Lotte's Shota Suzuki is expected to continue to support bullpen this season.

Last season, his fourth year as a professional, he was introduced to his teammate Manabu Mima who had played for Rakuten before joining Lotte, and trained with Yuki Matsui (Padres), learning everything related to baseball, such as how to use his body, how to think about baseball, and nutrition. Since the start of the season, he has closer no earned runs in 27 consecutive games, and has pitched in 51 games, with 2 wins, 2 losses, 27 hold, 5 ERA of 0.73, demonstrating outstanding stability.

After the season ended, he said, "It was my first experience with a top team, and I had a lot of opportunities to talk to a lot of different people.I think it was a period where I gained a lot of experiences," and it was a breakthrough year for him, including being selected to represent Japan at the "3rd WBSC Premier12 presented by Ragsas."

Even after the Premier12 ended, he was extremely busy during the off-season appearing on television, radio and at events, so it's interesting to wonder if he was able to get enough rest.

"I took a break, and I don't really need that much of a break. 2025 has already started, and because I took the break late, there wasn't any gap, so I think it was good in that sense."

For the new season, he trained with Matsui, just like last season. "I did some new things, and I think I'm doing more and more," he said, continuing what he learned last year while also learning new things.

Although he had good results last season, with opponents studying him, it will be important for him to perform well for the second year in a row.

When asked what is needed to perform well for two consecutive years, Suzuki said, "Physically, I think it's important to have the stamina and perseverance to fight through the whole year, and you have to be able to evolve without being afraid of change while being studied, so I think that's something I need to keep doing."

During his personal training, did he ask Matsui about the difficulties of performing well for two consecutive years and what is needed?

"I was told not to think too much about last year's results and to just pitch with a relaxed attitude. I'll take each game one at a time, with the exact same mindset as last year."

While opposing teams were coming up with countermeasures, during the spring training camp in Ishigakijima, he practiced fork, saying, "I'm currently practicing fork, so I'd like to do that properly." He also threw fork last season, but he said, "I'd like to use it more this year," showing his intention to throw it more often.

After pitching his first game in the "2025 Miyazaki Baseball Games" with Orix on February 26, he has pitched 6 games and 6 inning for no runs, and has been in good shape for the start of the season, with 1 in each of his last two games against Rakuten on March 18 and on March 21. He has pitched 6 inning games and 6 games without a loss so far, and has been in good shape for the season opener, having pitched 1 game against on March 18 and 1 game against The Giants on March 21.

"I want to win and become number one in Japan. I want to have a great season that I can be happy about at the end." For the team to have a joyous autumn, Suzuki needs to have a great performance for the second year in a row.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita