Lotte, whose team slogan is "PLAY FREE. WIN HARD," started its training camp on the 1st, splitting into two locations: Miyakonojo and Ishigakijima.

Starting this year, in order to strengthen the team, the first team's training camp will be held in Miyakonojo, and the second team will be held in Ishigaki Island. On this day, which was the first day of the first team's spring training camp in Miyakonojo, 4,500 The Marines fans gathered, and the weather was sunny, making it perfect weather for the training camp.

Shuta Ishikawa was the first to appear in bullpen, followed by nine other pitchers: Fumiya Ono, Koshiro Sakamoto, Shuta Takano, Kojima Kazuya Ojima, Miyazaki Hayato, Mori Kaito, Taisei, and Fuji Hayato.

Shuta Takano, who had a breakout year last season, pitching in 37 games with 5 wins (3 losses), 15 hold, and ERA of 1.84, pitched with the theme, "I've been pitching for a long time, so from the very first pitch, I tried to throw my own pitch."

While Takano had mentioned "improving the accuracy of the third type of pitch" last fall as one of the points for improving on last season's performance, on this day, "I also throw slider the curve, and I also change the power feeling of the curve, count pitch, and I change it with the deciding pitch, so I practice including whether I can make a difference in that," slider and curve.

Regarding his third pitch, Takano said, "I've been working on it properly, and I've brought it up to a quality that I can use during the season. I'd like to throw it properly in preparation for actual practice and see how the batters react."

Fumiya Ono was the only member of bullpen last season who was never removed from the first-team roster, and he played in the first team all year, pitching in 47 games. He said, "It's still the first day, so I'm just standing and throwing to check my form," and he will be throwing in bullpen from the first day, just like he did at last year's spring training camp in Ishigaki Island.

Last season, he was looking to bounce back from injury, but he delivered results. This season, he will likely be preparing for the start of the season.

"No, no, I think I have to make a strong impression, so I don't know what will happen once the game starts, but I'll do my best to get good results."

Koshiro Sakamoto, who is expected to break into the first-team bullpen once again, will be focusing on the theme of "first and foremost, I want to focus on the quality of my fastballs, while also working on the accuracy of breaking ball."

Regarding the strength of fastball, which is his greatest weapon, he expressed a positive response, saying, "I feel like I've been throwing a lot more good fastball during my personal training. I hope I can keep that up."

If you pay attention to the stance of Ryusei Terachi, who was receiving pitcher 's ball in bullpen, it looks like his stance has changed from last season. When I asked him about it, he told me, "I changed my stance to make it easier to connect to the throw."

Did that change when he participated in voluntary training with Togashi Yasutaka (DeNA) in January?

"The stance that leads to throwing, and the most important thing is catch, but I was taught that if catch is good, it will be easier to connect to all the movements, so that's what I'm working on as my number one goal right now." At this point, he plans to continue using the stance he used in today's bullpen during the season.

catcher Shota Ueda, who also received pitcher 's balls in bullpen, said, "In previous years, pitcher 's balls would feel fast, but this year that didn't happen as much, and I was able to stop even the first-bounce smoothly, so I think I was able to hit them with a good feeling."

He was part of the Miyakonojo training camp group last season, but this year he is training with the first team. "Just being with the first team means I naturally get excited and I'll do my best, but I'll try not to get injured. I hope I can get through the training camp," he said, looking ahead.

Among fielder, Kyota Fujiwara, who is expected to be a regular outfield, has noticed that the position where he steps on his right foot has narrowed a little after swinging the bat. When I asked him if the position where his right foot lands has changed or not, he replied firmly, "I think that's the case." He also told me, "I try to keep the swing as small as possible and not move my head."

During last year's fall training at Zozo Marine Stadium, he was practicing batting to hit long balls, and at his contract renewal press conference he declared that he was aiming to become the batting hitter. "I want to hit double digits (Home Run), and if I can hit that many, I think I can naturally hit double digits, so I want to aim for the batting hitter and the most hit title," he said emphatically.

Fellow outfielder Misho Nishikawa focused on the angle of his batting practice last fall, saying, "I was able to feel that in my own training, and I think that was definitely the case in today's practice." At the beginning of batting practice that day, many of the balls were angled to the right. Last year, he mainly hit balls in the opposite direction from center center fielder, but I wonder if the quality of his hits is different from last year.

"It was a difference in the way I hit it, and it was a good hit that flew to the right.Last year, I often hit the ball to the right, scraping it and not moving forward, but I think that was less the case today."

Ryusei Ogawa, who is aiming to become a regular second baseman or short stop, has also changed his batting form to be a little more compact, saying, "I think my success will be higher if I eliminate unnecessary movements, so I've been talking with Coach Nishioka about various things and trying to make it easier to swing more compactly."

His batting form wasn't the same as it was on this day during the autumn practice held at Zozo Marine Stadium. When asked if he had made changes at the Miyakonojo autumn camp, he replied, "I learned a lot of things in Miyakonojo, and I've been working on them during the offseason."

Even after the team's overall practice was over, fielder continued hitting balls in the indoor practice field, and Ko Matsukawa and Inoue Kodai, who joined the team through the active draft, silently swung their bats in a birdcage.

Last season the team finished in last place, a disappointing end to the season, but now they are working hard to hone their minds, skills and bodies through rigorous training so that they can finish the 2026 season with a smile in the fall.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita