Since my elbow drops quite often, I hope to work on keeping it up.

Lotte's Ko Matsukawa spoke about this autumn's theme in this way.

In his fifth professional season this year, he appeared in the starting line-up as the 'number 8 catcher' for the opening game against the Seibu Lions on March 27th. With a performance of 2 hits and 2 RBI, he contributed significantly to opening pitcher Kaito Mori's first professional win and Manager Saburo's first win as a manager. He showed clutch hitting particularly in early spring, recording a monthly batting average of .400, 3 RBI, and a batting average with runners in scoring position of .500 in May, but his hitting streak stopped from June onwards.

Regarding his batting this season, he mentioned his challenges, saying, 'It was good at first, but from there I struggled to identify fastballs and breaking balls, and I wasn't able to execute my own swing.' He added, 'I hope to establish a form where I can solidify my own swing.'

While the results in batting were disappointing, on the defense side, a stolen base caught rate of .333 was recorded. In the game against the Orix Buffaloes on April 7, Yuma Mune's stolen base was caught in the 5th inning and Ryoma Nishikawa's stolen base was caught in the 6th inning, and stolen base attempts were caught three times a month in both April and August.

The player expressed gratitude to the pitching staff, saying, 'The stolen base prevention rate was a goal I had been aiming for since last autumn. This is not something achieved alone; the pitcher's quick motion is very important, and I am glad we were able to achieve over 30% as a collaborative effort. I hope to produce even better numbers next year.'

In order to participate in games, Matsukawa pledged to improve his hitting and further increase his stolen base prevention rate, stating, 'I want to focus on my batting and defense, specifically the stolen base prevention rate. I hope to work hard on my batting while first ensuring my defense goes well.'

He expressed his determination, saying, 'I want to do my best to stay with the first team for the entire year, achieve even better results than this year, and contribute to the team.'

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita