"I do feel a sense of tension. I think there's always competition, and I feel like I have to produce results, so I do feel nervous."

Even now, in his 18th year as a professional, Lotte's Yuji Nishino still feels the same tension as he prepares for his first appearance of the season.

Last season, Nishino suffered from a lack of run support from his offense, compounded by his own injuries, resulting in a surprising winless record of 0 wins and 4 win with ERA of 3.08 in 49 2/3 innings pitched in 9 games.

This offseason, he has undergone rigorous training as usual, preparing for the new season. In his first exhibition game appearance of the season against Rakuten Eagles on February 21, he pitched two innings and gave up three runs, but in the game Seibu Lions on February 28, he pitched three scoreless runs. In an interview on March 3, he spoke about his challenges, saying, "If you ask me if things are going according to plan, I'd say not really, but it's been a while since I pitched in a real game, and I've identified some things I need to work on. I hope to address those issues one game at a time and be in good condition for the start of the season."

The Nippon-Ham game on March 8 was 4 runs in 4 innings in pitch, which was centered on shooting and slider. In the Hanshin Tigers game on March 17th, in the first inning of 0-0 with one out and second base, Shota Morishita relentlessly attacked and drove an in-course shot, and from 3 balls 2 strike, he made a half-swing swing with a 126 km slider from the outside corner struck out. The pitch that made me aware of the in-course of right-handed hitter stood out. regular season In the Yakult second team game on March 25, which was his last appearance before the mound, he closer 5 innings runs no .

After the open games in March and the final minor league game before regular season, will they be able to overcome their weaknesses and be ready for the season?

"It's getting better, and while I wouldn't say it's 100%, I think it's about half as good as it could be."

He made right-handed hitter like Shun Mizutani of Nippon-Ham and Morishita of Hanshin Tigers anticipate an inside sinker, and then had them hit an outside slider. Regarding the inside sinker to right-handed hitter, he said, "I'm able to throw it properly, so I think it's good right now."

When asked about the fact that he threw a lot of sinkers and slider in the exhibition games, he smiled and replied, "I threw a lot of sinkers. But, I wonder how that will turn out," leaving the question open.

In the preseason games, there were some appearances where he threw fewer fork in the early innings, such as against Nippon-Ham Fighters. When asked if he was trying something different in those appearances, he replied, "fork hasn't been working very well, but that doesn't mean I'm trying to reduce its use. I'm actually being given more pitches to practice with, so I'm throwing it."

Will he continue to use a variety of pitches this season, selecting the ones that are most effective during the game to get hitter out?

"If I'm not feeling well that day, I don't mean I'll completely eliminate my pitches, but I think I need to throw the pitches I can control well in order to make a good game. I want to choose which pitches to throw depending on how I'm feeling that day."

Nishino's strength lies in his "game-making ability." "I think that's my strong point, so even though I might be really nervous, I hope to stay as calm as possible and make solid game-making plays." He hopes to make this his first start of the season, pitcher win in two years and gaining momentum for the rest of the season.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita