"I got the impression that we really stumbled at the start, but in the second half we managed to hold on through trial and error."

Lotte's Yudai Fujioka reflected on this season as follows.

After the end of last season, he said his off-season theme was, "As I do every year, I'm working on improving my swing speed and also building up my body. I want to focus on hitting." However, he also said, "In my personal training, I worked on my form, and focused on hitting with my form in mind," as he swung the bat firmly.

This season, he served as team captain, and during the spring training camp in Ishigaki Island, he said, "I'm always conscious of speaking up," and continued to do so as he actively encouraged young players such as Atsuki Tomosugi and Ryusei Miyazaki during defense practice. Looking back on the spring training camp in Ishigaki Island, where he spent time as captain, he said, "It wasn't much different from previous years, but it was centered around young players, so I think that's what's different from before."

In an interview on February 16th, the final day of the Ishigaki Island spring training camp, he commented on the opening day, "Personally, I would like to be in good shape, but 143 games is a long stretch, so I want to look at the overall picture. As a team, I want to be a team that can win from the exhibition games, so I hope we can go in with good momentum." Although he was sidelined for a while due to injury, he returned to the first team for the exhibition game against Hiroshima on March 14th, and had a great hit in the final The Giants game against the Giants on March 23rd.

He began the season with the goal of achieving an OPS of over 8, saying, "That's what I'm aiming for."

In the opening game against Softbank Hawks on March 28th, Fujioka started as starting line-up in the sixth inning, trailing 0-1. With RBI hits by Ryusei Ogawa and Misho Nishikawa second baseman, Fujioka came up to bat with runners on first and second and no outs. In his third at-bat, sacrifice bunt a two-seam two seam fastball thrown by Kohei Arihara, keeping the momentum going. It was a valuable sacrifice bunt that led to a two-run RBI hit by Kyota Fujiwara and a two-run home run by Toshiya Sato.

Again on March 30 against Softbank Hawks, with no outs in the 7th inning of a 1-4 game, Naoyuki Uwasawa threw a 116 km curveball, the third pitch he threw from 1 ball 1 strike, to first base runner and advanced Nishikawa to second on a groundout. This was followed by Polanco's timely doble hit to left-center field and a double doble to tie the game for the substitute Hiromi Oka hitter.

He contributed to the team's batting by advancing sacrifice bunt, but it took him five games and 14 at-bats to get his first hit of the season.

At the contract renewal meeting after the season ended, he analyzed the reason for his stumbled start, saying, "I had an injury (to my right elbow) during training camp, so I wasn't able to adjust as I wanted, and I didn't get to bat in many games before the season started, so that didn't match up with what I had imagined. Also, the things I had done in my personal training hadn't really sunk in when the season started, so I think that worked out for the worse."

Even after that, even though it was hard to get hit out of the game, he did not score against Softbank Hawks on April 11, but in the first at bat with no outs in the 0-0 first inning, Arihara pulled two seam fastball the third pitch he threw from two balls and got two ground balls. He played a minimal role, advancing first base runner ・Fujiwara to second base.

He had two hit on April 15th, and then hit in six consecutive games from that game, finishing April with a hit average of .232. In a game Rakuten Eagles on May 7th, he hit his first home run of the season, saying, "I just went out there thinking I wanted to keep it going, and it turned out to be the best result," and then hit his second solo home run against Seibu Lions on the 23rd.

Since the start of the interleague games, in the game The Giants on June 4th, he hit his third two-run home run in the second inning, saying, "I was ahead in the ball, so I went for it. I'm glad it turned out the best way possible." He also hit a timely hit in the third inning, saying, "It was my chance, so I'm glad it fell." He had a wild game with two hit and three RBI. He hit four consecutive hit starting with the game against Yakult on the 14th, and in the game against DeNA on June 20th, he was in a tight spot against Kei after two pitches, but he judged them to be fouls and balls, and walked Walk on the seventh pitch, a 135 km/h slider.

"In the first half of the season, I received injections every 10 days and continued like that for about three months," he revealed, explaining the current condition of his right elbow, "In the second half, it calmed down a lot, but I started throwing more often and it was a strain, but I don't think it's bad enough to require surgery."

In September, while his elbow was recovering, he played in 18 games, batting .360 with Home Run and five RBI. While aiming for an OPS of 8, his September OPS was .908. Was there anything about his batting that will carry over to next season?

"Honestly, I didn't know why I was able to hit in the second half, so I guess I was in good form and was able to hit, but I don't feel like I finished with any real momentum that will help me next year."

Although he did not reach the required number of at-bats this season, he played in the first team throughout the season, appearing in 102 games and finishing with a batting average of .256, 4 Home Run, 25 RBI, and an OPS of .694. After the regular season ended, he decided to stay with the team without exercising his domestic free agent rights, saying, "I had a desire to win the championship here, and I feel I need to carry that with me from next year onwards." One of the reasons he decided to stay was because "I was asked to play short stop next year, so that was a big factor for me," he said, citing his return short stop.

Fujioka said, "I don't know where I'll be playing yet, but I want to prepare myself by the time camp starts so I can go anywhere," but when asked by the press about his attachment to short stop, he said, "I think the player who can defend most consistently should play there, and the second baseman/shortstop position requires you to keep an eye on your surroundings, and there are a lot of signs.It's a position you have to play responsibly.I feel it's rewarding."

"It was a very tough season throughout, and I personally had a lot of things that didn't go well, so I want to make sure that doesn't happen next year." Next season, both for the team and for Fujioka personally, he wants to make it a year full of smiles.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita