-bats, and was removed from the first-team roster on April 24th.

After being struck out of the Ichigun roster, he changed his timing by using a hitting form with a no-step hitting style in the April 27 DeNA Nigun game, a hitting form with the bat laid down in the May 9 DeNA Nigun game, and a form with the bat laid down but like carrying the bat in the June 14 Rakuten Nigun game, among others. He was hitting with a different form.

When asked why he used different batting forms, Ueda explained, "Saburo pointed out that I was controlling the bat with my hands, so one way to fix that was to try holding the bat horizontally."

At the farm team, he used a variety of bats, including white wood bats and dark brown bats, but he told us, "I change depending on which one is easier to swing at the time and pitcher."

Before promotion, on July 11, Rakuten against the second team, 0-1, 2nd inning, no outs, runner the first batter of none, Kazusho Tokuyama threw the second pitch slider from 1 ball, breaking right center doble, on July 12, Rakuten against the second team, 0-4, 8th inning, no outs, runner the fourth batter of none, Naoki Hihata the first pitch, 145 km fastball, breaking right center doble were good! I was happy with that.

He was promoted again on July 15th, and hit doble in his first at-bat against Softbank Hawks that day. In his third at-bat in the sixth inning against Softbank Hawks on the 17th, with the score tied at 2-2 and a runner on first base, he said, "I went for it. The game was tied and we weren't going well, so I wanted to do something, and I'm glad I was able to hit it in a good way." He hit Home Run near the right field pole, but the game was called before the sixth inning due to rain, so the run was not recognized and his first professional Home Run was "phantom." However, doble in his first at-bat, and in a game Orix Buffaloes on the 19th, he achieved his first professional multi-hit game.

"I'm getting results, so I don't think it's bad, and I'm always making adjustments, so just because I'm hitting doesn't mean I don't do anything. I'm always making adjustments to get back to my original form and making sure I don't reduce the amount of swing I do."

In his second at-bat in the fourth inning against Seibu Lions on August 2nd, with the score at 0-2 and one out and a runner on first base, and his second at-bat in the fourth inning with the score at 1-2 and one out and a runner on first base, he said, "I was careful of the high balls and was thinking of hitting them lower, which worked out well. I didn't think it would go in the moment I hit it, but I knew it did when I heard the cheers. I'm glad I was able to hit it in a good way." He hit the third pitch, a 131 km/h fastball thrown by Kaito Yoza with one ball and one strike, into the right-field stands for his first home run, a two-run home run.

In August, he said, "If a pinch hitter is sent in (when there is an opportunity), I would like to do my best to bring the runner home. Even when I'm starting from the start, I don't think the team has many opportunities to do so, so I think I'm able to concentrate and step up to the plate." His batting average in scoring position is an astonishing .500. In the game against Softbank Hawks on the 30th, he batting order fourth for the first time since turning pro.

In the game Seibu Lions on September 5th, with the score tied at 0-0 in the third inning with one out and runners on second and third, he came to bat for the second time, saying, "I went up to bat hoping to at least get sacrifice fly. I'm glad I was able to hit it well." He took the first pitch thrown by fastball Mitsunari Takahashi and hit it straight into the back screen for his second three-run home run. He had two RBI against Orix Buffaloes on September 8th and his third two-run home run against Nippon-Ham on September 20th. He finished the season with two hits in a hit against Nippon-Ham on October 4th and the season finale against Softbank Hawks on October 5th.

Although he played in more games than last year, he said, "I feel like I still have a lot to improve in all areas." Compared to last season, this season, "I thought it was necessary to improve my on-base percentage, which was one of my challenges, so although my on-base percentage dropped a little in the second half, I was conscious of walking Walk," and he showed tenacity at the plate and walked many Walk.

Regarding autumn practice, he said, "I still have a long way to go in terms of my level, so I would like to continue to improve in base running, defense, and batting. My batting average wasn't what I was satisfied with, so I'm thinking about what I can do to improve my batting average, and I hope to be able to hit some long balls within that." He also revealed, "I had a meeting with analyst Kurihara (Kenta) and he told me that there was a low chance of hitting the ball right on target, so I'm keeping that in mind. I've also learned which pitches I'm weak at against right-handed and left-pitcher pitcher so I'm working to overcome those."

After the Miyakonojo autumn camp, I wonder how the areas that were being addressed have progressed.

First, regarding the part about aiming for long hits while increasing his accuracy, he explained, "Mr. Nishioka taught me that my point of contact was too far forward, and that when my point of contact is too far forward, I don't have much time to look at the ball.He told me that there are balls that I can judge, but I still end up swinging at them, so in Miyakonojo I kept my point of contact closer, and he taught me where I could put out more power within that, so I practiced batting."

Regarding how to deal with pitches that he is not good at, he said, "We talked about how it's not right to eliminate my good points and improve my bad points, so I've been trying out a lot of different things during camp, such as using a curveball machine to change my perspective, hitting balls that come inside, going in with the mindset of hitting them, or going in with the mindset of not swinging at them at all, or shifting strike zone, and I've been trying out a lot of different things, and I haven't quite decided on the answer yet, but I hope I can get a grasp on it."

Next season, Saburo will be the new manager. "He has been watching me since I was in the farm team, so I would like to listen to what he has to say and improve my game. This is my first year under him, so I would like to aim to win the league championship and become the best team in Japan." Next season, he will show that he has earned the regular position at third base.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita