"They're all professionals so I don't have to say anything, but I draw them in with my appearance."

Lotte's Yudai Fujioka has been appointed team captain this season and intends to lead the team by example.

During the spring training camp in Ishigakijima, he said, "I'm always conscious of speaking out loud," and just like before, he was proactively calling out to young players such as Atsuki Tomosugi and Ryusei Miyazaki during defense practice. Looking back on the spring training camp in Ishigakijima, where he spent time as captain, he said, "It wasn't that different from before, but it was mainly young players, so I think that's what was different from before."

Even though he is the team captain, as a player he is expected to produce results as an individual while also leading the team.

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.

Last season he was focused on hitting long balls, and this season he said, "That won't change. I want to focus on OPS."

Also, in the game Seibu on August 28th last season, in his fourth at-bat against Kaima Taira with two outs and a runner on third base and the score at 2-3, he was forced into a corner with two pitches, but then he chose to foul off and ball balls, and with three balls and two strike, he tied the score with a wild pitch on the seventh pitch, and then he let a 141 km slider on the tenth pitch go by and walked, and if he persevered and walked after being forced into Walk Walk, then in the game against Softbank on August 30th, with the score at 3-0 and two outs and Kohei Arihara on first base, he hit a timely doble to right-center field off a 132 km change-up on the outside corner thrown by Arihara Kohei with one strike, and his long hits stood out until he was forced into a corner. Should we think about it the same way this season?

"Yes, I think it's important to take Walk seriously, but first I want to focus on being prepared to make an attack from an early count."

One of Fujioka's strengths is his ability to hit the ball according to the situation, such as when he gets a groundout to second base with no outs and a groundout to first base to advance runner to third base. He is also a very good hitter. "When the team gives me a sign, I just try to respond exactly to it.

Even though he will be batting as a team, he stated that his goal for this season is to have an OPS of over 8. "That's what I'm aiming for."

He has many rivals for second baseman, including Shogo Nakamura and Ryusei Ogawa, but he has no intention of giving up his position, saying, "There are a lot of good players, and I want to be able to play in every game.I just need to do my best without getting injured."

In an interview on February 16th, the last day of the spring training camp in Ishigakijima, he said, "Personally, I want to be in good shape for the opening game, but it's a long 143 games, so I want to see how it goes overall. As a team, I want to be a team that can win from the exhibition games, so I want to go in with good momentum." Although he was sidelined due to injury for a period, he returned to the first team for the exhibition game against Hiroshima on March 14th, and hit a multi-hit game in the final exhibition game against The Giants on the 23rd. The team is also in good form for the season, with 8 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws in the exhibition games, and 3 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw in the final week.

This season, the team is aiming to win the league championship with the highest winning percentage, Yudai Fujioka is at the heart of the team.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita