"I had high goals, such as getting the required number of at-bats and playing in every game, so I'm not very satisfied right now because I wasn't able to achieve them."

Lotte's Atsuki Tomosugi, in his third year this season, played in 116 games with a batting average of .230, Home Run, 15 RBI, and seven stolen base bases.

Looking ahead to this season, Tomosugi has been working on improving his physical strength, saying, "I've discovered a lot of things, like how to use my body, so I think I've been able to do a really fulfilling job." He has also gained weight, saying, "I've been doing weight training and swinging a bat, which has increased my muscle mass, and practicing a lot has made me gain weight."

During the spring training camp in Ishigaki Island, he said, "I've changed (my batting form) a little. It's just in terms of image, but I think it's changed a little. I'm changing the way I lift my leg and the way I open my leg to make it easier to imagine the swing I want to make." He was experimenting, saying, "As for (the bat), I'm continuing with a 900 gram bat right now, but it's around 880. I've also been given one that's about 20 grams lighter, so I'd like to keep trying different things."

During the exhibition games, his batting average dropped to .053 after the game against Nippon-Ham on March 11, but hit in three consecutive games starting with the game against Hiroshima on the 15th, and had two hit in the game against Rakuten on the 18th. "I was pretty bad, but I've been getting better recently. I can hit the ball in the direction I want, and my timing is good too, so I think it's coming together. I think I'm gradually being able to do what I want to do in terms of my perception as well," he said, as he began the season feeling confident.

Since the start of the season, he has struggled to light up the "H" lamp on the scoreboard. In an interview on April 16, he said, "I wasn't hitting at all, so I felt I had to change something. Also, this was the bat I was using when I was hitting the best, so I wanted to see if there was something different, or if I'd discover something new, so I went back." He also mentioned switching from a heavy bat to a lighter one.

Even though he hasn't been hitting well, he remained positive, saying, "I don't think my batting average is worse, so now I just want to get results in one or two at-bats and then get more at-bats in the second half."

In May, he achieved his first multi-hit game of the season in a game Rakuten Eagles on the 7th, and then had multiple hit in two consecutive games against Rakuten Eagles on the 14th and 15th, and started hitting well. When asked about the reason for this, he explained, "I started getting hits when I moved the point a little forward and turned my head around, or rather, when I went for a hook."

Last season he was conscious of "swinging hard," but "I think I wasn't thinking about swinging hard, so I changed my awareness a bit and tried to swing harder, or rather, I'm trying to let the power come out naturally, and now I'm imagining relaxing my muscles."Before the season started he was swinging with the "image of relaxing my muscles."

Is this different from the "image of hitting with relaxed force" that he talked about before the season started?

"Yes, I'm hitting with a different feeling." Looking at his hits during this period, he noticed fewer pop fly balls to right field, and more line drive to left field, saying, "I'm aiming for the left field, so I think it's hooking up well." In May, he recorded a batting average of .311, and his batting average, which was .071 at the end of April, rose to .254.

◆ 36 consecutive games without an error since the start of the season

defense But on May 20, against Orix Buffaloes, with two outs in the 0-1 6th inning, he singled to third on Masahiro Nishino 's ground ball between third and third catch and moved with difficulty to second throw for the out, and on May 28, against Orix Buffaloes, he came out of nowhere to slide past the groin of pitcher Nishino's 1-0 5th inning leadoff hit. catch He got up immediately and went to first base throw and got out. bases loaded In the same game against Orix Buffaloes, with two outs in the 8th inning (1-1), he hit a sharp hit by Ryoma Nishikawa that seemed to go to center fielder. He quickly got to first base catch and got out of the game throw.

Tomosugi analyzes the reason for the large number of favorable defense, "I think throw is getting better, so I think it is stable with that. Speaking of "throw is getting better," Tomosugi said, "Last year at the fall practice held at Zozo Marine Stadium, Nemoto and I worked on double play throwing and running throws, so I hope to improve my accuracy while learning how to use my body properly. I hope to improve my accuracy while learning how to use my body. defense I think short stop is the most important part of the game, so I want to make sure I do it every day.

During the defense practice, he was conscious of how to use his "pivot foot." "Coach Nemoto told me that in terms of defense, it's the pivot foot, so I'm working on that now (interviewed on November 6 last year). I've been focusing on throwing since this year (2024), and now (interviewed on November 6 last year) I'm told to use my right foot as the pivot foot for both batting and defense, so when I became conscious of how I use my pivot foot, my throwing has improved."

At the spring training camp in Ishigaki Island in February, he also had a positive impression of defense, saying, "I can really feel that my throwing has improved compared to last year, so I'm looking forward to actual games and seeing if I can throw the ball like in an actual game. I think I've been able to continue to be conscious of my pivot foot, especially in defense. I think that has also improved a lot."

When asked if he has seen results from focusing on his "pivot foot," he replied, "Yes, I think that's part of it, and I also think throw have improved a lot since I started focusing on swinging vertically, or rather, spinning the ball well from above."

◆ Tenacious batting but defense...

In June, his batting average was .190, but up until May he had only two Walk in 68 at-bats. In June, however, he had 73 at-bats and only six Walk, showing more tenacious at-bats by carefully selecting his pitches and forcing opposing pitcher to throw more pitches.

In the game against DeNA on June 20th, in his fourth at-bat with one out and a runner on second base in the ninth inning with the score at 4-1, he was in a tight spot after two pitches, but he was able to judge the ball well and hang in there by fouling off the 10th pitch, a 153 km/h fastball thrown by Marcelino that was three balls and two strike, and he drew Walk.

When asked why he has been Walk more since the start of June, Tomosugi explained, "I always thought it was important, but I think I've become better at judging the ball as I swing." Looking back on the at-bat in the game against DeNA on June 20th, when he was down to two pitches but chose to Walk he said, "I'm glad that I ended up walking Walk, and of course I'm not aiming for Walk when I'm swinging, so I think it's great that I'm able to get Walk."

On the other hand, on defense, he made his first error in the match against Hiroshima on June 10th, and said, "My bad point is that once I make one, I keep making more.I made some big mistakes in July, which was a shame."He made seven errors in just the two months of June and July, bringing his total to eight errors for the season.

◆ After All-Star break

After the All-Star break, hit over the head of short stop has increased. On August 6 against Softbank Hawks, 0-0 in the second inning, first batter with one out, Ryosuke Otsu threw the fourth pitch fork from 2 strike over short stop 's head line drive in front of left field hit, on August 7 against Softbank Hawks, 1-0 in the fifth inning, second batter without , threw the first pitch over 's head , and on August 8, 0-0 in the fifth inning, first batter with one out, threw the second pitch over 's head . In the 5th inning of the -0 game against fastball on August 7, he hit a 142 km first pitch from Haru Matsumoto to left hit over the head of short stop with no outs runner and no outs.

"There are good times and bad times, but I think I'm able to hit the ball in front to a certain extent," he said in self-analysis.

Rather than just hitting the ball with the point in front of him, does he also narrow down the ball he's aiming for while at bat? "I narrow down the ball I'm aiming for and try to imagine it to a certain extent while I'm hitting it."

When asked what he is conscious of during batting practice at this time, he said, "When I practice on my own afterwards, it's ideal to be able to hit the ball in a wide range.In practice, I try to hit in the opposite direction, but in games I just accept that and try to pull the ball."

On August 31, against Softbank Hawks, he said, "I finally got out. count The first time I went to the game, I was 3-1, so I just went for a straight line and swung hard. Home Run I'm happy because I wanted to hit at least one in my professional baseball life," he said. 3-1 in the fourth inning, with one out runner and no outs, Hikaru Kimura threw his fifth pitch, a 150-kilogram fastball ball to left field from 3 balls to 1 strike. In August, he hit four doble and had more long balls.

In May, when he started hitting closer to the target, his batting average improved to .311. Perhaps the efforts he has been making are starting to take shape, and he is naturally hitting longer balls.

"Yes, I've started hitting the ball with more power. It would be nice to have more long hits, but first I need to hit the ball with a good average, so I'll keep that in mind."

◆ Sacrifice bunt

Since the latter half of August, he has often created opportunities as the ninth batting order and passed the baton to the leadoff hitter with a sacrifice bunt.

In the September 20th game against Nippon-Ham, starting line-up as the eighth batter and short stop. In his second at-bat in the fifth inning with the score at 2-7, he hit fastball thrown by Nippon-Ham starter Kota Kota Tatsu with a 2-2 strike, sending doble through right-center field, creating a chance for the team. Following that, Ryusei Ogawa hit a ball to center fielder, and leadoff hitter Misho Nishikawa, allowing third-base runner Tomosugi to score the third run.

Tomosugi reflects on his role in connecting to the top of the order, "I don't think I'm doing it often enough," but he says, "It's getting on base, but I think if I can't hit consistently, the opposing battery won't get the ball, so I think it's important to bat in a way that gets them to throw the ball to me first. I think it's important to bat in such a way that I can get them to throw me a ball," he says about his awareness when batting at the top of the inning hitter lineup.

Regarding sacrifice bunts, he said, "I often play as the ninth batter, so I'm conscious of making sure I can send Pacific League properly." From his first sacrifice bunt of the season against Softbank Hawks on March 29th until his failed sacrifice bunt against Seibu on August 24th, he successfully sacrifice bunt 18 times in a row, ultimately finishing with 21 sacrifice bunt, third most in Seibu Lions League.

◆ Challenges for next season

After the season ended, he summarized his batting, saying, "There were some new and good things, but there were also some areas where I felt I still had a lot to improve on. In the second half, as there were only a few games left, some good things started to come out, so I hope I can put them to good use next year."

Regarding the feeling of hitting from a position in front of him, which he has been working on since May, he said, "I feel like I can hit good balls to the left with a pull, but I still haven't been able to hit the ball in the opposite direction.In the second half, I started to hit the ball in front of right field when I was trying to hit it to right field, so I think that was good."

When asked about his image of wanting to hit the ball at a wide angle, he said, "When I first came here, I couldn't pull the ball when it was a professional ball, and I had a lot of trouble trying to pull it, but once I was able to pull it, I was able to hit it in the opposite direction, so I think that was a good thing."

Regarding defense, he made eight errors in the two months of June and July, but as he reflected, "In a good way, I tried not to worry about errors, and the number of errors decreased in the second half.It was less than last year, so I think that was good."He finished the season without making an error in 32 consecutive games, starting with the game Rakuten Eagles on August 21st.

Since last fall, he has been focusing on his throwing, saying, "I'm starting to get a good feel for it, and I think it's gotten a little better than last year. I'll continue to improve and, personally, I make a lot of mistakes with my running throws, so I'd like to practice them one more time." He has strengthened his "running throws."

Next season, new manager Saburo will take over. "What I do won't change, but I think baseball will change when the manager changes, so I'd like to keep up with that and show what I can do," he said. He hopes to grab the regular position at short stop under the new manager next season.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita