"I will do my best to be able to pitch at Zozo Marine Stadium as soon as possible, so please give me lots of support."
Lotte's Koshiro Hiroike expressed his enthusiasm at the new player announcement held on December 4th last year. In his first year as a professional this season, he pitched in 10 games at his home stadium, Zozo Marine Stadium, and pitched 20 1/3 innings in 18 games for the first team, finishing with a record of 1 win, 3 losses, 4 hold, and ERA of 4.87.
His debut in a real game with the minor league team was later than other college graduates. Like Hiroike, first-round draft pick Misho Nishikawa (Aoyama Gakuin University), who also graduated from college and went pro, played in the major league from the start of the season. Other pitcher who also went pro, third-round draft pick Rikima Ichijo (Toyo University) and third-round development pick Kosuke Nagashima (Fuji University), made their first appearances in real games with the farm team right after the season began. "I want to pitch soon, but I don't want to rush. Since injury is my biggest fear, I'd like to start practicing little by little before pitching in a game," he said, looking ahead.
In preparation for actual games, he said, "I watch videos of my practice pitches so that I can pitch better the next day than I did last time, and I try to see what I did wrong and use that in my next practice." While training, he made his first appearance in an regular season against the The Giants league on April 30th.
During his four years in college, his fastball speed increased by 12 kilometers to a maximum of 153 kilometers. After turning pro, he said in an interview on April 20, "I haven't pitched in a game yet, so I'm measuring my pitch speed on bullpen, but my average is better than it was in college, and I'm throwing fastball better. fastball I'd like to improve the quality of my pitches." In his first farm regular season appearance, on April 30, The Giants he hit over 150 km fastball in a series of games for the second team.
In the DeNA second team game on May 9th, the third pitch that finished Ren with a swing struck out from 2 strike without a 1-8 runner in the 7th inning fastball measured his fastest 154 km.
In the DeNA game on June 21st, he made his first appearance in the first team regular season. In the first inning, 8 out of 10 pitches were fastball and pushed in with force, and pitch closer to a three-way retirement, but in the second inning, Shugo Maki, Yoshitomo Tsutsuka, and Yasutaka Toshihashi hit three consecutive Home Run and said, "I think I was able to throw my straight, but I still have a long breaking ball way to go breaking ball. I thought I had to improve it," and it was a bittersweet first appearance of 4 hit 3 runs in the second inning.
He was removed from the first-team roster the following day, the 22nd, but said, "I'm not good at breaking ball, so I've been conscious of using breaking ball to get count," and he worked hard with the goal of pitching on the first-team mound again.
In the July 2 Rakuten game against the second team, in which he threw 86 pitches in 6 innings and 7 hit 2 runs to closer, he said, "After pitching in the first team, I think I can pitch easily if I can get breaking ball when my arm is loose breaking ball or when count is at a disadvantage, so in the Rakuten game breaking ball slider was the best control, so slider became my main pitching". fastball was 28 pitches, slider 27 pitches, two seam fastball 14 pitches, splitter 10 pitches, and the curveball was 7 pitches, and breaking ball was the main pitching.
On July 12th, he threw 92 pitches in a game against Rakuten Eagles 's second team, the most since turning pro. He said, "I talked with my pitching coach and the like, and last time I threw a lot of straight pitches and change-up, so I try to work on that with an issue in mind every time." He threw 30 fastball pitches, followed by 19 change-up, with a theme in mind.
I don't want to blur my straight line because it's the pitch I'm most fastball confident with. I hope to build my pitching around the straight line and polish my breaking ball." As he worked to improve his breaking ball, he never forgot his own good qualities.
"I was called in as reliever this time, so I think it will be a short inning, but I would like to closer three strikeouts and come back." He was registered to the first team on July 19th, and made his first appearance since being promoted again in the game Orix Buffaloes on the 20th.
When he went up to mound in the ninth inning of 8-2, he threw the leadoff Masahiro Nishino, saying, "When I threw it in the Yokohama Stadium of my first appearance, it was a curve that Mr. Tsutsuka hit, so I thought I had to make sure I didn't make the same mistake, so I threw a curve to Mr. Nishino," and finished it off with a 112 km curve on the eighth pitch thrown from 2 balls and 2 strike to struck out, followed by Yutaro Sugimoto with a fly to right for 2 outs.
He threw a foul ball to Yuma Tongu with two strike on the fourth pitch, saying, "My goal since joining the team was to throw 155 km/h, so I think it was good that I was able to achieve that in terms of speed." He measured his personal best of 155 km/h, which he had set as his goal. He enthusiastically stated, "I'd like to try throwing around 58 km/h" as his next goal. He struck out Tonmiya with a straight hit to third base to close out the game.
In mound his first time Zozo Marine Stadium with the Ichigun, he reflected, "I was nervous because it was my first time at the Ichigun Marine, and I couldn't feel my legs." However, he closer retired three batters, saying, "I really felt confident because I was able closer to test breaking ball my first opponent hitter with a three-run outing in the middle of it. Manager Masato Yoshii also praised the team after the game, saying, "I think it was good that we were ahead strike in a dignified manner.
In the following Nippon-Ham game (ES CON FIELD on July 26th), he took the mound in the 5th inning of 0-5 and said, "I was able to do too much more than I thought, and I was running quite a bit straight, so I think it was good that I was able to catch a swing even if it was straight," and struck out the lead Yuya Gunji with a fastball of 153 km, followed by a Tatsuki Mizuno to the right, and the last He finished Chusei Mannami with a change-up of 127 kg and swung struck out, and cleared 1 inning with only 7 pitches.
On July 29th, at Rakuten Eagles (Zozo Marine Stadium), he pitched in the ninth inning with the score tied at 1-2, and with two outs and no runner on base, he allowed a hit to center fielder by Itsuki Murabayashi, but struck runs swinging to keep struck out at zero. On August 3rd, at Seibu Lions, he pitched in the sixth inning with the score tied at 1-1, and pitched two runs innings, closer his first professional hold.
In the Softbank Hawks game on August 15th, he said, "I was able to get Kondo struck out, but I became a little more confident when I was able to hit a good batter," and in the 7th inning of the 7th inning with one out bases loaded 1-1, he finished Kensuke Kondo with 2 balls and 2 strike to a swing struck out, which was a good splitter.
What I have been doing at the farm, "There are days when I can put it out, and there are days when it is a little bad. In the Softbank Hawks game on August 15th, he hit Kondo with a swing struck out, then hit grand slam in the following Hotaka Yamakawa, and in the Rakuten Eagles game on August 19th, he runs in the 10th inning of a 3-3 score, and he had a bitter experience of lose pitcher in two consecutive games.
Still, on August 23 against Seibu, he went up to mound in the 9th inning of an 0-2 game, and then missed Reon Murata on the 3rd pitch he threw from 2 strike with one out in the 0-2 9th inning fastball on an in-course struck out, and missed struck out Davis on 2 balls from 2 strike with two outs in the 0-2 9th inning . The seventh pitch, an in-course fastball, that Davis threw to second base with two outs in the 0-2 ninth inning was amazing. He was satisfied with the pitch, saying, "I threw the best ball perfectly. I think if I can't throw to that spot, which is synonymous with me, I won't be able to hit the ball.
Regarding the game Seibu Lions on the same day, he revealed, "I had some good times after coming up, but my arm swing would get loose sometimes, so before I took the mound (against Seibu Lions on August 23rd), I had a proper talk with the pitcher coach, who told me that if I didn't swing my arm, right-handed batters wouldn't respond, so I just had to swing my arm and pitch. Yesterday (against Seibu Lions on August 23rd), I was very conscious of pitching, and I got a good response to the inside pitches."
On August 27th, in a game Orix Buffaloes with the score at 6-1 and one out and no runner on base, he threw a 123 km/h change-up to Kotaro Kobayashi with one strike, and the second pitch he threw was a good strikeout. Regarding change-up he said, "My change-up doesn't have any drop, but it looks straight but the speed is dropping. I'm getting some fouls, so I think it feels good." He seems satisfied with the pitch.
"I try to throw the ball I can, regardless of whether it's a winning game or not," he said, pitching in the eighth inning of a winning game for the first time since turning pro in a game against Softbank Hawks on August 31st, and then pitching in the eighth inning of a game Orix Buffaloes on September 17th with the score tied at 1-1, closer the runs, and then immediately putting the team ahead in the top of the ninth inning, earning him his first professional win.
After the All-Star break, while pitching for the first team, he spoke about what is necessary to reliever pitching for the first team, saying, "If I were pitching as a relief pitcher for the farm team, I would pitch in one game and then take a week off, but in the first team, I often only pitch after three days of rest, so I feel that recovery is important."
It will be important for him to use the experience he gained this season in his second year as a professional next season. I hope he can have a season where he can say that his experience this year has led to his success next season.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
