Lotte's Ryusei Terachi "I think I still have a long way to go" - not satisfied with his own batting at all... "I want to work hard to perform at my best"

Baseball King

2025.7.3(木) 00:12

Lotte's Ryusei Terachi [Photo by Takuto Yamashita]
Lotte's Ryusei Terachi [Photo by Takuto Yamashita]

"I think that's a good thing, and I hope I can continue to stay injury-free and spend each day efficiently."

Lotte's Ryusei Terachi had set goals for this season as hitting his first professional Home Run and increasing the number of games he played in with the first team, and so far he has hit five Home Run and played in 55 games, demonstrating his prowess on both offense and defense.

In terms of batting, he has displayed skills that are hard to believe for someone in his second year after graduating from high school, and has batting order second in 23 consecutive games since the interleague game against The Giants on June 4. Regarding being assigned the second position, he said, "I feel like I'm batting in batting order that's been assigned to me. In that regard, what I do doesn't change no matter what batting order I'm in, so yes," and he is only thinking about batting well.

Last season in the farm team, he had a batting average of .290, second best in the Eastern Conference, but in the first team he is batting .272 so far.

"I think it's a good thing, but I want to continue to hit my own way without getting complacent," he said. When asked why he's been hitting well in the first team, he analyzed, "This year, I feel like my timing is right, so I think that's the reason (I lift my leg less depending on pitcher). Compared to last year, I've been able to use more of my skills little by little, so I think that's a part of the growth process, or that I'm getting better."

In the game against DeNA on June 22nd, in his first at-bat with the score at 0-0 and one out and no runner on base in the first inning, he took a small step with his right foot on the first pitch against Bauer, and on a 1-ball, 1-strike fastball, he hit hit to right field on the third pitch.

Regarding his batting, he is not satisfied with the results he is looking for, saying, "I think I still have a long way to go.Some days I hit one home run, and other days I don't, so I'll just do my best to hit one home run a day."

◆What have you been working on since the off-season?

In preparation for this season, he has been working on how to handle fastball and inside pitches during the off-season, and it seems that he is showing the results on the first-team stage.

Terachi himself is not satisfied with the current situation, saying, "I still feel like I have a lot to improve, so I would like to work on improving my ability to hit from the inside and to make sure I don't lose my strengths, which are hitting from center fielder to the left."

What are the areas where you feel there is still more to be done?

"I think there are many at-bats where I'm pitching fastball balls and getting fouled or getting hit a little, so I want to reduce those at-bats as much as possible. I'd like to be able to respond to each ball in my own way without changing my batting form."

Although there is a difference between the first and second teams, he had some poor performances in the farm team last season, but this season the fluctuations in performance have been smaller.

Regarding this, Teraji said, "I clearly understand that if my timing is off, my form will also go off and I won't be able to hit. I think there were parts of last year where I didn't understand that, but this year I understand it, so I'm trying to make adjustments to each at-bat in the game and plan how I'll go for my next at-bat, so I think that's why the results are different from last year."

Regarding the atmosphere in the first team, Terachi said, "I'm still anxious, or maybe I'm just nervous," showing a side of himself as a 19-year-old, but he also said, "I hope I can keep exerting my own spirit so that I can match that." "I don't think I've been able to demonstrate the power I think I have yet, so I'll try my best to perform to the best of my ability every day." Even though he's only in his second year since graduating from high school, Terachi is already leading the batting lineup. I hope to see him show even more "growth" in the hot summer.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita

Pacific League ​ ​News

Lotte's Ryusei Terachi "I think I still have a long way to go" - not satisfied with his own batting at all... "I want to work hard to perform at my best"

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