"The shaking has decreased, and the axis feels very solid, so I think the axis is very solid."

Lotte's Kyota Fujiwara trained thoroughly during the off-season on his own in order to compete throughout the season, and before entering camp he has been training his body thoroughly, which has paid off in a positive way in his batting practice so far.

Watching his batting practice during spring training, he was hitting with both a no-step style and with his foot raised. When asked about his reduced step width, he said, "I'm conscious of reducing the shaking and not moving my head position," but I wonder if this is also connected to his no-step batting style and raising his foot when hitting.

"Yes, and I also pay attention to how my pelvis moves."

He hits a lot of balls in the opposite direction from center fielder against right-handed batting pitcher, and pulls a lot of balls against left-handed batting pitcher. He explained the reason for this, saying, "This year I've clearly decided to pull the ball to right-center field against left-handed (pitcher), so I think I'll continue to do that this season."

When asked why he decided to try to pull the ball against left-handed pitcher, Fujiwara said, "It's simply because it's the easiest to hit. Left-handed pitchers mainly throw slider on the inside and outside, so if I focus on that, I can only bat like that, and if I focus on the opposite direction, I'll get stuck on the inside shots, so that's what I'm thinking."

During breaks in batting practice, he often checks with batting coach Kenta Kurihara. "It feels like my senses and Kurihara's senses are in sync," he told me.

By the way, when asked if he plans to use a no-step batting style from center fielder this season when he is cornered, he replied, "That's the image I'm thinking of right now." It will be interesting to see how he hits against pitcher in the future.

◆ Ishigaki Katsumi, "The effect of temporary coach Matsui Kazuo"

Immediately after receiving advice from temporary coach Matsui Kazuo, Ishigaki Katsumi hit a huge ball into the left field stands during batting practice. "I've changed a lot. I often watch videos of (Matsui) Kazuo, so there were a lot of things I wanted to ask him, and although I didn't get to ask him everything, I did ask him a little bit," he said, showing the immediate effect of temporary coach Matsui Kazuo.

When asked what specific changes he has made as a result of learning from Coach Matsui, he said, "The way I use my lower body and my awareness of it. I think that's helped me to properly lean on my pivot foot."

In order to not forget the feeling he learned from temporary coach Matsui, even after the tee practice session that followed the full team practice, he swung the bat in a birdcage, saying, "I tried not to forget to be conscious of how I use my lower body.I was very conscious of that."

◆ Genki Ishigaki his second bullpen.

First-round draft pick Genki Ishigaki (Kenta Takasaki High School) made his second bullpen appearance of spring training, throwing 20 pitches.

Lotte's high school graduates generally didn't pitch in bullpen during the rookie joint voluntary training period, and even after spring training began, they often didn't pitch in bullpen for the first time until after February 10. Roki Sasaki, who currently plays for the Dodgers, also pitched in bullpen for the first time since turning pro on February 13, throwing just 25 fastball pitches.

Among them, Genki Ishigaki has already been in bullpen twice. Compared to previous high school graduate pitcher, perhaps Genki Ishigaki's physique is more developed.

pitcher coach Tomohiro Kuroki explained, "We look at the player's condition and, together with the coordinator, decide that 'this volume and this number of pitches will be enough,' and then we put them in bullpen."

◆ Fuji: "slider feels good to throw."

Fifth-round draft pick Hayato Fuji (Nippon Express) entered bullpen for the third time this camp.

During the rookie joint training session in bullpen, he mainly threw fastball pitches, but since entering camp, pitch has been mixing in breaking ball. "My signature slider is throwing well, so I'd like to improve the accuracy of it a bit more."

At the rookie joint voluntary training, he said, "I don't have breaking ball that I can say with confidence until slider, so I will learn from seniors and coaches to make breaking ball as good as slider." I wonder if he has heard about breaking ball from seniors and coaches.

"I haven't fully mastered fork yet, so I'd like to learn more about it."

When asked about what catcher told him in bullpen, he said, "I've been told that I'm strong at catching the ball, so in my case, I shoot the ball a little and it goes inside, so that ball is weak, so I need to improve my accuracy and throw a strong ball. I could shoot the ball, but I was told to throw a strong ball, so I'd like to do that."

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita