In the sixth installment of our "Guess Who" series, we introduce the players recommended by our reporters. Seibu ・ Takuya Hiruma outfielder (24) Joining the team as the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, he started the season with the second team for the third consecutive year. He has been on an elite course from Urawa Gakuin to Waseda University. We take a closer look at his struggles and where he is now. (Reporting by Ayami Ohnaka)
The 2022 first-round pick is now in his third year as a pro. He has not been able to establish himself in the first team, and has struggled to start the season in the second team for three consecutive years.
"My batting form is different every day, and I'm not satisfied with it for a long time. I'm really trying and failing every day, so I don't have any idea which one is good."
In his second season last year, he was promoted to the first team on May 10th and played his first professional role as the fourth batter in four games. In those four games, he had five hits in 16 At Bat hit for a batting average of .313.
"I hit a hit off pitcher Machado in the game Orix (on May 26th), and I felt a great sense of accomplishment because I was able to pull a straight ball into line drive."
However, about a month later in June, he was demoted due to pain in his left wrist. He was promoted again on July 15, but finished with a batting average of .220, one Home Run, and 16 RBI in a total of 63 games. Last offseason, he left the team's senior colleague Kuriyama and conducted his own training at the team's facilities in his hometown of Gunma and Tokorozawa City, Saitama.
"I did it with Kuriyama last year, watched him and learned from him. I realized that I really needed to do it myself, and when I really looked closely at my body, I realized that I didn't have enough stamina."
To overcome the challenges, the two locations set different goals and worked towards them step by step.
"I started with running, then built up my physique and gained weight. When I came back to Tokorozawa, I focused on giving it my all."
The weight gain comes from lessons learned from two years of professional career.
"(Before joining the team) I was weighing around 87kg, but I put on about 6kg. In my second year I tried lowering my weight to see what would happen. My batting speed was faster than I expected, and I got fewer long hits, so I thought I wasn't that attractive. If a team needs players to win, it's not single hit but long hits, and players like that are the ones that teams think, 'I definitely want to use them.'"
He spent the spring training camp at Haruno, Kochi, where the second and third teams play, but he also felt good about his performance.
"I was able to hit the ball into the back screen quite well, and it was a feeling I'd never had before, so at first it felt really good. My goal was always to make an impact and become a regular player."
With the same momentum, he participated in the first team in the two consecutive games against Rakuten held at Kusanagi, Shizuoka until March 9th. However, he did not make a big impression with only one RBI one hit in four At Bat.
"It felt like I'd risen and then immediately fallen. To be honest, I was disappointed, but I thought I'd do my best to aim for a spot on the first team at the start of the season."
However, that goal did not come to fruition. During his days of struggling in the second division, the person who supported him was a senior who had previously seemed intimidating and difficult to approach.
"Whenever I asked a question to Ryusei (Sato), he was really considerate and would give me detailed information. At first, I found it hard to talk to him because of his appearance, but then we ended up sitting next to each other in the locker room and going out to eat."
The advice I received also gave me some new insights.
"He told me, 'You can't hit the straight ball. You're trying too hard to hit it forward, and in the end your head is sticking out too far, which is counterproductive, so it's going to get in the way of Hiruma and he's going to get past you.'"
As a new initiative, he is also trying out Pilates, which is also popular in Major League Baseball.
"I have a weak back and get injured every year. There were times when I couldn't practice properly because of the pain, but I started doing this last year and the pain in my back has completely disappeared."
The team finished April in third place with one point lead, and outfield is led by second-round draft pick rookie Seiya Watanabe, with Nishikawa and Hasegawa also in good form.
"Looking at the current outfield, if you think about it objectively, we're not winning at all. I really feel that we just have to hit. That's what I'm working on."
The goal, of course, is to be promoted to the first team as soon as possible.
"I think it's important to definitely get promoted in May and stay there from then on. I'm trying not to waste this time so that I can make it to the first team and perform well."
Seibu has a noticeable lack of long-range hitters, with only eight Home Run in the first team, the worst in the league. The day will surely come when Hiruma will be needed.
◆Hiruma Takuya Born on September 8, 2000 in Gunma Prefecture. 24 years old. At Urawa Gakuin, he played at Koshien in the summer of his third year and hit a total of 28 Home Run in high school. He was a classmate of pitcher Watanabe Yuutaro (Seibu). At Waseda University, he hit a total of 13 Home Run in the six universities. He joined Seibu as the first pick in the 2010 draft. He is 177 cm tall and 87 kg. He bats and throws left-handed. His annual salary this season is 24 million yen.
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