I think it is probably getting better.

Lotte's Toshiya Sato has been making steady progress toward his goal of "improving at every level" during autumn practice at Zozo Marine Stadium.

During autumn practice, he mentioned, "I need to rebuild my body once more and build up basic physical strength so that I can eliminate the inconsistencies in my performance." At the Miyakonojo autumn camp, he further stated, "Of course, I am focusing on things outside of baseball. I have been working on my body with the goal of muscle hypertrophy through weight training, and since that is showing results, I hope to transition that into speed and other areas where I can utilize it."

In terms of batting, the way he uses his left elbow has changed slightly, and he appears to be hitting with a more compact form. When I checked with him, he told me, 'I think I am changing it. I made it simpler.'

Regarding the reason for simplifying his form, he said, 'It's a corporate secret,' but then added, 'Just kidding. It's great if my left arm locks into place when I go to hit, but sometimes I try to start the swing when my left arm isn't in a position to pull back during the timing, or I reach out when I feel like I'm getting jammed. Doing it this way now, the quality of the batted balls is changing, and I feel like I'm creating a proper top position,' indicating he is getting a good feel for it.

When asked about the background of the attempted change, he explained, "Looking at this season's results, I hit home runs, but the success rate was poor. I wanted to develop the ability to hit the ball on the sweet spot, so I looked at Major League hitters for reference. I noticed that few Major Leaguers hold their bats upright. I had the impression they keep them horizontal and simple, so I decided to give that a try."

One wonders if he is planning to compete with a new batting form next season.

I felt like I got a good response from the game against Samurai Japan at Sun Marine this time. It didn't feel like my timing was completely off with the new form, so I felt that as long as I made some minor adjustments, I would be fine. I'm planning to go with that for next year, and the current form feels more natural to me.

I intend to polish my skills during the off-season and further improve my consistency with a new batting form next season.

Looking ahead to next season, he calmly analyzed the situation, saying, 'I say this every year, but we have been in the bottom half of the standings for a while. I want to win the championship, and I believe we cannot do that without defeating The Hawks. The same goes for Nippon-Ham, but while we obviously need to beat the top teams, I believe we have plenty of players with the ability to do just that.' He continued, 'I think the next step is how the battery leads the starting pitchers. Looking at the fielders in the second half of this year, the number of players who can hit many home runs even in a few at-bats has increased, so I think we are a team that can aim for the championship. It comes down to the battery. This was a year where I felt that the pitcher carries about 80% of the responsibility for winning or losing. I want to do everything necessary to win.' As the regular catcher, he intends to make a significant contribution not only with his bat but also with his defense.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita