Lotte's autumn training started on the 11th at Zozo Marine Stadium.

Ryusei Ogawa, who played in a career-high 140 games this season, recording a .256 batting average, 2 Home Runs, and 23 RBI to establish himself as the regular second baseman, shared his theme for this autumn: 'Since last autumn, I have been focusing on getting hits, and I was able to do that well this year. I want to continue that to get even more hits. While aiming for hits, I also want to improve my ability to lay off bad pitches and show more persistence. I have both the desire to hit and the need to increase my on-base percentage this year. I want to work on being able to do both.'

In his fourth at-bat during the Nippon-Ham game on September 27, his second at-bat during the Nippon-Ham game on September 28, and during the Seibu Lions games on October 5 and 6, he was hitting with a black and white bat that was not a torpedo bat. When asked about this, he explained, 'There were things I wanted to try, and since I had been using the torpedo bat for a long time and my performance wasn't improving at the end, I felt like trying something different just to see how it would go.'

In terms of defense, he was taking ground balls at short stop on this day. Since he had been playing as a second baseman during the season, he often took ground balls at second base before games and had few opportunities to take them at short stop. With that in mind, perhaps there is an intention to increase the time spent taking ground balls at short stop this autumn.

That's right, at second baseman your feet tend to stop and the throwing distance becomes shorter. If you get used to that, your arm strength will decline. I'm thinking of practicing at short stop as well, so that I can make high-quality throws even from a distance while properly using my feet during the catch and throw.

For the past few years, I have been preparing to be able to play as both a second baseman and a short stop for the new season, and I wonder if it is okay to have the same mindset this year as well.

I think so. I haven't talked about the details at all, but in my mind, if I can use my feet and make throws at short stop, I feel like I can play second baseman to some extent as well. The direction changes during a double play, but I think I can handle that reasonably well, so if I can use my feet properly at short stop, I should be able to adapt to second baseman quickly. Rather than just doing both, I feel that the movements of a short stop are important for becoming a better second baseman, so even if I end up focusing solely on second baseman, I might still practice at short stop. I want to proceed with that kind of image in mind.

On the morning of this day, the team announced the departure of coach Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Ogawa's transition to lifting his leg while batting since last year's fall camp, as well as his shift in mindset from trying to foul off pitches to actively trying to get a hit even when cornered, were both triggered by advice from coach Nishioka.

Ogawa expressed his gratitude, saying, 'I believe the reason I was able to hit this much and get results this year is thanks to Mr. Nishioka.' He continued, 'I was conscious of leveling up, but at first, I intended to do so using last year's style. He changed my mindset, and my batting form changed to lifting my leg when I hit. Regarding my awareness, he transformed my batting into a style focused on getting hits and reaching base. I am truly grateful for that. I have learned many things over this past year, so I want to keep those teachings firmly in mind and continue to polish my skills to reach an even higher level,' he said, sharing his thoughts on Coach Nishioka.

In order to evolve even further, the battle for next season has begun.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita