◆ White Ball Tsurezure 2025, No. 12
The opening game has begun. Japanese professional baseball will kick off with heated battles on the 28th.
There are many points to look out for, but I'm looking forward to the fresh performance of the rookies. The one who is shining the most at the moment is probably Lotte's Misho Nishikawa.
His performance in the exhibition games has already gone beyond that of a rookie.
He hit a solid 5 At Bat 3 hit in the final game against The Giants on the 23rd. hitter His total batting average is .410, far better than that of the top Chunichi player in the open tournament, Yuki Okabayashi (.364), although he has not reached the regulation batting average. In the last five games, where all the team's aces are on the lineup, he hit 17 At Bat 8 hit and grabbed the opening starting line-up without question.
He often plays second base and left field, but it wouldn't be surprising if he was selected as a cleanup hitter. After all, he holds the team's double crown in batting average and RBI. The super rookie is off to a great start.
Nishikawa's extraordinary batting is characterized by his "aggression" and "ability to make adjustments." When asked about his strengths, he said "full swing and accuracy," but it is because he has seemingly contradictory strengths that he is able to achieve such results.
His game The Giants on the 23rd proved his ability to contribute immediately.
The Giants starter Tatsuya Ishikawa singled to right in the first inning and struck out to change-up in the second inning, but in his third at-bat, he drove the same change-up to left and in the seventh inning he hit a single to right off pitcher Keisuke Izumi, who was on second. In most of his at-bats, he takes a full swing from the first pitch, and in the next at-bat after being closer, he does his research and preparations. Essentially, it's a long-range hitter, but it also has the dexterity to hit wide-angle. Forty percent of the open rounds are backed by solid technology.
As the No. 4 batter for Aoyama Gakuin University, he contributed to the team's four consecutive league victories. Last year, he was called up to Samurai Japan while still a university student along with Rui Muneyama (Rakuten) and Yumeto Kanamaru (Chunichi), proving his talent.
After competing with Orix for the draft, Lotte won him in a lottery. However, five teams competed for him as a "once in 20 years talent," Soyama, and he was the perfect start to his professional career, overshadowed by the attention and popularity he attracted. Soyama is also expected to be in the starting lineup for the opening starting line-up as short stop Rakuten. Nishikawa is a powerful hitter, and Soyama is an all-round player with great offensive, defensive and running abilities. The rivals from their college days will now compete fiercely in the same professional league, in the same Pacific League.
Lotte has extremely high expectations for Nishikawa.
pitcher Roki Sasaki, who was the "face of the team," has been transferred to the Dodgers. The team needs a new star player in terms of popularity. In addition, Nishikawa could be a key player in strengthening the batting line, which has been criticized for lacking power.
As they aim to move up from third place last season, they will need to power up their batting lineup.
Although their team batting average of .248 that year was second in the league, their scoring power and Home Run were far behind that of the champion Softbank. In recent years, players such as Naonori Yasuda and Kyota Fujiwara, who were expected to grow into key hitter, have not shown much progress, and the Japanese fielder who are the core of the batting line-up are not very promising. In this situation, if Nishikawa can establish himself as a main player, he should be the driving force behind the change in both popularity and power-up of the batting line-up.
"My goals are to play in every game, hit .300 and hit double-digit Home Run. In the future, I want to aim to be Home Run king," says Nishikawa, whose batting style is reminiscent of Hanshin Tigers 's Morishita Shota. With his full swing to hit good pitches and competitive spirit, Nishikawa has been entrusted with the number four position since this season, his third year as a pro. Compared to the Tigers' main batter, Nishikawa's performance in college is better, and critics are unanimous in saying that his slugging power is "better than Morishita."
In an interview this spring, Softbank 's Kensuke Kondo praised the big rookie's batting.
"He has a fast swing speed, and more than anything, he has the aura of being able to hit the ball," he said. The endorsement of Japan's best hitter who was named the batting hitter and MVP last year, will also boost his future.
Looking at Lotte's past Rookie of the Year awards, fielder to win was Makoto Kosaka in 1997. If Nishikawa beat rivals such as Muneta Muneyama to win the Rookie of the Year award, the team would be in contention for the championship.
The opening game will be against Softbank. Will they be able to get off to a rocket start like they did in the exhibition games against Kohei Kohei Arihara, who has already been announced as the opening pitcher? A new story will begin for number 6, which has been worn by legendary alumni such as Hiromitsu Ochiai and Suga Iguchi in the past.
Text by Kazuo Arakawa
