「4.21」

Lotte's team starting ERA was the worst among the 12 teams. This season, Jackson was the only one to reach the regulation innings pitched, throwing 150 innings. Kazuya Ojima, who had achieved the regulation innings pitched for five consecutive years since 2021, experienced a demotion to the minor leagues in early spring and finished with 117 1/3 innings. Atsuki Taneichi, who showcased his fastball and large-dropping fork to the world as a member of the WBC Japan national team, suffered a long-term injury early in the season. Fourth-year player Haruya Tanaka, who was expected to be a cornerstone of the rotation, pitched well in exhibition games but could not stay in the rotation throughout the season, and third-year player Yuto Kimura also left the team mid-season due to injury.

Before the start of the season, there were many starting candidates, including veterans Yuki Karakawa, Shuta Ishikawa, and Yuji Nishino, as well as Tokito Kawamura, who pitched well at the very end of last season, the young Yuto Yoshikawa, and the rookie Kaito Mori. However, by the end of the season, the starting rotation's situation was quite dire.

Yoshinori Tateyama, the first-team pitcher coordinator, summarized this season's starting rotation by saying, "Jackson was the only pitcher who reached the regulation number of pitches, so in that regard, there were some areas that were insufficient."

During the season, there were many injuries not only in the first team but also in the farm team. During the week of Tuesday, August 25th, there was a week where developmental pitchers started half of the games: Yuki Karakawa, who retired from active duty at the end of this season, started the DeNA game on Tuesday the 25th; developmental pitcher Seiun Akiyama started the DeNA farm game on Wednesday the 26th; developmental pitcher Yuto Nakayama started the DeNA farm game on Thursday the 27th; developmental pitcher Ryota Nakamura started the Yakult farm game on Saturday the 29th; and developmental pitcher Kosuke Nagashima started the Yakult farm game on Sunday the 30th.

Coordinator Tateyama expressed, "There were truly many injuries, and first of all, the long-term absence of the main rotation pitchers in the first team was painful. Along with that, there were also many injuries in the farm team, making it difficult to rotate players while giving them proper rest. It was a difficult year."

Under those circumstances, Jackson had seven starts on five days' rest, which was rare during his time with Lotte until last season (April 14 against Nippon-Ham, July 20 against Softbank Hawks, July 26 against Orix Buffaloes, August 8 against Orix Buffaloes, August 29 against Nippon-Ham, September 4 against Orix Buffaloes, and September 28 against Nippon-Ham).

Looking at Lotte up until last season, even Kojima and Taneichi, who were the core of the starting rotation, rarely pitched on five days' rest and basically pitched with a six-day interval. While other pitchers often had ten-day intervals or were removed from the roster after a start to create space between appearances, the fact that Jackson frequently pitched on five days' rest was quite exceptional considering the team's circumstances in recent years.

Coordinator Tateyama explained, "While we will be looking at the compatibility with our opponents, considering Jackson's durability, we felt he could handle pitching on five days' rest. Partly because he himself feels comfortable with it, we decided to have him pitch on five days' rest more frequently."

Rest day on the second day of the starting rotation

Until last season, starting rotation pitchers who were not scheduled to pitch still traveled with the team for away games. However, starting this season, they no longer accompany the team on visitor trips. While the team is away, pitchers not scheduled to pitch remain at Lotte Urawa for practice, and the second day after a start is designated as a rest day.

pitcher Coordinator Tateyama revealed, "We thought a cycle of focusing on active recovery the day after pitching and then taking a complete rest on the second day was best, so we decided to create a system based on that."

During the remaining practice sessions at Lotte Urawa, there were scenes where young pitchers actively asked Kojima questions. First-year player Raito Okumura said, 'I had Kojima-san watch my pitches in the bullpen; I think there are things to be felt by having people with various experiences watch, rather than just relying on my own sensation while throwing.' Coordinator Tateyama also reflected, 'By not only having conversations but also playing catch with Kojima, there were many things the young pitchers could learn by example. In that respect, it was a good thing.'

Opportunities for young people as well

This off-season, if the ace-caliber Kojima exercises his free agency rights and moves to another team, it will be a major blow to Lotte, whose starting rotation is already thin. Looking toward next season, Genki Ishigaki, Kaishu Takahashi, and Hayato Fuji pitched long stints of 4 and 5 innings during the Phoenix League held in October. One wonders if there is an intention to use them as starters next season.

"That's right. It was a year where we truly struggled with starting pitchers, so next year I want to increase the number of pitchers who can handle starting roles. I want to have the high-ability kids try those positions and see what kind of aptitude they have. We are at that stage," said Coordinator Tateyama.

Speaking of young pitchers, Kimura was in his first year out of high school and pitched 19 innings across 11 games in the farm league, but was promoted to the first team in his second year, pitching 68 innings across 22 games and recording 3 wins, 2 losses, 5 holds, 1 save, and an ERA of 3.31. If high school graduates entering their second year next season like Genki Ishigaki and Raito Okumura, as well as developmental player Nakayama, can make an impact next spring, one wonders if they will also be promoted to the first team like Kimura was.

"Of course, that's right. Although it comes with the 'condition' that he must first build up his physical strength properly, if he performs well in games and produces results, he can pitch with the first team. The manager is operating with that policy, so there is a strong possibility of that happening."

Even if Taneichi performs as he did until last season, the current reality is that there are few reliable starters for next season. If young and mid-career players with room for growth—such as Shuta Takano and Haru Tanaka, who showed their presence as starters from the summer onwards, along with Kawamura, Koshiro Hiroike, Mori, Yoshikawa, and Kimura, who is aiming to return from injury—can transform themselves, and if veterans Nishino and Shu Ishikawa make a comeback, the rotation will have a decent number of players.

"I want mainstays like Taneichi and other such pitchers to rotate throughout the entire year. As for other young starters, there are times when they will go to the second team when they fall into a slump, so I want to have them adjust so that we can have replacement starters ready," said Coordinator Tateyama. I hope they can build a starting rotation for next season that has few injuries and can be managed throughout the entire season.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita