Lotte's Ryusei Ogawa held a public training session at Zozo Marine Stadium on the 8th.

Ogawa has been working hard since fall practice in November 2011 to develop the "feel for hitting low line drive to the shortstop/third base area," and as a result, he has shown improvement in his batting, appearing in a career-high 119 games in 2014. Last season, he focused on swinging harder as an added bonus, and his batting has improved since using a "torpedo bat" with a thicker core than a regular bat in a game Softbank Hawks on June 29th. In September and October, he recorded a batting average of .362 (21 At Bat 58 hit), and commented, "My sense of it has really improved, and I'm seeing solid results in games, and I'm increasingly able to bat the way I want to. I think that's where I'm getting better." The results of his hard work since fall practice in November 2011 are starting to show.

During the fall practice held after the season ended, he continued to do what he had been doing up until then, saying, "I'm hitting the ball in the opposite direction from center fielder, and I've been doing that since the year before last with good results, so I'm continuing to do it that way. I'm hoping to increase the number of line drive balls I hit in that direction, and now during fall practice and camp I'm focusing on hitting the balls with as much power as possible. My direction hasn't changed, but I'm trying to hit stronger balls. I'm focusing on hitting line drive drive balls that I can hit well."

Now that fall practice and fall camp are over and the off-season is underway, he is remaining unwavering in the direction he needs to work on, saying, "I'm always conscious of hitting the ball low and hard, and I think that beyond that there's the opportunity to hit a long ball through the gaps, so I don't worry too much about hitting it big or the distance, I just hit the ball low and hard.I'm conscious of hitting the ball in a way that allows me to convey 100% of my power."

Now that the season is over, was there anything new that you felt you should focus on during the off-season?

"The most important thing is to improve my physical condition by increasing my muscle mass and reducing my body fat. I'm hoping to get in shape again and carry that over into this year, so I'm currently focusing on weight training and running to get in shape."

Last season, since the summer, he has left numbers in batting, and even if he defends, he has become a close regular, finishing the season with 41 consecutive games without an error in the defense game from the Orix Buffaloes game on July 20th. "I think it will be mainly between the two games, so I want to practice second baseman and short stop and prepare to camp in so that I can go either way." I want to make this season a season where my continued skills will bloom all at once.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita