Lotte's Koshiro Sakamoto pitched in a practice game against Hiroshima on the 18th, safely getting through the first inning with just three batters.

Sakamoto, who took the mound in the 3rd inning of 2-0, hit a 3-ball 1-strike 3-ball to 3-fastball on the 5th pitch. After hitting the "left-handed hitter" exactly, Konosuke Tatsumi followed with a ground ball with the fastball of the first pitch. In the end, he finished off the first draft pick, Ren Hirakawa (Sendai University), with a slider and a struck out.

Sakamoto has now runs two consecutive scoreless games, following his performance in the practice game against DeNA on the 14th.

◆ Last season was disappointing

Sakamoto pitched in 51 games in 2023, but only pitched in eight games last season, and he said with a grimace, "In a word, it was a disappointing season, and I can't let the same disappointment take hold next year (2026), and I have to change the things that need to be changed."

Last fall, she focused on stability, saying, "I lacked stability, so I'm thinking about striving for it. It's not just the weight, but also flexibility and my form is not consistent in some areas. There are a lot of unnecessary movements, so I'm practicing chipping away at those little by little to make it my own."

Even during his off-season training, he worked hard at training to improve his flexibility, saying, "I felt that my body was getting really stiff, so I focused on that and making it more flexible.I focused on coordination."

pitch On the surface, fastball, which is the axis of pitch, "The number of good fastball in the voluntary training is increasing much more sensibly. I hope I can continue to do so. Last season, fastball and slider were the main pitch, but "If you only use the straight line and slider, you will be narrowed down. cutter splitter hitter I think the hitters will be different if there is only a cut and splitter, so I will continue to work on that," he said.

Amidst all this, during the live batting practice on February 10th, Kota Inoue threw a 113 km/h change-up on the fifth pitch of his first set, resulting in a called strike. It was a pitch he hadn't thrown much until last season, but he said, "Yes, I think it's good to have a variety of pitches, and I've been throwing it with good accuracy in bullpen, so I'm throwing it," indicating that he has started throwing change-up.

After actually throwing at a live BP, he got a good feeling about it, saying, "There were times when I was hooking it, but the accuracy of my final change-up against Inoue has been improving even in bullpen. In my case, I have a fastball and slider, so if I can increase the proportion of splitter change-up compared to last year and previous seasons, I think the range of pitch will expand."

He also threw a change-up in the practice game against Hiroshima on the 18th, and if this ball becomes a pitch that can be used after the start of the season, the range of pitch will expand, as Sakamoto said.

Sakamoto has set a goal of pitching in 50 games every year, and this season he is aiming to pitch in 50 games as well. What will be the key to achieving that goal again?

"I think my weapon is being able to get count with a fastball. I think the fastball is the most important pitch, so I'd like to continue striving to improve it."

Competition among relief pitchers for spots on the first team is fierce, but in order to secure a position, he will continue to closer the score at "zero."

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita