"First of all, I'm focusing on increasing my pitching speed and improving my form."

Lotte's Yuta Ibaragi is training hard this offseason to improve his pitching speed in preparation for his second season.

In an interview last September 9, Ibaraki also mentioned fastball as an issue, saying, "The quality and the speed of the ball are still not good enough, so I am always looking for more of them. I wonder if he is continuing to work on this issue in the off-season as he did last season.

"Yes, I'm doing the exercises that my coach taught me."

Specifically, he told us, "I'm currently working on improving my form, or rather, on making it so that the force can be transmitted properly all the way to my fingertips, so I'm working hard on that."

As he works on improving his form, he feels good about it, saying, "When I threw the ball while standing yesterday (January 14th), I felt that the ball had a different momentum, and bullpen catcher also said that the power of the ball had changed, so it's not just the speed, but the overall power of the ball has increased. I think what I'm doing is not wrong."

Regarding his physique, last season he said, "I'm working on building my physique through weight training to avoid injury. It's no use unless I'm flexible, so I'm focusing on that." However, now he says, "I was able to build my physique over the past year, or rather, I was able to create the foundation. I'm working on using that to improve my sharpness and speed."

◆ Push yourself to train

In December and January, he has been pushing himself and training hard, saying, "Because I'm in a development position, I've been working hard with the goal of being registered as a controlled player.I have to do my best, and I feel I have to work twice as hard as other people, so I'm trying to level up, or rather, look ahead, and keep in mind the goal of being registered as a controlled player."

When asked what he needs to do to secure a contract, he said, "I think all I need to do is make an impression in games. If I can push with fastball and increase my pitch speed, I think I'll be able to strike out batters a little more, so I hope I can do that well."

"I'm the type of person who thinks, 'I have to do this,' so I hope to do my best," he said, as he plans to further improve his skills until February 1st.

On February 1st, the first day of spring training, he said, "I'm going to do my best to show the changes in my pitches that I've been working on since last fall, improving my form." For his second season this year, he expressed his determination, saying, "I really want to pitch well in the minor league games and try to find ways to make an impression on the higher-ups." First of all, he wants to show how fastball has become more powerful.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita