"It was the year I grew the most, and the year I thought the most about baseball, so I personally think I've grown a lot both technically and physically."

Lotte's Atsuki Taneichi 's pitch after the All-Star break showed an overwhelming presence, overpowering Pacific League 's hitter.

◆ Struggling in the first half

With the 2025 season in sight, he worked to improve his skills, saying, "During the off-season, I studied to get to know myself by collecting data, and went to two places for motion analysis. I figured out what I was good at and what I was lacking, and then I worked to improve my weaknesses."

Regarding his poor form, he explained, "In terms of form, I wanted to get struck out, so when I thought about what I needed most, I came to the conclusion that I needed to increase the speed of fork and make my forkball more accurate and with more drop. Within that, I analyzed my movements and asked people how I could make the ball faster, and then incorporated that into my training."

At the spring training camp in Ishigaki Island, he entered bullpen for the first time on February 2nd. "Today, the drop on splitter and fork was the same, so I'm trying to make the drop on my fork as big as possible. It doesn't matter if it's slower, but I want to be able to make the drop bigger," he said, throwing a total of 34 pitches, including fastball, fork, splitter, and slider.

On the 14th, he took the mound in his first live BP of the season. Ryusei Terachi, who caught Taneichi's pitch, praised it highly, saying, "This year, I've been using fork and splitter, and while there's a slight difference in speed between splitter and fork, I thought the way it dropped was good, and personally, I thought it was a good pitch."

He went up for his first real game mound of the season in an open game against Chunichi on February 22 and went two closer innings without a runs. He was selected to play for Japan in the "Rugzas Samurai Japan Series 2025 Japan vs. Netherlands" and started the game on March 6. "I went up mound because I wanted to get my fastest speed, so I was a little overpowered, but I think I was happy that my average was up," he said. fastball was tied for his fastest from the first inning. He threw 23 pitches in two innings, including four pitches measuring 155 kilometers, his fastest ever, and was perfect on hit 0 and 2 strike out. I think I was able to do everything I wanted to do," he said, making Atsuki Taneichi 's name known to professional baseball fans nationwide.

pitch against the Netherlands gave people hope that he would achieve great results as a starting pitcher for a year starting from the opening game. Since the regular season began, he gave up one earned runs in six innings against Softbank Hawks on March 30th, and one runs in seven innings against Seibu Lions on April 8th, earning his first win of the season, making it a decent start with two consecutive QS games (six or more innings with three or fewer earned runs). "I don't feel good. Well, first of all, I'm not pushing my fastball, and because I can't push my fastball, I feel like I'm not getting pitch with breaking ball," he said, expressing dissatisfaction with his pitching performance.

One of the reasons he was not satisfied was fastball. My mechanics weren't good, so last time I was pitching at closer, but I thought it wasn't really my pitching, so I was pitching at mound," he said. Taneichi has sometimes cited "my left shoulder opening up too quickly" as a reason why fastball he hasn't pitched well, but he revealed that one of the reasons he hasn't been able to fastball pitch to his satisfaction is that his left shoulder is opening up too quickly. strike out He has also thrown 13 inning pitches in two games, eight less than he had in the previous two games. I'm hoping I can throw a straight ball in good shape. I think now is the time to concentrate on that," he analyzed.

On April 15, he suffered his first loss of the season against Nippon-Ham, pitching 5 1/3 innings in 7 runs. On April 23, he got his second win against Seibu Lions, pitching 7 innings in 2 runs. On April 30, he pitched 5 innings in 5 runs against Orix Buffaloes, and on May 14, 3 innings in 4 runs against Rakuten Eagles.

In the game Orix Buffaloes on May 28th, his true colors were back. fork, his greatest weapon, was particularly impressive. "It was terrible in the first inning, but I started to get it around the third inning," he recalled. Among them, with the score at 1-0 in the fifth inning, with one out and runners on first and second, he pitched a 140 km/h fork on his third pitch, which got Kotaro Kobayashi to swing and miss with one ball and one strike, and the next pitch, a 141 km/h fork, which he used to struck out, had a nice drop from strike zone to the ball zone. Even he was satisfied with fork he threw, saying, "That was great! I gave it a little bit of a shot, yes."

When asked how fork has improved, he said, "I think it's because I've got more power.I've always been throwing it with more force, so now my fingers feel more free, that's how it feels."

fastball was also powerful. Early in the season, he had fewer than 10 fastball exceeding 150 km/h in a single game, but in the game against Orix Buffaloes, his fastest pitch was 153 km/h, and he had 25 pitches exceeding 150 km/h.

"Until then, bullpen and catch ball performance hadn't been great, so I had many discussions with the pitcher coach and manager Yoshii about technique. Imai's teachings helped me improve my sense, so although my pitch performance during catch ball and bullpen on game days wasn't great, I was able to get a sense that was close to what I had last year. I think I can approach my next pitching appearance with confidence."

In the Orix Buffaloes game, he threw 5 innings and threw 96 pitches, which was a bit high, but he gave up 5 hit, 5 strike out, 3 BB, and no runs. One of the reasons for being closer to no runs was that if he made Keita Nakagawa in the 2nd inning of 0-0 with no outs and 2nd base, and Wakatsuki with 2 outs in struck out in a row, he would s struck out wing Yuma Tongu in the 3rd inning of 1-0 with 1 out and 2 outs and 3rd base, and 1-0 in the 5th inning with 1 out and 1 out, and Kobayashi and Tomiya at second base struck out in a row, and runner It is mentioned that he was able to take the struck out in the scene where he placed it.

Taneichi himself said, "I was in a pinch and went into the game hoping to strike out struck out, so I think the fact that I was able to do that myself is the reason why my condition has been improving little by little." He continued, "There were situations where sacrifice fly wasn't allowed, so I think it was good that I was able to pitch with the aim of striking out struck out."

Perhaps one of the reasons for his struggles was that he had few strike out from the start of the season and was unable to intentionally get struck out after putting the batters on a tight spot.

"Well, the number of struck out is my barometer, so if I can improve that I think I'll be able to pitch more dominatingly."

With the team starting to get a sense of momentum, the May battles came to an end and June saw the start of the interleague games.

◆ Interleague games

In a pitching duel against fellow junior Iori Yamazaki against The Giants on June 5th, he said, "I think this was the most satisfying pitching performance I've had so far this season," throwing 128 pitches in the eighth inning, his most since Tommy John surgery, hit three hits, strike out eight, and allowing one runs. Notably, on this day, seven of strike out eight strike out came within five pitches, and he was able to struck out out struck out with fewer pitches even after putting them in a tight spot.

Regarding the game against Hiroshima on June 12th, he said, "I felt good from the game against Orix Buffaloes, so I was really looking forward to pitching in the week leading up to the Giants game, but I think I needed to do better in the last game against Hiroshima." He was unable to throw a satisfactory fastball, throwing 108 pitches over six innings and giving up four runs.

In those games, he was able to throw fastball 151 kilometers on his fifth pitch , which he missed struck out from 2 balls 2 strike against Shogo Akiyama with two outs in the 5th inning of a 4-1 game, and he was able to throw fastball well left-handed hitter in the in-course against The Giants and Hiroshima.

"For me, when I can throw the ball to that spot, it's the best indicator, or barometer, so I want to be able to throw the ball to the outside right and inside left. I want to be able to master this."

When interviewed on June 3rd, he said of fastball, "It's starting to feel similar to last year's," but after pitching against The Giants on the 5th and Hiroshima on the 12th, he reflected on his current fastball, saying, "Because it went well against The Giants, I was expecting more, and I think I was a little too forceful (against Hiroshima)."

fork at 4-1 in the sixth inning, with two outs and runners on second and third, his first pitch was a 143 km/h forkball that drew a swing and a miss from Shogo Sakakura, and his second pitch, a 142 km/h forkball, also drew a swing and a miss, with a good drop from strike zone to the ball zone.

"fork wasn't very good last time. I had the impression that it didn't drop as well because I was trying too hard, and more than anything, I thought the Hiroshima batting line-up was taking care of fork. I got the impression that they had abandoned fork and were going for a straight pitch, so I'll try to be aware of that during the game. If I feel like they're taking care of fork, I should be able to use a straight pitch on the inside or slider. I'd like to work on being a little more sensitive to that."

With the score tied at 1-1 in the third inning, he forced the leadoff batter Yano Masaya (fly out to left field) and the next batter Akiyama Shogo (grounder to third base) into fastball with two straight pitches, and the third pitch he used to strike them out was a vertically dropping slider. Could this have had something to do with it?

I knew I was taking care of fork, and I changed the amount of change in slider, so I wanted to test that. 3 times 2 I kind of shook my head from strike and chose the vertical slur."

In the Hanshin Tigers game on June 19th, he threw 6 2/3 innings and 122 pitches, allowing 6 hits hit, 8 strike out, 5 walks, Hit by Pitch, and 2 pitch runs. "I think it was on my fingers," he said, and in the first inning of 0-0, with two outs and two outs, Yusuke Oyama missed from 2 balls and 2 strike at third base, and the 151 km outside angle fastball was struck out and threw a powerful fastball, such as being decided right where catcher and Ryusei Terachi were in position.

After not being able to throw a pitch he was satisfied with in the June 12 game against Hiroshima, saying, "It wasn't very good," fork said, "It was good (against Hanshin Tigers). I think I was able to throw it at the same launch angle as fastball so that it would not bulge out. Hanshin Tigers In the first round, he marked 8 strike out, of which 4 were taken by fork. Taneichi himself showed his satisfaction, saying, "I think it was good.

◆ After the interleague games

"First of all, I think I need to pitch long inning, and as ace-level batters keep coming, I want to do my best to not lose to them and to be able to beat them."

After the exchange match, he was entrusted with the starting mound for the team's first game on June 27th, the Softbank Hawks match. "I think it was good that I was able to throw the 7th inning, but I think I should have been a little more careful because it was a careless pitch to the lead batter (who was hit by a home run), and I think that is the only regret I have," he said, throwing 105 pitches in the 7th inning and not being satisfied with 4 hits hit, 6 strike out, 1 BB, and 1 runs. In this game, 6 inning of 7 inning hit the lead hitter, missed Yanagimachi with 3 balls 2 strike from 151 km fastball without a 0-0 first two outs runner, missed the lead Akira Nakamura with 1 ball 2 strike to 150 km fastball in the 2nd inning of 0-0 struck out struck out, and then pretended to be fork and missed struck out with a fastball.

On July 4 against Orix Buffaloes was 6 runs in 5 innings, and on July 12 against Seibu Lions was 5 runs in 7 1/3 innings, his 5th consecutive loss since April 30 against Orix Buffaloes.

He also gained some benefits. "In the game Seibu Lions, Tam-san (Tatsuhiro Tamura) used it at an important count, and I was able to get count, and I realized that if I use it like that, they'll let me off the hook, so I talked to Teraji about how I wanted to study how to pitch with the power of a game and get the count in the game against Orix Buffaloes as well," he said. In that game, he pitched 7 1/3 innings and gave up 5 runs, but in the game Orix Buffaloes on July 19th, when he teamed up with Teraji, he used his curve effectively with count pitches from the beginning, pitching 7 innings without runs, earning his third win since the game Seibu Lions on April 23rd.

After his final appearance on the mound in the first half of the season, Taneichi bluntly stated his fastball, "fastball is the worst." In the game Seibu Lions on July 12th, he threw 20 fastball over 150 km/h, but in the game Orix Buffaloes on July 19th, he only threw three fastball over 150 km/h. Regarding the speed of fastball, he said, "On windy days, I don't throw very fastballs. That's how I imagine it, so I wasn't too worried about it when I was pitching."

Although he is not satisfied with fastball, he feels confident that "breaking ball are getting much better." He added, "I got hit a lot when I was with Seibu, and the results weren't good, but I didn't get too pessimistic. I looked at the data for a week and thought about my pitching, and it went well last time, so I'd like to communicate well and carry that over to the next game."

In the Orix Buffaloes game, the in-course sinker system fork that finished Yutaro Sugimoto with a swing struck out from 2 strike in the first inning of 0-0 with two outs and first base, and the in-course slider system fork that finished Ryoto Kita with a swing struck out from 3 balls 2 strike without two outs runner in the sixth inning of 3-0 was very good.

Taneichi himself was pleased with fork, saying, "The data for both struck out was very good, and the trajectory was straight and didn't float, so I'd like to continue doing that." On the other hand, he reflected, "Every time I got hit, I was watching the video from center fielder, thinking that Wakatsuki's (7th inning) and Hirooka's pitches in the first inning also floated, so I'll be careful not to do that."

As for slider, the second pitch he threw to leadoff batter Taishi Hirooka after a ball in the first inning, a 131 km/h slider, looked to have a different trajectory than usual. "Yes, in the first inning, I often pitch while checking breaking ball, so the trajectory changes, but I think it was good that I was conscious of using slider against left-handed batters."

Among them, the 3rd pitch with a reverse bend of 133 km slider, which took a swing from 2 balls to Ryo Ota without a 0-0 5th inning with two outs and runner, was good. "Well, I didn't throw with the intention of bending the slider in the first place, so ideally that kind of bend would be the best, but for me, I want to be able to throw it with the image of a vertical sla. (5th inning) Hirooka's struck out also took struck out, but I think it would be nice if I could drop it a little more vertically."

In terms of slider, the proportion of slider was low in the game against Seibu, but high in the game against Orix.

"I think that percentage is good. I usually throw fastballs about 50% of the time, but this time it was under 40%. I think batters are basically waiting for a fastball, so I think that's the best way to take count. I don't imagine batters will swing at it if I get a curveball, or if they get a curveball, that's the type of pitch I use. It's a fastball or fork. I'd like to be able to throw a ball that will miss the target once in a while."

In the first half of the season, he pitched 14 games and 86 1/3 innings, with a record of 3 wins and 6 losses, 67 strike out, and ERA of 3.65. "Honestly, my pitching in the first half was pathetic, and I was hardly able to pitch to my satisfaction, so I think I really need to get in the rotation properly in the second half, and I have the responsibility of pitching long inning, especially since I'm getting older. I'll do my best to pitch in a way that increases our chances of winning," he said, looking back on the season and showing his enthusiasm for the second half.

◆ Second half

He entered the second half of the season with great determination and made a huge impact on Pacific League teams with his "dominant pitch."

Speaking of Taneichi, "strike out". His first start after the All-Star break, against Rakuten Eagles on July 29, was 5 strike out, but he had 12 strike out against Softbank Hawks on August 5, 11 strike out against Nippon-Ham on August 13, and 9 strike out against Rakuten Eagles on August 20 and Orix Buffaloes on August 27, leading the league with 41 strike out for the month of August.

Against Softbank on August 5, from 1 ball 2 strike against Ukyo Shuto with two outs in the 7th inning of 6-1, I missed struck out with 148 km fastball on the 6th pitch, pretending that I would finish struck out with fork, which had not been timed correctly until then, and , against Rakuten on August 20, from 2 ball 2 strike against Itsuki Murabayashi with one out runner in the 3rd inning of 0-1 without Missed struck out on an in-course fastball and others were made aware of fork, while fastball made struck out work for him.

When asked if the increase in strike out could be due to the fact that he is getting hitter waiting for fork struck out out looking or struck out with fastball strike out, Taneichi immediately replied, "I think so too."

About fastball after the All-Star, Taneichi said, "I think it's good. My straightening is getting better, so I feel like I'm increasing my straightening ratio," he said in a self-analysis.

Regarding his greatest weapon, fork, he said, "I think the most important thing is that fork has become the most stable," and about slider, he said, "I feel like I'm trying out throwing it as I go."

He started throwing his curveball again in the game against The Giants on June 5th, but only two or three times per game, but after the All-Star break he started throwing it more often as count ball, and on August 20th against Rakuten, with the score at 0-0 and one out and a runner on first base in the first inning, he threw it to Voit with two strike as his deciding pitch. Regarding the curveball, he said, "It feels good, but looking at the video and data, it's not the kind of ball that will get a strikeout, so I'll throw it when count gets really tight and I'm at a dead end."

Even in September, he pitched his first complete game win of the season against Nippon-Ham on the 3rd, earning him his sixth win. He had thrown over 100 pitches since the game The Giants on June 5th, but when asked if he felt any difference in fatigue between throwing nearly 120 pitches in the 7th and 8th innings and throwing 116 pitches in the 9th inning, he replied calmly, "Honestly, the level of fatigue wasn't that different."

He controlled fastball low from the start, saying, "On windy days, I was only conscious of low pitches because low pitches are extended." fastball, a 150 km outside pitch on the fifth inning that made Reyes miss struck out from 2 balls 2 strike without runner one out in the 2-1 sixth inning, Shun Mizutani without runner one out in the 2-1 eighth inning, and so on. 1 148 kilometers outside fastball that took a miss from strike and others were also good, including fastball on the outcourse of right-handed hitter. He recalled, "I think it was good.

fork also had a lot of good falling balls from the strike zone to the ball zone, including fork, who took a swing struck out from 2 balls and 2 strike to Mizutani without two outs and runner in the 3rd inning of 1-0.

"As for fork, yes, I wouldn't say it was relatively bad, but fork in count wasn't good."

Taneichi told Martinez, who led off the 2-1 sixth inning with a strikeout on the second pitch from 1 strike the in-course 137 km sinker system fork was good, and Taneichi reflected, "I think that was good, but the count pitch fork in the third, fourth, or fifth inning or so was not good.

Taneichi himself was not satisfied with fork, but what did his battery partner, Toshiya Sato, think of it for the first time since the game against Nippon-Ham on April 15th?

"Taneichi seemed a little worried, but we talked and I told him, 'Don't worry, I've marked fork so it will go in,' and he pushed when he needed to push and pulled when he needed to pull, and I think that's what he was able to do." (Toshiya Sato)

He threw 10 curveballs in the game against Orix Buffaloes on August 27, but only three in the game against Nippon-Ham on the 3rd, which is fewer than in his recent appearances. When asked if the fact that Sato was the one wearing the mask had anything to do with it, he said, "It's simply Toshiya Sato's pitching."

It was complete game win with ideal pitching, with strike ahead, but in typical Taneichi style he was not at all satisfied, saying, "Well, I think it went well, but there are many things I need to reflect on, and I was experimenting with pitch form early on.It didn't feel right, so I'm glad I was able to complete game game, but I think that's one thing I'm not entirely satisfied with."

pitch continued to show that "Taneichi is great!" In the game against Softbank Hawks on September 11th, he pitched perfectly through the first three innings, but allowed two hit in the fourth, but those were hit hit allowed. In the eighth inning, he threw 109 pitches, hit two hits, strike out nine, and allowed one runs. In the early innings, he mainly pitch fastball 150 km/h, but from the sixth inning onwards, eight of his nine pitches breaking ball, eight of his 11 pitches breaking ball in the seventh inning, and seven of his 11 pitches were breaking ball in the eighth inning.

In the Rakuten Eagles game on September 18th, he threw 83 pitches in 7 innings, allowing 4 hits hit, 6 strike out, and 0 runs. On this day, it was an energy-saving pitch from the first inning, and the inning who threw 15 or more pitches were only 17 pitches in the first inning and 15 pitches in the third inning, and both the fourth and fifth innings were finished with eight pitches each. In addition, in the 4th inning of 7-0 with no outs, Soyama threw from 1 strike and hit the second pitch with a 146 kg fastball to the left, reaching the regulation innings pitched for the second year in a row.

And the Nippon-Ham match on September 27 was an amazing pitch. From the first inning, fastball roared and piled up struck out. 0-0 first inning with one out runner and struck out to finish Ryota Isobata with a swing from 1 ball 2 strike to the 4th pitch with an outside angle of 154 km fastball, 0-0 2nd inning 2nd inning with a swing Yuya Gunji struck out 1 ball 2 strike thrown from the 5th pitch with an outside angle of 155 km fastball, The outside angle of 148 km fastball, which missed the lead Yuya Shindo from 2 strike and finished with a struck out in the 5th inning of 0-2, was wonderful.

fastball He said, "I think the most important thing is that I changed my mechanics," and said, "I had the feeling that I was able to hit the ball," although left-handed hitter the outside corner of fastball, right-handed hitter the inside course of Toshiya Sato catcher the mitt that was set up fastball was bounced around.

fastball said in a July 21 interview, "fastball is not the best," but he regained his strength, saying, "I changed the data, or the way I throw, or the angle, so I think that's what's good.

In order to improve fastball, he increased the amount of time he had to think, saying, "I think the best thing was being able to think about the mechanics on my own. I lengthened the individual practice. I left the whole practice earlier and tried to give myself 30 minutes to an hour to think."

fastball is good, but fork often drops from strike zone to the ball zone. However, he said, "I think I was better a little while ago. I think the two games against Softbank and the game I pitched in ESCON were good."

What has stood out since the beginning of September is that he has been able to score struck out with a large drop from count 3 balls and 2 strike fork. In the Softbank Hawks game on September 11th, the leading Ryoya Kurihara was not allowed to Walk from 3 balls 2 strike in the second inning of 1-0, and if you finish off the 11th pitch with a 142 kg fork that falls from the 142 kg strike zone to the ball zone with a swing struck out, you can finish the Nippon-Ham game on September 27th, 0-2 in the 3rd inning with one out and one out, He hit Tatsuki Mizuno at third base with a swing struck out on the seventh pitch from 3 balls 2 strike to the 7th pitch fork.

Perhaps he chooses to fork with three balls and two strike because he is confident he can get a strikeout.

"Yes, if I don't swing my arm, it will end up like what happened to Reyes (who hit Home Run) at Escon, so I make sure to swing my arm even from count of 32."

His final regular season appearance was against Nippon-Ham on October 4th. In his final appearance of the season, he pitched 5 innings and 78 pitches, closer 1 hit, 7 strike out, 2 BB, and no runs, earning his 9th win.

On this day, there were times when he was sent off after driving fork, but in the 2nd inning of 0-0, he took the lead Kazunari Ishii with 3 balls and 2 strike and the 6th pitch with a 152 kg fastball struck out, and in the 2nd inning of 0-0, he Taiki Narama with 2 outs and no runner fastball 3 balls and 2 strike from 153 kg In the 3rd inning of 0-0 with a struck out swing, the leading Yua Tamiya was finished with a fastball of 152 kg from 2 balls and 2 strike to struck out.

Taneichi reflected, "fork hasn't been in very good condition recently, and that was the case today as well, but I think it was good that I was able to choose a straight fork and get struck out even though I had the image of it being a forkball."

Taneichi pitched 24 games and 160 2/3 innings this season, with a record of 9 wins and 8 losses, 161 strike out, and ERA 2.63. innings pitched and strike out were his season-highs, and ERA was also his best in a season in which he reached the required number of innings pitched.

Especially after the All-Star season, when the power of fastball returned, he pitched 10 games and 74 1/3 innings, going 6-2 with a 94 strike out and an amazing 1.45 ERA. In September and October, he led the league with four wins and 48 strike out, and on October 21, he won his first "Taiki Seimei Monthly MVP Award" for September and October in the Pacific League pitcher category.

Since becoming a professional, Taneichi has always said that he wanted to be "number one," and he has won MVP of the month at closer with Moinello (Softbank), Hiromi Ito (Nippon-Ham), Tatsuya Imai (Seibu), and pitcher, who represent the Pacific League.

Although he won the Pacific League No. 1 pitcher award for September and October, he emphasized that he is only happy about that, "but I think you have to be active throughout the year, so I want to focus on that," he said.

pitcher I will do my best to keep my performance the same throughout the year, and I will do so with a lot of thought off the job as well.

He was selected to represent Japan in the "LUXAS Samurai Japan Series 2025 Japan vs. Korea" held on November 15th and 16th, but announced his withdrawal on November 3rd due to back pain. He participated in practice the day before the "LUXAS Samurai Japan Series 2025 Japan vs. Korea" held at Tokyo Dome on November 14th, and checked the pitch clock and pitch com.

Pitchcombe said, "I actually put it on. I thought it was really interesting, and I thought it would just be for signing, but it seems like it can also be used for sign plays, so I thought I'd give it a try."

Regarding the pitch clock, he said, "It throws off my rhythm and makes me rush my pitches, so I think that's the most difficult thing about it.It makes it difficult for me to think about pitch selection."

Speaking of Taneichi, The Marines has a pitch fast tempo and seems to be able to handle the pitch clock without any problems, but he said, "I think it's a little different to have time and a good tempo," but he said, "I don't think I have to worry about it that much because the tempo is fast."

On December 26th, he received some exciting news. "I'm extremely honored that my pitching has been recognized and that I've been selected," he said of being selected to represent Japan in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) to be held next March. The Marines fans are excited to see him show off his skills to the world, and once the regular season begins, he'll be able to showcase his "unrivaled Taneichi." Next season, he'll win titles such as most strike out, most wins, and best ERA, and become the team's first Sawamura Award winner, making him one of Japan's leading pitcher, not just for The Marines.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita