Lotte's Ko Matsukawa was caught stolen base second base in a practice game against Korea Lotte on the 1st.

With two outs in the 2-4 sixth inning and one on first base Haruya Tanaka on the second pitch thrown to Jung Min-ze from 1 strike, Matsukawa quickly throw to second base for the out when first base runner substitute Zang Doo-sung made the start.

◆ Training with catcher from the WBC team

In recent years, Matsukawa has been doing his own training with the themes of swinging hard when batting and throwing when defense.

This year, he revealed, "As catcher, throwing was an issue, so I focused on throwing. I think I've been continuing to do that. When batting, I take the lead and then go for the ball in one shot. I have a habit of dropping back and then going in, so I'm practicing while keeping that in mind."

During the off-season, he has been training independently with WBC Japan representatives Nakamura Yuhei (Yakult) and Sakamoto Seishiro (Hanshin Tigers), honing his throwing technique. "They told me that I still have a lot to learn from getting to the ball. Instead of going to catch the ball, I think if you get your foot in front of it, you'll be able to catch it close to the ball. Sakamoto and Nakamura Yuhei taught me how to move your feet," he said.

"I wasn't able to throw the ball exactly where I wanted, but Sakamoto-san pushed me from behind, and the way I moved forward felt like a new sensation in my footwork. I want to continue that, be conscious of it, and make sure I can throw the runners out properly. I think stolen base prevention rate is something I need to work on, so I'll be focusing on that," he said during the spring training camp in Miyakonojo.

◆ Silently practicing batting during Miyakonojo spring training camp

In terms of batting, even after the intensive tee training was over during the spring training camp in Miyakonojo, he said, "As Saburo-san also said, with good batting catcher like Terachi and (Sato) Toshiya, you can't play just by catcher. I think there are a lot of things I need to work on in batting as well. I hope to be able to overcome those issues." He continued to practice his batting in a cage against the pitching machine.

Since the start of the international matches, he has appeared in seven games so far, including a multi-hit game against the Czech Republic on February 26th, with a batting average of .267 (4 hits in 15 games) and 1 RBI. starting line-up went hit in the practice game against the Korean team Lotte on March 1st, where he started as the number 8 batter and catcher, but up until then he had gotten hit in every game starting line-up started.

In terms of base running, in a practice game against The Giants on February 17th, with short stop tied at 2-2 in the fifth inning with one out and a runner on second base, Ryusei Miyazaki hit hit that fell between shortstop and left field.He made a good decision and made a run from second base to score.

This season marks his fifth year as a professional, and many players who graduated from university have joined the pros this year. "It's my fifth year already. Like my first year, I haven't been able to perform well for four years. I want to do my best in everything I can, while aiming for a career high. I want to be able to produce solid results. First and foremost, I want to enjoy playing baseball." In his first year, he played in 76 games, but in subsequent years, his playing opportunities decreased significantly to 9 games, 2 games, and 6 games. With a new manager this season, he hopes to increase his playing time in the first team once again.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita