"I haven't had much time to practice base running or stolen base bases intensively at university or elsewhere, so now that I'm a professional, I need to hone base running."

Ryo Sugiyama (Aichi Gakuin University), the third-round draft pick for the Lotte Marines, whose main selling point is his speed, is honing base running skills.

As he explains, "I'm trying things out in practice, and I've gained a lot of knowledge, so I'm trying to put it into practice as quickly as possible, and I'm working hard with the intention of running as much as I can," he is actively attempting to stolen base.

In a friendly game against the Czech national team on February 23, he appeared as a pinch runner for second base runner Shingo Ishikawa in the 4th inning with two outs and second base in a 0-1 situation. right-handed pitcher Huholf's first pitch, pitch steals motion and succeeds in stolen base third base.

In his first regular season on March 17 against Rakuten Eagles Eagles' minor league team, Sugiyama came in as a pinch runner in the bottom of the ninth inning with no outs and a runner on first base, trailing 0-1. He attempted to stolen base second base on the second pitch after strike by Shogo Nakamura, and successfully stolen base his first regular season. He then advanced to third base on bad throw by catcher and scored the tying run on a ground ball to second base by Yuya Sakurai.

It's impressive that he had the courage to take off so early in the count, even as a pinch runner. I wonder if he was watching the opposing pitcher 's habits and preparing to run while sitting in the dugout during the game.

"I keep in mind things like the timing of pickoff attempts and the pitch selection during count, and prepare myself to run from the first inning. I always continue to prepare seriously from the fifth inning onwards."

When asked what he considers important when stolen base, he said, "The start is the most important thing. If I can get a good start, I think I can be safe. I just want to keep refining my start." He emphasized the importance of the start.

"catcher 's arm strength and pitcher 's quickness are different in the pros, so I want to spend this year working hard to figure out how to steal bases in those conditions," he said, explaining that he will improve stolen base skills through trial and error in actual games.

◆ Strike

In batting, he often fouled off pitches to extend at-bats during his college days, but he said, "Professional pitcher are at a high level. It's difficult to adapt to that, but I want to take my time, carefully observe the professional pitches, and do my own batting. I want to make adjustments as I go along." His first priority is to get used to the pitches of professional pitcher.

In Rakuten Eagles minor league game on March 18th, where he entered the game as a pinch hitter, he said, "I was able to foul off some pitches, so I want to try pulling them and hitting them forward. I want to swing aggressively and make contact with the ball." In his second at-bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with one out and no runner on base, with the score tied 1-1, he watched as Naoki Hihata threw the seventh pitch, a fastball, with a 3-ball, 2-strike, go by Walk.

In a game against Seibu Lions minor league team on March 21st, in the third inning with two outs and no runner on base, Taiga Ueda hit a 115 km/h curveball on the second pitch of the at-bat, sending it down the first first base line for a doble. This was his first regular season hit, and he was very happy about it.

Are they setting specific numbers, such as the number hit or stolen base bases?

"I don't have any specific numerical goals, but I'd like to be able to stolen base a lot of bases and hit close to .300, which would put me in contention for the top spot among the farm team players. I don't get many opportunities to play, but I want to make sure I get hits in the games I do get to play."

He possesses the absolute weapon of speed. He aims to improve base running skills and batting to become a registered player.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita