March 28, 2025. The 2025 professional baseball finally begins tonight. Aiming to win the league championship with the highest winning percentage for the first time since 1974, Lotte will face last season's Pacific League champion, Softbank, on the road.
Opening pitcher Kazuya Ojima said, "I think this is a very important game for the team to get off to a good start, and since we haven't won yet, I want to do my best to win." Kyota Fujiwara said, "I was injured last year, but I've been playing from the start this year, so I want to do my best in the first team all year and avoid getting injured."
Tyron Guerrero, who is returning after three years, said, "I want people to see that Guerrero has improved since three years ago, and I want them to enjoy it. I hope people look forward to my fast pitching speed." Shota Suzuki said, "I think there will be good and bad times, but I want to contribute to the team throughout the year."
One of the goals of "Vision 2025" is to be a "new winning team," and this year they want to win the league championship no matter what. Until now, many The Marines fans were satisfied with participating in the Climax Series and entering the A class, but in the last five years since 2020, they have placed 2nd, 2nd, 5th, 2nd, and 3rd in the A class four times, and their only goal is to win the league championship. A few years ago, when asked about their goals for this year, many players spoke about their own goals, and the word "championship" was rarely mentioned, but this season, many players clearly said "championship."
"I hope that we can all fight together as one to win the championship so that we can all smile in the fall" (Captain Yudai Fujioka)
"This season, the team is aiming to win the championship, and although I don't know what kind of season it will be for me personally, I would like to do my best to contribute to the team." (Takashi Ogino)
"When you think of hold of Fame, you end up with 7 saves, so I'm not going to think about that. I want to add up holds and saves and try to get to about 40. As a team, we say this every year, but we haven't won the league championship or become Japan's top team, so I hope we can all work hard to achieve that goal." (Naoya Masuda)
"I think that as a team, everyone is aiming to win the league championship, and as an individual, I want to contribute in whatever way I can to that goal." (Yuki Karakawa)
"I want to contribute as much as I can to help the team win the league championship" (Yuji Nishino)
"I was allowed to pitch in the first team for a whole year last year, but we still fell short and came in third place, so overall I want to experience what it's like to win a championship. As I aim for that, I hope my own results will also improve." (Yuki Kuniyoshi)
"As a team, we want to win the league and become number one in Japan, and personally I want to achieve my career high in all areas." (Hiromi Oka)
"closer the team together as we fight to become number one in Japan and win the championship. I want to contribute to the team's win and lift up Yoshii in the air. That's my goal." (Takahiro Nishimura)
"When I saw the winners and the beer being poured on the team, I knew I wanted to win and share the joy with everyone. This year, my desire to win is different." (Toshiya Sato)
"I think it would be great if I could do what I need to do and get good results, show who I am, and then the team could win and become number one in Japan. First of all, I want to make this a year where I get good results." (Akito Takabe)
"I want to have a great season so that I can be happy at the end and win the championship and become number one in Japan." (Shota Suzuki)
"No. 1 is my own numbers, but I also want to win the championship. To do that, I need to pitch more than double digits or 180 inning, so I want to do my best to help the team win." (Kazuya Ojima)
"First of all, I want everyone to aim for the league championship, so I personally want to contribute in whatever way I can. I will do my best to help the team win." (Ryusei Ogawa)
"We have to hit .300 and 10 homers. I think that we can't win the championship, and that goes for other people too, so I think individual strength is going to be very important to win the championship." (Kyota Fujiwara)
◆ Challenges to tackle after the summer
As Lotte aims to win the league championship, the challenges they face are the team's inconsistencies in performance and the struggles they will face after the summer.
I have mentioned this many times in recent years about the ups and downs of the team's performance, but last season they lost seven games in a row from the match against Nippon-Ham on April 19th to the match against Rakuten on April 27th, and went undefeated for 15 consecutive matches from the match Orix on May 14th to the match against Hanshin Tigers on June 1st, which made it seem like the team's condition was improving, but in the interleague games they lost 7 wins, 9 losses, and 2 draws. In July they again had a winning record of 13 wins and 9 losses, and in August they had a season-high 12 points after the match against Orix on the 11th and the match against Nippon-Ham on the 13th, but then lost five games in a row from the match against Softbank on the 18th to the match against Orix on the 23rd. In September they faced lower-ranked teams such as Seibu, Rakuten, and Orix who all had large winning records, but they were unable to build a large winning record with only 10 wins and 10 losses.
The team's battles after the summer season are also an issue. Looking at the results since August in the two years since manager Masahito Yoshii took over, in 2011 they had 23 wins, 33 losses and 1 draw, and in 2012 they had 23 wins and 27 losses. In 2011 they were in second place, 3 games behind the leader, at the end of July, but ended up getting caught up in the CS battle and losing momentum in the final game, failing to advance to the CS.
Shuta Ishikawa, who joined Lotte as a free agent this season from Softbank, won the league championship and Japan's top spot many times during his time with Softbank. During the spring training camp in Ishigakijima, I asked Ishikawa about the atmosphere of the team in August and September that leads to the league championship.
He told me, "From experience, it works well when the hitter hits and the closer holds closer."
As of October 9th, 2020, the team was in a battle for the championship with a 0.0 game difference with the leader, Softbank, but after October 10th, the batting lineup's slump affected the team, and they lost significantly with 7 wins, 17 losses and 1 draw, missing out on the league championship. On the other hand, Softbank won the league championship with 21 wins and 3 losses after October 10th.
When asked about the atmosphere when they won the championship in 2020, Ishikawa said, "I think it's important for the players to fully demonstrate their quality and potential in the second half of the season. Everyone who can produce results will produce results. When people who hit close to .300 hit close to .300, people who can hit home run hit home run, people with ERA in the 2s close the game, and people who can produce quality produce results when they win. It's impossible for someone who isn't a long-distance hitter to hit home run. The person who should hit should hit, the team should defend, and the person closer closer, so I have a strong image that if they play their role well, the finish line will break at the end, so I get the impression that they are just concentrating on what they have to do."
This season, Lotte has been preparing for the battles that will come after the summer, with pitcher managing the appearances of relief pitchers, and fielder taking knocks in positions other than their regular positions during spring training to add depth to the batting lineup. "All of this is for the sake of winning." And this year will be the year of joy for the fall. The battle for 2025 begins.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
