"I didn't get any good batting results in the first half and couldn't contribute to the team. In the second half, I started to get some results and I think I was able to finish the season on a really good note. With the way I felt in the second half, I felt that if I could start playing from the start of next year, I might be able to get some decent results throughout the year."

Lotte's Ryusei Ogawa finished his fifth season with a strong sense of accomplishment.

Last season, in order to develop the "feel for hitting low line drive between third base and shortstop," he worked hard to swing the bat from the autumn training in November 2023. As a result, he showed improvement in his batting, appearing in a career-high 119 games that season. This season, however, he has focused on adding an extra element: "swinging harder."

At the spring training camp in Ishigaki Island, he said, "I'm starting to show some strength, so I think I need to improve my consistency in that area," but in an interview on March 18th before the season started, he said, "I haven't been able to hit the ball as I imagined very often, and I don't think I've been able to hit the ball to my satisfaction yet, so since there's not much time left until the season starts, I'd like to make some fine adjustments."

He was also experimenting at this time last year, but he showed confidence, saying, "Compared to last year's exhibition games, I have a better idea of what I want to do and my own style, so although I'm still thinking about a lot of things and working towards that goal, I feel like I'm doing well."

He started the season with the first team, but said, "I still feel that I haven't been able to fully demonstrate my abilities and what's expected of me, both defense and offensively. I think there are still areas where I can contribute more to the team by paying attention to the details. I want to be more conscious of that and work even harder," as his batting average was a low .154 at the end of April.

In the game Softbank on May 2nd, in his second at-bat with no outs and no runner on base in the fifth inning with the score at 3-0, against Kohei Arihara, he was down to two pitches before fouling off the 11th strike, a low cutter on the inside, and drew Walk, showing his typical batting style. However, he reflected, "I think I was able to hang in there to a certain extent in that at-bat, and do what I've always done up until now, but that was the only at-bat where I was able to hang in there and have a typical at-bat, so it was different from what I imagined, or I don't think I was able to create the at-bat the way I imagined it would be, or the content of my batting."

In May, his batting average was .154, and he gradually started to play more as a pinch runner and defense player. In the game against Nippon-Ham on May 31, starting line-up started as the ninth batter and second baseman baseman. In the fifth inning with the score at 2-1, with two outs and a runner on second base, he hit a 135 km/ two seam fastball two-seam hit on the first pitch from Sachiya Yamazaki on the outside corner to third base, but was removed from the first team roster on June 1 due to an injury.

"Since I had time, I was able to compare current footage with old footage and practice while trying out different things, so I think it was good."

During his time in the minor leagues, he re-evaluated his batting. When he returned to action on June 17th in a game against The Giants league team, in his third at-bat in the 6th inning with no outs and a runner on first base, he executed a safety bunt towards first base on the first pitch, a 130 km/h outside cutter thrown by Toda. "The situation was no outs and a runner on first base, so the sign was for a safety bunt, but I was conscious of doing it as a sacrifice bunt, so I think I was able to execute a good bunt." He was finally able to showcase in a game the "safety bunt towards first base" technique that he had been practicing repeatedly since last fall.

On June 20, he was registered as a member of the first team and played in a game against DeNA on the same day, playing second base stolen base and starting on the following day, June 21. In the first at bat against DeNA on June 22, he said, "I was given a chance to score an extra run, so I decided to return runner somehow. I'm glad I was able to get him back," he said. In his third at-bat in the fourth inning, he went on a 3 hit 3 RBI rampage, giving up two runs on a timely hit.

In the game The Giants on June 24, he said, "The results are coming, so I think that's good, but I still want to improve my consistency and be able to hit with more and more accuracy from practice onwards, so I want to improve my consistency even more." In his third at-bat in the 6th inning with no outs and no runner on base and the score 6-4, he hit slider, the fifth pitch thrown by Baldonado with a 1-ball, 2-strike hit for a single to left field, in the style he had been working on.

Since the game against Softbank Hawks on June 29th, he has been using a "torpedo bat," which has a thicker core than a regular bat.

When asked why he started using a torpedo bat, Ogawa explained, "I want to get the point as close as possible, so I think it will hit my hand more often. So, the first thing I do is bring the center of the bat there. Having the head in my hand increases the controllability, so I think it's about using the bat well and doing it properly. In that sense, a torpedo bat suits me, so I use it." The length and weight of the bat remain the same at 84cm and 900g.

In his batting since switching to the "torpedo bat," Ogawa's hit in his third at two seam fastball bat in the 7th inning with no outs and a runner on first base in the game against Softbank Hawks on July 15, when he hit the sixth pitch from hit, an outside two-seam strike, to left hit that was typical of Ogawa.

"I'm getting some solid hits, so I think it's great that I'm able to go for the bat, but I still need to improve my tenacity and not draw Walk. I think I need to work harder on my approach when I'm in a tight spot."

During games he hits with a torpedo bat, but in pre-game practice he says, "First I hit with a bat that's not a torpedo (when hitting off a tee). I practice a bit, feeling the weight of the head and making the head move, and then I move on to the torpedo. If you hit everything with a torpedo, the tip of the bat is at the bottom, so it's hard to get a feel for the head. At first, with a non-torpedo bat, the head is at the front, so I practice making the head move." He practices hitting with a bat that's not a torpedo bat.

In his daily preparations to achieve results, Ogawa's timely hit to left field on the fifth strike of his at-bat in the 6th inning of the game against Softbank Hawks on August 30, with the score tied 4-4 and two outs, runners on first and third, was a typical cutter hit. It was a timely hit that was "typical of Ogawa."

Ogawa analyzed himself, saying, "I think it is my strength or my good point to get hits like that after being cornered," but he added, "I think it would be good if I could get more at-bats like that after being cornered, but I need to be able to hit the ball earlier count and get a good catch. I need to be more conscious of that.

In September, he played 5 consecutive games hit from the 4th Nippon-Ham game to the 8th Orix Buffaloes game, and 8 consecutive games hit from the 15th Rakuten Eagles game to the 27th Nippon-Ham game. In September and October, his batting average was .362 (58 At Bat 21 hit). He said, "My senses are getting really good, and I'm getting solid results in games, and more and more often I'm able to bat the way I ideally want to. I think I'm getting better at that." The form that I've been working so hard on since fall practice in November of 2011 is showing up as a result.

Although he played in fewer games than last year, he showed his competitive spirit by appearing in 87 games with a batting average of .264, RBI, 12 Walk, and an astonishing .383 batting average in scoring position.

When asked why he is good at taking advantage of opportunities, he explained, "Especially when opportunities come my way, like always, rather than deciding on my own, I pass the ball to the back or somehow show my strengths, and it just so happens that it results in good results, so I think it's good."

Even if you defend it, "In the first half, there were easy mistakes and ordinary mistakes, so I practiced all the time to eliminate those areas throughout the season, so I think it's good that we were able to make no mistakes in the second half," he said, after making an error in the Orix Buffaloes match on July 19th, and from the Orix Buffaloes match on July 20th defense The game ended the season with 41 consecutive games without an error.

Regarding the reason for his error-free performance after the All-Star break, he analyzed, "It was just a feeling, and I think the fact that we were able to correct some of the small technical details in the first half and then go into the second half led to good results in the second half."

Manager Saburo will take over next season. "I don't think what's expected of me will change, so I want to contribute more than anyone else in defense and base running, and in offense, I want to do my part, improve my level and get hits, and do more and more of those things, so I don't think my role will change and what I need to do will change, so I want to improve my level and get even better results."

Looking ahead to next season, he stated with determination, "I want to produce results that will earn me the title of 'regular,' and I hope to be starting line-up and a regular throughout the year, focusing on producing results." He aims to become a regular next season.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita