"There are good at-bats, but there are also many bad at-bats where bad habits come out. I think both are showing up to extremes."

Lotte's Ryusei Ogawa is living his life to the fullest, aiming to become a regular and starter in the opening starting line-up.

Ogawa is conscious of hitting "low, strong, line drive balls," and at the Miyakonojo spring training camp, he said, "I think I've started to show my strength, so now I just need to increase my hit percentage and change my form a little, so I'd like to get used to it and improve my batting quality." He silently swung his bat at the training tee at Pie no Mi Dome and after the team practice, against the machine.

Looking ahead to external matches, he said, "I think I need to impress more than the other players in terms of defense and base running, and if I can hit better than the other players I think I'll be able to play in the game, so I'd like to focus on results," showing his determination to win the competition for the second base/shortstop position.

In the practice game against Korea Lotte on March 1, the third batter in the 2-4 7th inning with no outs runner, right fielder Park Jung-min threw the second pitch of 130 km breaking ball from 1 strike to left hit and the fourth batter in the 3-4 9th inning with two outs strike, right fielder Yoon Sung-bin threw the third pitch of 151 km from 1 ball 1 to left over the head . The third pitch he threw, 151 km fastball, to left hit over the head of short stop was very good.

Ogawa reflected, "I think I was able to hit the ball with a good trajectory and it landed well, so I think that was good."

During the Miyakonojo spring training camp, he was using a black bat instead of the torpedo bat he had been using since midway through last season. Regarding practice games and exhibition games, he said, "If it's OK, I'll keep using it. I switched to a torpedo bat midway through last season, and I was able to adapt to the feel of the torpedo bat right away. I'm not using it now, but if I don't get results with my current bat, I think there's a possibility I'll use a torpedo bat, so I'll keep an eye on the results and my condition." However, he has been using the black bat in external games so far.

Ogawa said about the bat, "It felt good from a sensory standpoint during practice, and I was able to make some solid contact in games as well. I think it's a good fit for me so far."

So, does that mean he won't use the torpedo bat during the season and will play with a black bat?

"Yes, and I'll just have to keep a close eye on my condition. I don't think I can keep it exactly the same for a whole year, so I'll consult with my body during the season, and there may be times when I use the torpedo, but I'll keep an eye on my condition."

defense is able to short stop and second baseman perform at a high level. I think that I have not changed since last year, so I will not make mistakes in that area. I think I'm doing well now without making any mistakes, so I'm trying to improve on that, and in practice I'm conscious of making plays that are a little on the edge or taking double play the ball. I hope I can bring that to the game a little more.

One thing that bothered me was that during the Miyakonojo spring training camp, even though he was receiving special training at short stop, he was often playing second baseman during infield practice. Was he playing second baseman because the team told him to, or was he playing second baseman of his own volition?

"I asked him to play second baseman, and there were a few people short stop, and we practice at both, so we had to balance it out with the number of people there.When he's not playing in the infield knock, he's one of the few people there.When he's playing short stop, he's the one to receive the ball at short stop."

There is less than a month until the opening game. "I think I won't be able to play in the opening game unless I get good results in the exhibition games, so I would like to get some results in March and start the season off right. I would like to do my best to win a spot in the opening starting line-up and start from there." He is determined to grab a regular spot this season with his own hands.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita