In the game against The Giants on the 24th, while many players in their 20s were in the starting lineup, Lotte's Hiromi Oka, who will turn 34 in July, also made his presence felt, not to be outdone by the younger players.

▼ starting line-up for The Giants game on the 24th

1 (middle) Kyota Fujiwara [25 years old]

2. (Catcher) Ryusei Terachi [19 years old]

3. (3rd) Naonori Yasuda [26 years old]

4 (Right) Daito Yamamoto [22 years old]

5 (left) Misho Nishikawa [22 years old]

6 (1) Raito Ikeda [25 years old]

7 (Finger) Hiromi Oka [33 years old]

8 (Yu) Atsuki Tomosugi [24 years old]

9. (2) Ryusei Ogawa [27 years old]

P. Sammons [30 years old]

Oka, who was batting seventh and DH and making starting line-up start since the game against Hanshin Tigers on June 19th, came to bat for the first time with one out and a runner on first base in the second inning with the score at 0-3. With the score at 3 balls and 2 strike, he hit the eighth cutter thrown by The Giants starter Nishidate Yuharu into the left field line, extending the lead to the opposing team.

In the fifth inning of a 3-3 tie, he hit an RBI single with Raito Ikeda to win the game, and in his third at-bat with two outs and a chance at third base, he said, "I went into the at-bat with the intention of getting runner back and getting back at it because I had been beaten in my previous at-bat," and caught Nishidate's first pitch fastball and hit a two-run single to left field to add doble.

Considering that the game ended in a 6-4 win, Oka's two-run timely doble was an invaluable additional point.

◆ Batting average in interleague games: .304

Oka played in 10 interleague games, batting .304 (23-7) with 4 RBI, producing solid results.

On June 4, the first game of the exchange tournament, against The Giants, he was batting first after No.4 Daito Yamamoto hit the first Home Run pitch to right field. "It was my first at bat, and the batter in front of me (Daido Yamamoto) hit home run, so I went to bat hoping to somehow get a flow going," he said. He was driven in by two pitches against Atsudai Inoue, the starter, but he did a great job of identifying the ball, fouled it off, and from 3 balls to 2 strike chose Walk to forego slider for the ninth pitch, leading to the following Yudai Fujioka single.

In the game The Giants that same day, in his second at-bat in the third inning with the score at 3-0 and two outs and runners on first and third, Inoue said, "I went up to bat with the desire to somehow get some more runs.I'm glad I was able to get runner back."He hit a timely hit to right field for an additional run on the third pitch, a 127 km/h slider that Inoue threw with two balls.

During this period, Oka's fly balls increased, and the balls he hit were more often fly outs than ground outs. In an interview on June 11, Oka said, "Even the fly balls are not coming through very well. They're not weak, but there are a lot of those kind of hits, so I'd like to hit the balls that I can catch well."

During the interleague games, starting line-up started in six games, hitting hit in all six, and has now hit starting line-up eight consecutive games since the match against Nippon-Ham on May 31. "Whatever the situation, I think I just need to prepare and understand," he said, showing his commitment to playing his part in the opportunities he is given, even as the younger players have been doing a particularly good job.

Since the start of the interleague games, the number of young players in starting line-up lineup has increased, and even if you look at the players in the first team, there are only a few players over 30 years old. In that regard, Oka says, "I want the young players to do their best, and I want to support them so that they can play without hesitation."

However, as a player, he intends not only to support the younger players, but also to lead them in their play. "I think I have to do my best, and I want to play well." In a team where the "generational change" is accelerating, experienced veterans like Oka are valuable. With the experience that the younger players do not have, he should be able to contribute to the first team.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita