"While pitching at camp, I realized that my weight transfer wasn't smooth. I've been trying to simply raise my arm in a position that's easy to raise, and transfer my weight in a position that's easy to transfer, and as a result, I don't know if I've returned to my previous form, but I think I'm getting closer."

Lotte's Humiya Motomae, who had been experimenting with a lowered elbow form during his self-training in January, has maintained a low arm swing position, but the translational motion has returned to something close to his pre-injury form.

"We're doing this to make our movements as efficient as possible so that we can speed things up from here on out," he explained, giving the reason behind it.

Honmae injured his left arm during a practice match against Rakuten Eagles on February 20, 24. On February 23 of the same year, he underwent screw fixation of the left humerus shaft at a hospital in Tokyo, and in 24, he did not appear in the first or second team, and became a training player from last season. After a long rehabilitation, he made a regular season return in the Seibu Lions second team match on September 24 last year, and also appeared in five games in the Miyazaki Phoenix League held after the regular season.

During the fall training, he explored different pitching positions to find one that suited him best, and has been experimenting with a lower elbow form, continuing to refine his technique through trial and error. He has pitched in three games since the start of the farm league season. "I've been able to throw smoothly during catch practice right from the start, and I feel less pain after pitching, so I'm feeling much less anxious about my injury."

Regarding hitter' reactions, he said, "My ball speed isn't that high, but I'm able to get ahead in the count with my fastballs by using power and varying the speed, so I think that's a good point."

In his first appearance in a minor league game this season on March 14 against Nippon-Ham minor league team, with the score 1-6 in the 6th inning, one out, and no runner on base, he struck out Takuya Nakashima with a 125 km/h change-up on the fifth pitch of the at-strike, resulting in a ground ball to the catcher that the bat stopped to make contact. Did he feel he had a good feeling about getting the out?

Nakajima had in his head that he was going to stick with us from 2 strike, so it's not good to make count worse with the ball in that situation. We talked with catcher to be able to compete in the toughest part of the zone, and I think change-up we got into it well," he recalled.

In that game, he threw 15 pitches in one inning and retired the side in order. In the following game against Rakuten Eagles 's minor league team on March 19, he threw 37 pitches in two innings and gave runs, but in the game Seibu Lions 's minor league team on March 22, he threw 12 pitches in one inning, giving up no hit, strike out two, and runs, showcasing a perfect pitch.

"When I get the chance to pitch, I want to closer them scoreless, and it's important to focus on both the content and the results. Even if the content is good, if the results aren't good, I don't think I'll be able to play in the first team. I want to focus on both." In order to pitch on the first team mound once again, he intends to focus on both the content and the results, and line up zeros on the scoreboard. Beyond that, registration as a regular player awaits him.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita