pitcher Ryuhei Sotani joined Orix Buffaloes Buffaloes as the first pick in the 2022 draft. In his third season last year, he anchored the rotation from the start of the season, starting 21 games, more than the previous year. He recorded his first complete game win as a professional against Saitama Seibu Lions on May 18th, and recorded a career-high eight wins in the first half of the season alone. Furthermore, in the "LUXAS Samurai Japan Series 2025" held in November, he pitched three perfect innings against the Korean batting lineup, and was recently named to the "2026 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC" team. This time, we'll look at the data behind the pitching of left-handed pitcher Soya, who has shown remarkable growth.

Competing against hitter with a limited number of pitches

If we look at Soya pitcher 's pitch type pitch percentage, we can see that the cutter percentage has decreased year by year, with slider and fork increasing compared to his rookie year. Last season, only three pitches, fastball, slider, and fork, accounted for about 99% of the pitch, and as a starter, he was competing with hitter with relatively few balls. Among them, the slider, which is called the "roller coaster slider", is a pitch that has been used as a weapon since college days, and is characterized by a sharp and large curve in the late 120 km/h range. From here, we will take a closer look at the slider of left-handers, who are increasing their pitch percentage with each passing year.

More slider hit low

The first thing to look at is the percentage of slider pitch low. In his rookie year in 2013, only 41.1% of his sliders were thrown low, but last season that percentage was 65.5%, above the league average. His sliders are less likely to be thrown high or down the middle, where they can be hit hard by hitter, and it appears he has better control over slider low.

To be able to get strikeouts in the ball zone

slider, which is now controlled low, is working effectively in the ball zone. Although the slider swing rate in the ball zone was 4.9% in the first year, the number improved significantly to 14.1% in the second year, and last season it was 19.0%, which is higher than the league average. It is a highly reliable pitch that not only induces swings in the ball zone, but also steals swings, resulting in an increase in the pitch percentage of slider.

It's also an effective finishing shot

The improvement in the slider 's swing rate increased the percentage of the same pitch from 2 strike to pitch. Until '24, fastball was the most, but last season slider accounted for the most at 42.3%. After driving in, Avg showed his power as a decisive ball that turned into a fastball, such as recording the only 10% range among the balls he had. He also took 54 struck out in slider, the second most in Pacific League left pitcher behind teammate Hiroya Miyagi pitcher. There is no doubt that for Soya pitcher last season, the improved accuracy of slider was a reliable pitch.

Last season, although they won 8 wins in the first half alone, in the second half, there were poor conditions and accidents during the game, so Soya pitcher was unable to improve his performance as much as he wanted. In the off-season, he became an apprentice to Toughness right-hander Alen Kuri pitcher and worked on building the foundation for throwing for one year. In the upcoming WBC, he wants to play his role as a valuable southpaw and lead to a further leap forward in the '26 season.

*All numbers in the text and table are as of the end of the 2025 season.

Moon/Data Stadium