"I was a bit nervous at the start, but I think I was able to perform to my best."

Lotte's Yuki Karakawa made his first start of the season on September 23rd against Seibu, throwing 80 pitches over 7 innings, hit 3 hits, strike out 5, BB 0, and pitch no runs, earning his first win of the season.

He went win for the first time since turning pro in 2011, but showed signs of recovery last season with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses with ERA 2.37 in 8 games (6 starts). He pitched in one exhibition game, closer three runs innings, but started the season with the farm team.

"It's normal. It feels like I can throw in a two-team game," but he had a stable pitch on the farm since the opening, and after the Seibu match between the two teams on April 12, he showed off a pitch that could be called a ERA 1.33 at any time.

At the end of April, he pitched 23 1/3 innings in 5 games on the farm, with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss, 20 strike out, and ERA a 2.31 ERA, and his first start of the season came in Game Rakuten on May 6. However, due to the cancellation of rain, the opportunity to start the first team did not come, and he took the mound in the second team match on the Seibu the following day on the 7th. He was adjusted as a starter until May, but on June 1, he threw 1 inning in relief against the second team on Nippon-Ham, and was promoted to the first team on June 4. He took the mound in the 11th inning of the 2-2 game against Hiroshima on June 11 and closer the first inning to runs, but lost 4 runs in the 2nd inning and left. On June 13, his first-team registration was canceled.

In a game against DeNA's second team on August 23rd, when he raised his left foot, he slapped glove as if to time his pitching, and he explained, "I wanted to make sure I was at the top of my pitching form, so I think I was searching for that timing and it came out in all different forms."

Although he had been in a string of unlucky situations, such as rainouts while he was preparing to start, and a first-team relief appearance, due to team circumstances, he finally got his chance to start in the first team. "It was a rare opportunity, so I wanted to enjoy the stage and pitch to my heart's content," he said, stepping onto mound with the intention of enjoying his first start in the first team for the first time in a while.

"When I was Nishikawa, I was aiming for the outside of the first pitch, but I think the others were aiming inside and went inside, although it was a control mistake," he reflected, but he struck out the lead Manaya Nishikawa with a cutter with an outside angle of 148 km, and the following Natsuo Takizawa also swung at an outside angle of 145 km cutter, struck out the third Seiya Watanabe He flew in the in-course 145 km cutter and finished the first inning with only 13 pitches.

"I wasn't able to switch between pitches well in the first and second innings, but I was throwing some good balls, so I think I was able to switch between pitches little by little," he said. From the third inning onwards, right after giving up the first run, he was able to switch between his signature cutter and pitch it accurately.

Along with cutter, slider was also used in large proportions on this day. He said that slider was a ball he was studying last season, but in an interview on April 4th he said, "I feel like I've been using more slider to change things up," and in an interview on June 4th he said, "I'm thinking that it's an effective pitch and I can use it," making it one of his trusted pitches.

When asked why he threw so many slider in the game against Seibu on the 23rd, he explained, "We talked about it in the meeting, so I wasn't told to use it consciously, but I was conscious of it."

What bothered me was the 124 km slider that he fouled off to Nevin's first pitch in the top of the 7th inning of a 1-0 game, which turned wide to the side and looked like a sweeper. Rakuten On September 9, in a 2-gun game , he threw to Irie in the top of the 7th inning of a 3-3 game, the second ball he threw from 1 strike to the outside corner of the pitch, 128 The 3.5-kilometer slider pitch was a sweeper pitch.

When asked if it was a sweeper, he didn't say much, saying, "I don't really think of it as a sweeper, but it's the same slider."

change-up has also been increasing in speed in recent appearances, with Nishikawa's first pitch measured at 138 km/h with one out and a runner on first in the third inning with the score at 1-0, and Nevin's first pitch measured at 135 km/h with the score at 1-0 in the fourth inning. Karakawa himself said, "That's true. It's a little fast, so ideally I'd like it to be a little slower."

He threw only one fastball to Takayoshi Yamamura, and pitch mainly cutter and slider, occasionally mixing in change-up, to closer Seibu batting lineup runs for seven innings, earning his first win of the season. Despite his lack of opportunities to start in the first team, his success with a single hit is likely the result of his daily preparation. While young players are emerging, such as Yuto Kimura in his second year since graduating from high school, pitching his first professional shutout game win the following day, this proves that the power of 36-year-old Yuki Karakawa, who is still in his prime, is still needed.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita