In recent years, Lotte has seen a left-handed relief pitcher break out every year.

Speaking of left-handed relief pitchers for Lotte, Takahiro Matsunaga, who pitched in 40 games for seven consecutive years from 2013, supported The Marines bullpen for many years, and during that time Chen Guangyu pitched in 44 games in 2019. However, since 2020 there have been periods when there have been no left-handed relief pitchers in the first team, and they have struggled to establish themselves. This trend changed in 2023.

In 2023, Koshiro Sakamoto said, "The trainers were very attentive to my treatment, and I also made sure to spend time on treatment and my body on my days off, so I think that's what led to me appearing in 50 games this time." He made 51 appearances, recording 1 win, 16 hold, and an ERA of 3.21, making it a breakthrough year for him.

The following year, in 2024, Suzuki Shota was introduced by Mima Manabu, who said, "This year (2024), I asked Manabu Mima, and he taught me how to use my body, how to think about baseball, nutrition, and everything else related to baseball." Shota Suzuki trained with Matsui Yuki, who plays for the Padres in Major League Baseball, and pitched in 51 games, finishing with 2 wins, 27 hold, 5 ERA, and an ERA of 0.73.

Last season, "I was told that I would be a starter, and I reliever thought I would end up being a handyman again, but in the end I was given the set upper role, and it was a season in which my weapons became clear, He worked his way up the ranks, and eventually his breakout year came Shuta Takano when he pitched in the 8th inning of a winning game. Takano pitched in 37 games last season and was very consistent with 5 wins, 15 hold and ERA 1.84.

This season, the team has added three new foreign players: Sam Long, José Castillo, and Hayate Miyazaki, who was released by Softbank Hawks. All three pitcher are left-handed relief pitchers. Castillo is 198 cm tall and has good angle on his pitches, and his strengths are fastball that exceeds 150 km/h and slider. In 2018, he pitched in 37 games with the Padres, and last season he played for four teams and pitched in a total of 29 games.

Sam Long has a variety of breaking ball, including fastball exceeding 150 km/h, slider, a curveball, sinker, and splitter pitched in more than 40 games in the majors in 2013 and 2014, and also pitched in 39 games last season while playing for the Royals.

Last season, Miyazaki Hayato played for Softbank Hawks, pitching two games with a 0.00 ERA, closer a runs first inning against Lotte on August 5th. He also pitched in 31 games for the farm team, with a record of 2 wins, 3 losses, 3 saves and ERA of 2.57. In order to win the competition for relief pitcher, Miyazaki is enthusiastic, saying, "I think my greatest weapon is my ability to throw a powerful fastball. I hope I can show that I can compete with a fastball."

I hope that not only will Sakamoto, Suzuki, and Takano perform well, but that other left-handed pitcher will also deliver results and that we'll see a high level of competition.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita