Lotte's Kaishu Takahashi entered the bullpen on the 15th, which was the final day of the autumn camp.

In the bullpen, he threw fastballs, forks, and sliders. Bullpen catcher Hirokazu Misono, who caught Kai Takahashi's pitches, was heard shouting, 'Good curveball' and 'That's a good slider.'

Takahashi reflected on this autumn, saying, "I worked while discussing with the coaching staff about distributing my fastballs across different courses and refining my fork as a finishing pitch."

Additionally, during the regular season, all 27 appearances across the first and second teams were as a reliever, but in the Miyazaki Phoenix League, they pitched as a starter, going for a maximum of 4 innings.

Takahashi revealed, "Whether as a starter or a reliever, I think it would be good if I can just perform my own pitch." Regarding what is necessary to break into the first team next season, he analyzed himself, saying, "The most important thing is conditioning and making sure I don't get injured, as well as my fastball and my finishing pitch."

The Miyakonojo autumn camp has ended, and the off-season begins tomorrow. How one spends this period will be crucial for the next season. Looking ahead to his first off-season, Takahashi said with determination, "Most importantly, I want to strongly showcase my fastball and my finishing pitch, so I hope to work diligently on those areas during the off-season."

Looking ahead to next season, he expressed his enthusiasm, saying, 'I want to do my best to achieve even better results next year than this year.'

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita