"I've been promoted to the first team several times and played in games, so I've been able to understand the flow of the year and recognize what is necessary to be successful in the first team and what I am currently lacking, so I would like to work on that as my goal for next season."

Lotte's Ryusei Miyazaki reflected on this season, his first as a professional, as follows.

Miyazaki started spring training with the Ishigakijima team, and on February 8th, in his first match against a professional pitcher since going pro, he hit two hit balls in a live BP. When asked about the difference between professional and amateur pitcher, he reflected, "There wasn't a big difference, but it had been a while since I last played in a real game, so I felt the strength of the ball, and I felt like I still couldn't keep up with the speed, so I'd like to work on that as an issue."

In the live BP on February 13th, he hit hit to center fielder off Atsuki Taneichi and a hit that broke through left-center field off Fumiya Ono, making an impression by hitting pitcher with a proven track record in the first team. In a practice game against Rakuten Eagles Monkeys on February 16th, the final day of the Ishigaki Island spring training camp, with the score at 4-3 in the seventh inning, when Du Yufeng hit a hit that looked like it was going to get through to center fielder, catch it with a reverse single and made a jumping throw to first base for the out.

In an open game against Chunichi on February 22, with one out in the 0-1 seventh inning, Shigeya Hosokawa gave up a strong ground ball to third base, diving catch and moving to second throw for the out. second baseman He then Ryusei Ogawa grounded out to first throw to complete the double play. second baseman second baseman Miyazaki said during the Ishigakijima spring training camp that he has no experience at third base, but he showed a high defense ability that you would not think he had never experienced it before. Although he has no experience at third base, he showed such high defense ability that it was hard to believe that he had no experience.

"First of all, I need to hit. If I keep hitting, I think I can make it to the opening day first team, so I want to show off my batting ability," he said. He played in eight exhibition games, batting .250, but will start the season with the farm team.

Miyazaki struggled to hit after starting the season with the farm team, but he improved hit form hit in six consecutive games, including multiple hits in three of them, starting with a game against the DeNA second team on April 6th.He then had multiple hit in three consecutive games starting with a game against Yakult second team on May 5th, and was promoted to the professional league for the first time on May 11th.

On the same day, he came in as a substitute at third base in the game against Seibu Lions defense, striking out swinging in his first professional at-bat in the ninth inning. He played in struck out games, but was removed from the first-hit roster on May 15th after going 0-At Bat-8.

After being removed from the roster, he focused on dealing with the "straight ball" while on the farm team, saying, "When I played with the first team, my straight ball didn't fly forward, so I consulted with the batting coach about what I could do to hit back the fast fastball balls."

In order to adapt to fastball of the pros, he said, "Compared to last year, the quality of fastball has improved, and the speed of the ball has also increased, so I'm trying out different batting styles to adapt to that and finding one that suits me." He tried hitting with a variety of forms, including a no-step style from the first pitch, or with his leg raised, and from the July 5th game against Yakult Swallows' second team, he started hitting with a no-step style with the bat held down.

He was promoted back to the first team on July 8th, and experienced the fast fastball of Koki Kitayama in the game against Nippon-Ham on the same day. Regarding his reaction to fastball, he said, "Right after I was promoted, I faced the top-class pitcher Kitayama, and although I didn't strike out much and missed a few times, I think I'm gradually getting used to it."

On July 9, against Nippon-Ham, in the 3rd at bat without runner with no outs in the 7th inning (1-11), he hit cutter, the first pitch thrown by Sachiya Yamazaki, in front of center fielder to score his first professional hit. On July 19, against Orix Buffaloes, in the 4th at bat with two outs in the 7th inning (7-0), he hit fastball, the first pitch thrown by Kaisei Tomatsu, at 150 km center fielder to score his first professional RBI. On August 5, against Softbank Hawks, he hit his first professional . He hit his first stolen base in the pro ranks on August 5 against .

While working on improving his technique in the farm team to be able to "kick back fastballs," he said, "I think I'm much better equipped than when I first got promoted, but I still foul off and strike out when count is low, so I want to prepare properly so I can hit back with one pitch." He is gradually beginning to be able to demonstrate what he has been working on in the first team.

In addition to his hitting, when it comes to batting eye, he said, "He was swinging from the first pitch, so I went for it and ended up Walk, so I think it was good that I made the first move." In his first at-bat against Nippon-Ham on July 27th, in the 11th inning with the score tied at 4-4 and two outs and runners on first and second, against Takumi Yamamoto, he was in a tight spot after two pitches, but he was able to judge the ball well and, with three balls and two strike, let go of the sixth pitch, a 144 km/h cutter, choosing to Walk. This led to a Walk by Kyota Fujiwara, which contributed to win and was a very productive at-bat.

Even in defense, in the ninth inning of Game Seibu on August 3, 2-1, Davis dived a ball near second base with one out and second base, dived catch and throw to first base and put it out, showing a good defense to prevent a pinch to tie the game.

"I think I'm able to play defense quite calmly, and there are times when I have to make different decisions depending on the situation, but I think I'm getting a lot of experience in that area."

In August, he had multiple hit in the game against Softbank Hawks on the 16th and the game against Rakuten Eagles on the 20th, but his batting average for the month was .196. After going hit in two consecutive games in September, he was removed from the first-team roster on September 4th. After being demoted to the farm team, he recorded 12 RBI in 13 games, including 5 RBI in the game against Rakuten Eagles 's second-team on the 16th, and was promoted to the first team for the third time on September 23rd.

He started as the eighth second baseman and second starting line-up in the game Seibu Lions on September 29th, hitting hit and ending his season.

"The most important thing was my batting ability. I was confident in my batting, but pitcher in the professional first team were completely different from when I was an amateur." In his first year as a pro, he played in 39 games, batting .194 and scoring 3 points.

After his first season as a professional, has he been able to approach the fast fastball?

"There are some farm team pitcher pitcher can throw over 150 km/h, but there was a difference between the first and second teams even though the speed was the same 150 km/h, so I felt that rather than just hitting a fast ball, you need the skill to catch a high-quality fast fastball in one shot."

He named Nippon-Ham 's Yanagawa as pitcher he felt had a high-quality fastball when he was actually at bat. "It was my first time facing him, and I was swinging as if I was hitting the ball, but on video it looked like I was swinging in a different spot, so I thought that was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced," he said, looking back on the match.

With that in mind, he said, "I was able to experience the best straight pitch, so I would like to practice while imagining hitting a straight pitch," and plans to continue working hard on his batting practice so that he can hit fast fastball.

For the next season, his second year, he has set a goal of "playing more than 100 games because I just want to play in games." "I want to get regular playing time at second baseman, but I also want to play in games, and if I get more opportunities to play, I want to play third and short stop, but most of all I want to play second baseman because I am confident at second baseman," he said. I would like to play more games, and if I get more opportunities, I would like to play third and too.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita

*Apologies and corrections

Miyazaki's first professional RBI was correctly at second and third base in a 7-0 win against Orix Buffaloes on July 19, not without two outs runner in the seventh inning. We apologize and correct the mistake.