"In the end, my batting lost momentum and I wasn't able to defend until the very end, so I think that's an area of my body that I need to work on, my weak points, and the area where I got injured at the end is an issue."

This season, Lotte's Ryusei Terachi 's second year after graduating from high school, saw him make the most of the few opportunities he had and take his first step as catcher can hit, but he was not at all satisfied.

Terachi, in his first year after graduating from high school last season, had a batting average of .290, second in the Eastern Eastern League, and in his first appearance as a first-division professional on October 3rd against Nippon-Ham, he hit a doble hit the left wall fence in his first at-bat, recording his first professional hit. After the season ended, he participated in the Winter League held in Australia.

After returning to Japan after the winter league ended, he said, "I spent January practicing on my own. I wanted to overcome my weak areas, so when it came to batting, I tried to imagine myself hitting the ball from the inside, and I also practiced throwing today (January 28th), and I've noticed that my throws are not as lateral as before, so I've been working on that." He faced his challenges seriously.

Looking ahead to his second year this season, he vowed to increase the number of first-team appearances, saying, "My goal is my first home run. I'd like to get more opportunities to play in games than last year, and I'll do my best to play more than last year."

Spring training began with the Ishigakijima team. On the last day of the first training session, he said, "I think we're able to play as a team with a good sense of tension," and added, "I want you to take a good look at how we're improving day by day, and I think the first thing is batting. I want you to see how I'm improving not only in defense but also in batting." He was enthusiastic about the second training session, where practical training will begin.

At the Live BP on February 8th, he was dissatisfied, saying, "I feel like my at-bats still need improvement. I was feeling around with my hands to avoid being thrown straight, and there were parts where I was trying to adjust with my hands, so I'd like to correct that from here." He hit a hit ball to center fielder off of Fuki Tanaka, but reflected, "It was a little too far off the tip of the bat, so if I had hit it right, it might have gone to left-center field or a strong hit to left field."

On the indoor practice field after general practice on the same day, he took hitting practice by standing close to the machine, saying, "I can get used to fast pitches, or fastball of pitcher in real games, and I think the speed is much faster than the speed of a normal pitch on the machine, so I think it is practice for my dynamic vision or my ability to react.

On the February 11th live BP, he said, "The third pitch was a sign to hit back, but I hit it in the opposite direction. It was a straight pitch, but I think I handled slider well," and hit the third pitch thrown by Koshiro Sakamoto, which fell in front of the left field. In the Red vs. White game held in the afternoon of the same day, he also hit a hit by attacking slider, saying, "It was a straight pitch, and I thought it was a floating hit, but I couldn't hold on and it was like I hooked the ball, but I don't think it was that bad for a pitcher hit. I think it was not a bad at-bat at all."

On defense, he also caught Tomosugi Atsuki stealing a base, saying, "I'd been working on improving my throwing, but I was able to swing my arm firmly in my own style and make stolen base good throw.It was a little sagging, but it led to a Atsuki Tomosugi throw, so I think it was great."

fastball short stop About his performance in the red-and-white game on the same day, he said, "On the defense side, I stung stolen base and I was able to stop some parts by blocking, but I missed two, so I wanted to practice one more time and make sure I could stop them in the game. short stop If I could have caught it in front of my point and bounced it back with a little hit on the bat, it would have gone over short stop the head and I would have been able to do what I was supposed to do.

At the Live BP on February 14th, as catcher, he received pitches from Kojima Kazuya and Taneichi Atsuki and said, "It would have been a good experience to have had this experience, which would have been difficult to have last year, even though the season hasn't even started yet, and I'm taking part in Atsuki Taneichi camp.I think that if I'm on the first team, we'll have the opportunity to work together from now on, so I'd like to communicate with them while I can. Kazuya Ojima

After external matches began, he struggled with a batting average of .077 throughout February, but when asked why, he explained, "Until now, I've had a hard time hitting the ball on the first pitch. It's not just the mental aspect, but I've also often found myself letting my batting style slip, so I wanted to somehow change that, even just a little, and I tried to prepare myself to be able to swing at the first pitch."

He achieved a great batting performance in the exhibition game against Softbank on March 7, and also impressed with his batting skills with two hit in the exhibition game against Nippon-Ham on March 12. He hit the "in-course" hit against Softbank 's Haruhiro Hamaguchi and Nippon-Ham 's Yukiya Saito which is something he has a problem with, but he objectively analyzed himself, saying, "They were breaking ball, so I felt like I was able to handle them well. I'm still getting stabbed by fastball, so I think that's something I need to work on from now on."

Regarding defense, he said, "I'm able to block in my own way and I can see that I'm doing a good job, so it's something that's given me a lot of confidence, but with my throwing, I'm not able to connect with what I've been doing in practice. I think I need to practice more and be more conscious of that."

◆ Opening first team

"I think it's a good thing to be on the first team at the start of the season, and that was my goal, but the reality is that I'm not playing right now. When I do play, I'd like to somehow produce results."

Terachi made the opening day first team, but at the time of the opening he was one of the promising young players. Coming into this season, catcher was Toshiya Sato, who was named to the Best Nine last season and played for Japan in the Premier 12, so Terachi had to overcome that wall in order to participate.

When asked about his anxiety about not getting many turns at bat, he said, "I do feel a little bit anxious, but that wasn't the plan, and I thought I would have few opportunities to play.So I'd like to do my best to produce results with the few chances I get."

While he couldn't get to bat, he devised a creative approach to his pre-game practice at home. He uses a black and white bat in the game, but in the early stages of his pre-game batting practice, he hit with a plain wooden bat, saying, "It's a little longer than the bat I use, so I use it for the first batting practice to get the head moving."

"Even though I have few opportunities to play, I have to make sure I produce results. The most important thing is to make an impression with my batting, so I want to make sure I make that impression. I don't think I'll get more opportunities to play unless I can beat Toshiya Sato at catcher, so that's what I want to aim for."

He made the most of his few chances. In the game against Nippon-Ham on April 16th, starting line-up as the ninth batter and catcher, and led three pitcher, Haruya Tanaka, Shota Suzuki, and Shunsuke Nakamori closer Nippon-Ham batting line runs. In his second at-bat in the fifth inning, with the score at 0-0 and two outs and no runner on base, he hit a 121 km/h slider, the second pitch thrown by Takayuki Kato after a ball, into the right wall fence for doble.

Takahisa Hayakawa strike fastball Home Run On April 18, against Rakuten Eagles, he was 0-0 at bat in the 3rd inning with two outs runner and no outs. "I think I aimed straight and reacted well to hit the ball. win In the 8th inning, with one out runner and no outs , Shoma Fujihira hit a three ball, two strike to the right center field stands Home Run with an eighth pitch, a 140 kilometer in-course fork, for a 2 Home Run lead in the game.

Although he started on the bench in the games against Rakuten Eagles on April 19th and 20th, and the game against Seibu Lions on April 22nd, he hit hit in two consecutive games as a pinch hitter, and his opportunities as a starting catcher increased dramatically from the game against Seibu Lions on April 23rd.

In an interview on May 18th, a month and a half after the start of the season, he said that he thought he might have fewer chances, so when asked about his increased opportunities to play, he replied, "It depends on pitcher, but since I'm allowed to play, I think I have to do my job responsibly, and contribute to win in return. Since I'm playing, I think I have to do my best," showing no sign of being flustered.

◆ Established himself as the second batter during the interleague games

Since the start of the interleague games, Teraji has been playing second batter and catcher, saying, "I feel like I'm batting in batting order that's assigned to me. In that regard, what I do doesn't change no matter what batting order I'm in, so yes."

In preparation for this season, he worked during the off-season on how to handle fastball pitches and how to handle inside pitches, and it seemed like he was able to show the results of that on the first-team stage, but he responded, "I still feel like I have a long way to go, so I'd like to continue working on how to handle inside pitches and make sure I don't lose my strengths, which are pitches from center fielder to the left."

Regarding the areas where he feels he still has room to fastball, he said, "I think there are many at-bats where I'm getting fouled or getting hit a little while throwing straight balls, so I want to try to reduce those at-bats as much as possible. I want to be able to respond to each pitch in my own way without losing my batting form."

Although there is a difference between the first and second teams, he had a period of poor performance in the farm team last season, but he said, "I clearly understand that if my timing is off, my form will also be off and I won't be able to hit. I think there were parts of last year where I didn't understand that, but this year I understand it, so I'm trying to improve each at-bat in each game and then do this for the next at-bat, so I think that's why the results are different from last year." In the first half of this season, he posted a batting average of .274 Home Run and 22 RBI, and even participated in the "Mynavi All-Star Game 2025" as a manager's selection, despite being only in his second year after graduating from high school.

In the second game of the All-Star Game, starting line-up started as the seventh batter and catcher, and with the score at 6-1 in the third inning with two outs and a runner on second base, he hit a high fastball thrown by Iori Yamazaki after a ball, hitting the left-center wall fence for a timely doble. This was Teraji's first hit and first RBI in the All-Star game.

◆ After All-Star break

Even after the All-Star break, hit 10 consecutive games, from the game against Nippon-Ham on July 27th to the game against Softbank Hawks on August 7th.

"There are days when I can hit and days when I can't, but the quality of the ground balls, and when I hit a hit, I want to get another one but I can't. It was the same in the game against Softbank Hawks (on August 5th). I got a hit in my first at-bat, and although I don't waste it after that, I think there are many at-bats that end up being wasted. I think it's because I'm not finishing well, and I need to keep working on that, so I think that's something I need to keep working on."

During this period, he not only used the black and white bat, but also batted with a white bat, such as in the July 27th game against Nippon-Ham, where he used a white bat for every at-bat. Since the start of the season, he has used a white bat in pre-game practice to get the head moving, but he told us, "That's one thing, but also, as a change of mood, like the next game after a day when I couldn't hit, or when I felt like I wasn't going to be able to hit a home run."

Due to an injury from late August, he has had more opportunities to play as DH. "Just like when I'm playing catcher, if I think too much I can't swing at the first pitch, so I don't often play as catcher, but I hope to do my best in the role of DH that I've been given."

In the game Orix Buffaloes on September 16th, with the score at 2-7 in the seventh inning and one out and a runner on third base, he was up to bat against Sho Iwasaki after two pitches, but with two balls and two strike, he let the eighth pitch, a 142 km/h fork, and the ninth pitch, a 142 km/h fork, pass him and choose to Walk which was a very good at-bat.

Teraji was satisfied with his at-bat, saying, "I could see something a little different about myself.Looking back, I think I saw some changes and innovations in my at-bats that I hadn't seen before."

"It wasn't something I was able to do much this season, so I felt like I had grown as a player. In that at-bat, I was able to let go of a low breaking ball while trying to hit a straight ball, so I would like to continue to have at-bats like that. Rather than simply struck out out when I'm backed into a tight spot, I would like to hang in there and hang in there and be able to make the most of bad pitches."

On September 22nd, in his fourth at-bat in the eighth inning with two outs and a runner on first base and the score at 2-0, Nippon-Ham said, "I'm happy. Last year, I had 99 hit in the farm team, so I think I was close to hit 100, but I think being able to hit 100 on the first team stage will help me in the future." After a ball, Seigi Tanaka threw a 128 km cutter on the outside corner, but Teraji hit single to right field. This was Teraji's first 100 hit of the season.

In games where starting line-up started as catcher, he had a batting average of .270, but he said, "Since I started playing as a designated hitter more often, there were days when I would get one hit, but there were days when I couldn't get a second or third hit, or even a single, so there were many frustrating at-bats.There were times when I was able to hit the ball, so I hope I can carry that over into the next game."His batting average dropped to .196 in games where starting line-up started as DH.

Even so, in his second year as a pro, he played in 116 games this season, batting .256 Home Run and 33 RBI. He also reached the required number of at-bats and hit 106 hit, the most in a season for a second-year high school graduate since the 21st century.

Throughout the season, he had identified issues with "dealing with inside pitches" and "dealing with fastball" during his personal training, but how did he do in these areas?

"I feel like I've improved in some areas compared to last year, such as being able to handle the inside ball better and hitting it straighter, but I still haven't been able to hit the inside ball in one shot, so I'd like to continue to improve on that and make it my goal for next year."

◆ Autumn practice and autumn camp

After the regular season ended, during batting practice at Zozo Marine Stadium in October during fall training, he started out by holding the bat a little shorter and not stepping, then after a while he held the bat a little shorter and raised his leg to hit, and then he held the bat a little longer and raised his leg to hit, trying out various batting styles.

When asked why, he explained, "When I'm not stepping, I can pull the ball in and confirm that I can hit it at a good spot for me, so I just focus on creating a solid no-step axis so that my axis doesn't waver when I raise my foot, and then holding the bat short and compactly to hit the ball. Rather than doing this specifically in a game, I focus on practicing so that I can keep my axis solid with my foot raised without wavering."

"I think now is the only time I can check things like, 'What would happen if I lifted my leg at this timing?' So I think this is the time to be able to check in various places, like, 'This is what happened when pitcher lifted his leg at this timing,' 'It would have been better if it had been at this timing,' or 'Conversely, if it had been at this timing it wouldn't have worked,' so I'm doing that kind of work as well," he said, hitting the ball at various times.

Even during defense practice, he put on catcher gear and practiced catcher for over an hour. "I thought my legs would come off," he recalled, reflecting on the hard training he underwent. When asked what he focuses on during defense practice, he said, "Right now, I'm focusing on blocking and catch rather than throwing, so I'm trying to improve the areas that didn't go so well this year, and whether I can block properly while catch, so I'm working on getting into a good stance."

At the Miyakonojo autumn camp, he said, "In terms of batting, I was able to find my own style and what I needed to do during the autumn camp," and vowed to continue improving his throwing, saying, "During the period when I wasn't pitching, I was able to practice blocking and catch, and when I played against Hiroshima and a Korean team during camp, I was able to carry that over well in the games, so next time I'd like to work on my throwing."

The battle for next year has already begun. In December, he will be practicing his skills while also focusing on weight training, and from January he will be training independently under DeNA's Yasutaka Togashi.

"I think this year's results are the bottom of my performance, so I'm going to keep working hard, but I still think there's more to it than this, and I feel like I didn't contribute much to the team's win this year either, so I'd like to do my best to help the team win and improve its standings from here, and aim for win and championships, and lead the team." Next year, he will be the starting catcher, and make it his first year as a "catcher who can hit."

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita