"It was the first time, so I was honestly glad, but the numbers are still not satisfactory, so I think we've laid the minimum foundation, and I'd like to make even greater strides next year."

This season, Lotte's Kyota Fujiwara is in his seventh year as a professional and has reached the required number of at-bats for the first time since turning pro.

◆ Towards 25 years

Fujiwara started last season late due to an injury, but was promoted on June 28th. He commented, "It's been something I've been working on for a long time, so I haven't been able to compete throughout the season, but I've been improving over the last two or three months, and this is the first time I've gone three months without any ups and downs in my performance, so I think that's an area where I've grown." His performance was minimal throughout the season, and although he did not reach the required number of at-bats, he finished the season with a batting average of .290.

During the off-season, he focused on training alone and getting into shape. At the Ishigakijima spring training camp that began on February 1, he had a separate training menu for the first and second sessions, but he rejoined the team on February 13, saying, "The amount of training hasn't decreased, so there wasn't any fatigue or any gap at all, but it's just that my technique hasn't improved."

During the batting routine that day, he rarely raised his right foot to hit against the machine or the batting pitcher, and hit almost entirely with a no-step batting style. His batting form when using the no-step batting style also seemed to have changed compared to last year. "Mechanically, a no-step batting style is better, but when it comes to actual games, it's a form that I don't use, and I haven't been able to hit at all. There were a lot of slipping hits and hooked hits, so I'd like to raise my foot and think about it," he said, continuing, "It's not as small as during the season, but I've made some pretty big changes, so I feel like I'm still in the middle of it."

Even so, during batting practice on February 15th, he was hitting with a batting form similar to last season. When asked, Fujiwara answered, "Yes," and explained the reason for this, saying, "I don't have the image of going back to last year's form, but in the end, when I make corrections, I automatically go back to my best form." He continued, "It's best if I can raise my foot in a no-step form, so I'm conscious of keeping that feeling in mind."

Fujiwara kicked off the spring training camp in Ishigaki Island feeling confident, saying, "My batting is getting a little better and I'm feeling good about it, so I'm a little worried, but there are also some exciting aspects."

He made his exhibition game debut on March 7th against Softbank Hawks, and although his batting average was .261, hit in six of the eight games. From the game against Nippon-Ham on March 12th to the game against The Giants on the 23rd, he had a five-game hit. After the exhibition games, he commented with a positive feeling, "How should I put it, my swing trajectory has changed, and my swing is getting a little stronger, so I think I'm hitting the ball without swinging, and it's becoming a bit more of a mature style of batting."

In the opening game against Softbank on March 28th, "It was a chance, so I was able to swing at breaking ball from an early count. I'm glad I was able to get runner home," he said. In his third at-bat in the sixth inning with one out and runners on second and third, with the score at 2-1, he hit a two-run timely hit to right field on the second change-up thrown by Kohei Arihara with one ball. Then, in his fourth at-bat in the eighth inning with no runner on base and the score at 7-1 and no outs, he took the eighth fastball thrown by Yuki Tsumori with three balls and two strike, doble in the opposite direction. He got off to a great start in the opening game with two hit and two RBI.

Immediately after the start of the season, he often started from the bench when a left-handed pitcher was in the starting lineup, but in the games in starting line-up did start, he had one hit in the game against Orix Buffaloes on April 3rd, his first three hit of the season in the game against Seibu Lions on April 8th, and four hit in the game against Softbank Hawks on April 11th, giving him an astonishing batting average of .526.

Last season, he said, "When I'm in a tight spot, I only aim in the opposite direction," and in the game Softbank on April 11, three of hit four hit were in the opposite hit after he was in a tight spot. "The content and the results are consistent, so I think it's good," he said, expressing his satisfaction.

In an interview on April 13th, Fujiwara said, "My batting style, mechanics, and options have definitely improved, so I was able to put up some decent numbers last year and I definitely feel like my performance is less inconsistent." He cited the increased options as one of the reasons for his smaller fluctuations in performance, but when asked in an interview after pre-game practice on May 5th what benefits the increased options have brought to him at the plate, he analyzed himself, saying, "I'm still getting hits and Walk, even though I'm not doing so well, so I think it's good."

◆ Fixed as number 1 in batting order from the interleague games

batting order has been fixed at number one since the first interleague game against The Giants on June 4. When asked what he is conscious of as the leadoff hitter, he said, "There's nothing in particular, but it depends on whether I play or not, so I hope I can give the team momentum."

In the game against Yakult on June 13th, as the starting pitcher in right field, with the score tied at 1-1, in his second at-bat in the second inning with one out and runners on first and second, he let go of the fifth pitch, a straight ball on the outside corner, thrown by Okugawa Yasunobu with fastball of 3 balls and 1 strike, drawing Walk, which led to a two-run RBI hit by Ryusei Terachi.

Although it did not lead to a run, in his fourth at-bat in the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on second base and the score tied at 4-4, he made a good call on the sixth pitch, slider on the outside corner thrown by Taguchi Reito with three balls and two strike, and extended his chances.

Then, in his fifth at-bat in the ninth inning with the score tied at 4-4, he said, "I had a good batter, Terachi, behind me, so I thought if I got on base he could do something, so I'm glad I got on base with a hit." He hit the sixth pitch from Bauman with three balls and two strike, a 155 km/h fastball, to center fielder, creating an opportunity.

On the next pitch, Teraji attempted stolen base second base, but was called out, but the call was overturned after a request and he succeeded in stolen base second base. During Daito Yamamoto 's at-bat, the fourth pitch, with one ball and two strike. The fifth pitch was also a wild pitch, and he scored a walk-walk-off home run.

On June 20, against DeNA, 0-0 in the first inning with no outs runner, the first batter without , Kay threw the first pitch 149 km fastball center fielder wall hit directly doble, on June 22, against DeNA, 9-6 in the fifth inning with no outs runner, the fourth batter without , Yutaro Ishida threw the fifth pitch 129 km slider from 2 balls 2 strike to the light It was a good Home Run throw into the stands.

"The bat's trajectory is getting better, so I think my batting is improving."

In every interview, Fujiwara has spoken about "long hits" by saying, "Rather than hitting long hits, I think if I can hit with my own form, I can hit long hits." However, regarding doble that hit wall off Kei and Home Run that he hit with a no-step batting technique off Ishida, he analyzed, "breaking ball caught nicely and became a home run, so I think I'm using good hitting techniques."

Even after the league resumed, he started in the first game against Softbank on June 27th, as the leadoff hitter and center fielder fielder. In his second at-starting line-up in the third inning with one out and runners on first and strike and the score at 0-0, he hit a 127 km/h curveball on the fourth pitch thrown by Moinelo with two strikes in the front of right field. Then, in his fourth at-bat in the seventh inning with two outs and runners on first and strike and the score at 1-1, he hit a 144 km/h straight fastball thrown by Moinelo with one ball and two hit in the front of center fielder, achieving his 15th multiple hit of the season.

Since the start of the interleague games, he has been used as the leadoff hitter, and as he has played in games since the start of the season, he said, "I feel that way because they've been throwing breaking ball at the start," and that there have been times when he felt that the way they attack is different and that they've been marking him more strictly. Regarding his batting after being cornered, he said, "It hasn't changed much, but I'd like to be able to shut down the pitches the other team is making early on."

On July 5, against Orix Buffaloes, he hit a timely, light-over-the-field long ball triple on the fifth pitch Ryusei Gonda pitched from 2 balls 2 strike with one out in the 9th inning of a 5-2 game, an in-course 136 kilogram change-up over the light, and more long balls he pulled after the exchange game against DeNA.

Regarding that, he revealed, "I haven't consciously changed anything, but I think that with floating and slow breaking ball breaking ball my timing has naturally become faster and I'm able to pull them out."

◆ First All-Star Game

On July 18th, the good news arrived. "It's a stage where many great players gather, so I would like to listen to various stories from various people so that I can improve myself," he said. He was selected to play in the Mynavi All-Star Game 2025 for the first time as a reserve player.

"It's my first time, so I'm looking forward to it, but the schedule is tough, so I hope I can keep a lot of things in mind," he said, looking ahead to the second half of the season.

In the first game of the All-Star Game on July 23rd, he drew the number 1 in the lottery and starting line-up as the leadoff hitter and right fielder. In his second at-bat in the third inning with the score at 1-0 and a runner on first base and no outs, he hit a 139 km/h fastball, the third pitch thrown by Takahiro Matsuba (Chunichi) with two strike, to center fielder field, recording his first hit in the All-Star Game.

On July 26, his first game after the All-Star break, he finished 4 At Bat 0 hit against Nippon-Ham (ES CON FIELD), but on the following day, July 27, against Nippon-Ham, he said, "I hit it like I was going to die. In the 8th inning, 3-4, with one out and three on, he hit a 155-kilogram fastball ball, the second pitch thrown by Seigi Tanaka from 1 strike, to left field for the tying run. And in the sixth at bat of the 4-4 11th inning with two outs bases loaded, Nao Miyanishi chose the final push Walk off a 139 km fastball, the fifth pitch pitched from 3 balls 1 strike.

In a game Rakuten Eagles on July 31st, he was 0-At Bat hit 3 with 2 Walk, forcing Rakuten Eagles pitcher to throw 30 pitches in 5 at-bats. Since the start of August, he has had 2 hit in a game Seibu Lions on the 2nd and 1 hit in a game Seibu Lions on the 3rd, showing no signs of being affected by the tough schedule and travel.

◆ Hitting at a Dome Stadium in August

He batted at dome stadiums in August. He played in 23 games in August, batting .278 for the month, but if you limit it to dome stadiums, his batting average is .405. He had three hit against Softbank Hawks on the 16th (MIZUHO PayPay Dome), two hit against Softbank Hawks on the 17th (MIZUHO PayPay Dome), and three hit against Orix Buffaloes on the 26th (at Kyocera D Osaka), making it three consecutive games with multiple hit at dome stadiums. "Of course, domes are the easiest place to hit, and I think you'll get better results. The wind is strong at Marine Stadium, and every game is different, so it's difficult to put up good results, but I'm just trying to hang in there and get at least one hit every day."

At Zozo Marine Stadium on August 20th, in a game Rakuten Eagles with the score at 0-1 and no runner on base in the first inning, Fujiwara took a 146 km/h fastball from Tatsuki Koja on the outside corner with a 3-ball, 2-strike hit hit it to left field, achieving his first 100 hit in a season. Fujiwara expressed his delight, saying, "I was thinking about it, so to be honest, I'm happy."

In the Rakuten Eagles game on the same day, in the fourth at-bat with no outs on second base in the 7th inning with a score of 2-2, he said, "I thought I was going to hit the lowest base, but it was faster than I thought, and it was changing. I wanted to hit a hit, but pitcher was better, so I think it was good that it was an advance Masaya Nishigaki strike the end." fork, who came to steal the 7th pitch with an outside angle of 139 km, hit the bat and advanced to second base runner and Tomosugi to third base. After that, Yamaguchi hit the final 3 runs.

Regarding how he gets outs, Fujiwara said, "Of course I'm conscious of it, and I think there are many things I can contribute beyond the batting average. In addition to that, (Nishikawa) Shio has been hitting since his return, so I would like to give runner to Shio as much as possible when there are runners on base."

Fujiwara reached the required number of at-bats for the first time since turning pro in his third at-bat against Softbank Hawks on August 30th. However, he was left off the bench in the game against Softbank Hawks the following day, August 31st, and was removed from the first-string roster on September 3rd. After returning to the first-string on September 30th, he ended up playing in 107 games, finishing with a batting average of .271, 4 Home Run, 24 RBI, and 15 stolen base.

Although he was sidelined towards the end of the season, he was able to play without any major ups or downs, which was a positive thing. "I was able to achieve the pace I had expected, and the batting average was also good, but I was able to achieve the bare minimum of what I needed to achieve, so I would like to set even higher goals."

His batting average is .271. For Kyota Fujiwara, I'd like to see him hit a little higher. To do that, he needs to increase the variety of hits he can make.

"I get tired during the season, so I try to relieve that fatigue, and I increased my running in the second half, which helped improve my performance, but if you can't move your feet, your batting won't improve. I think it's a matter of finding the right way to adjust."

Going into this season, he set goals of reaching the required number of at-bats, a Home Run average of 30%, and double-digit Home Run, but he was unable to achieve these goals. He expressed confidence in achieving these goals, saying, "I hadn't competed for a whole year, so this was the first time I had competed, and I realized that if I did this, I could do it, and if I could eliminate that, I could do it. By the end of this season, I believe I can definitely achieve 30% and double digits."

With the new manager Saburo taking over next season, he will be expected to play an important role as a regular and a key player. "There are many players younger than me, so I'm not sure if I'm in the middle of the pack, but I want to do my best with that mindset, leading the team forward." The era of Kyota Fujiwara is coming.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita