"The things we've been working on since last year in preparation for the camp are steadily coming to fruition."

Lotte's Haruya Tanaka has gained a certain sense of accomplishment from what he has been working on so far.

Haru Tanaka, who pitched 76 1/3 innings in 13 games last season, recording 3 wins and 5 losses, 77 strike out, and ERA of 2.48, said during the autumn practice held at Zozo Marine Stadium after the end of the season, "For the autumn practice, I want to focus on improving my quickness, so I want to prioritize the time, velocity, and control of my quickness. In the offseason, I will review my fastball again, and I am still not satisfied with it, so next year (2026) I want to increase my average fastball velocity. In addition to increasing that, I also want to increase the speed and swing-and-miss rate of fork, so I think that will be another area I will work on."

"I think my quick pitching has improved during the autumn camp. Next, I'll be facing batters in the regular season. I think that's going to be really important, but I think it's gotten at least somewhat better," he said, referring to his practice of quick pitching at the Miyakonojo autumn camp, where his quick pitching time also cleared the team's minimum standard.

"Building my physique is important preparation for competing for a year, so I think it would be good to build my body properly and also spend more time on technical practice to further improve my technical skills," he said, emphasizing physical conditioning and improving his technical abilities as he entered the offseason.

In January, he trained independently at Driveline in the United States, just like last year. Last season, he focused on improving fastball, and he has continued to fastball this offseason. "I have the same confidence in fastball as last year, and I was in good form in the first half of last season, but my average velocity dropped in the second half, and I think that was due to fatigue and my physical condition. Also, I think my biggest challenge this year is that I wasn't able to keep my form stable, so I think I can start this year in good form. Within that, it will be important to understand my own form and how well I can maintain my conditioning to be in good condition for every game. I want to make the most of the lessons I learned this year, not just in terms of technique, but also in those areas."

During the spring training camp in Miyakonojo in February, he entered bullpen on the 2nd and made his first live batting practice on the 11th. "I did batting practice for the first time today, but I think I've improved compared to last year. I want to continue and keep improving every day, as I'm not yet in my final form," he said, throwing a total of 20 pitches to Kyuto Ueda and Ryusei Ogawa, closer only one hit.

Last fall, he said he wanted to improve his strikeout rate with fork, and he reflected, "I think the key is where I throw it. I had some issues today, so I'll work on improving them. I want to refine them in future games."

He made his first appearance in an external game this season in a practice game against Yakult on February 15, and then pitched in practice games against Hanwha of South Korea on February 22 and Lotte of South Korea on March 1, throwing 8 inning and closer runs.

On March 1st, against Lotte in Korea, the second inning was 2-4 in the 7th inning without one out and runner, and left-handed hitter 's Reyes had two balls in fastball and fastball, but the timing was missed on the third pitch change-up and made it a foul, and the fourth pitch was 150 km fastball.

Tanaka himself looked pleased, saying, "I was throwing change-up last year too, and change-up is a pitch that has the depth to best complement my fastball. I think my change-up is a unique, rising change-up that's different from others. It has a similar trajectory to my fastball, just with a difference in speed, so it's the kind of pitch I want to see that kind of reaction from batters. I think it's going exactly as I hoped."

He played his first game runs against Nippon-Ham in an open game on March 1, but with one out runner in the 0-0 second inning Chusei Mannami without any outs strike, he missed the sixth pitch he threw from 3 balls 2 strike in the zone, 134 km struck out of the in-course fork that he had practiced many times in the Miyakonojo spring camp fork.

The 136-kilogram fork on the fourth pitch, which took a swing struck out from C strike astro with two outs and runner in the second inning of 0-0, fell from the strike zone to the ball zone with a thud.

Was fork that struck struck out Castro truly ideal?

"That's what I'm aiming for, and I think getting a strikeout requires a different kind of pitch. It's about being able to throw that pitch consistently, so when I step onto mound, I'm just focused on that and trying to increase my success rate."

Regarding fork he said, "My feel for it is improving with each game, and I'm getting a handle on how it drops. If I can improve the accuracy of my zone fork and fork that gets strikeouts, I think I can compete, so I'm steadily improving."

What's concerning is the low strike out. In 11 inning pitched in exhibition games, he recorded 8 strike out, for strike out rate of 6.55. Considering that strike out rate last season was 9.08, it feels somewhat disappointing. Tanaka showed confidence, saying, "I am concerned about it, but it's more about where I'm throwing the ball than the quality of the ball itself, so rather than the quality of the ball, I just need to improve the precision of where I throw it. I don't have any regrets or anxieties about the ball I'm throwing."

With less than two weeks until the start of the professional baseball, he said, "I wanted to start the season with a score of zero, but my last pitching performance was disappointing, so I want to do my best next time." He added with determination, "I want to improve my precision and quality, and I think I have everything I can offer, so I just want to work hard on the precision." He will continue to improve his condition in order to showcase his "evolved" form during the season.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita