Lotte's Misho Nishikawa, who has starting line-up in the 'number 3' batting order in all six games since the season began, has had a good start to the season, recording his second multi-hit of the season in the game against Nippon-Ham on the 2nd, and currently boasts a batting average of .308.

In his rookie season last year, Nishikawa played in 16 exhibition games and posted a batting average of .403. He started the season with a five-game hit from the beginning of the season, tying the club record for most hits by a rookie. However, after that hit, he went hit for 19 at-bats and was removed from the active roster on April 12. He hit exceptionally well in the minor leagues, with a batting average of .423 (22 out of 52), and was recalled to the first team on April 29. On May 18, he hit his first professional walk-off hit against Nippon-Ham Fighters, but was again removed from the active roster on May 27 due to illness. After being recalled for the third time on June 13, he posted a batting average of .311, and ultimately finished with a batting average of .281, fifth in the league, and a league-leading 27 doble, earning him Pacific League Rookie of the Year award.

During the autumn practice held at Zozo Marine Stadium after the end of the season, he often spoke about the angle of his batted balls. In an interview on October 18, he said, "Lately, my trajectory hasn't been going up very well," but in practice on October 19, he hit a ball that flew into the left field lagoon seats, and in practice on October 21, he hit a strong ball to center fielder and right field.

On October 27, he was selected for Samurai Japan as an additional player for the "Ragzas Samurai Japan Series 2025 Japan vs. Korea." He played the full 90 minutes in both exhibition games against Korea, batting .375 (3 At Bat 8 hit) with 2 RBI, but he reflected, "They moved me up in batting order, but I wasn't able to show a good performance, so I'm just disappointed about that." He also spoke of areas for improvement, saying, "There have been many times when I couldn't finish the job on the first pitch, or when I put too much power into my last at-bat, my bat went wide and broke. I need to reduce those kinds of mistakes."

"Angle and technique are the most important things, but I want to work hard on them this offseason." He continued to swing his bat during the offseason in preparation for the new season. "I was able to feel that my individual training was working well, and I think that I was able to show the results of that in today's (February 1st) practice," he said, feeling confident about the results of his hard work over the winter.

During the fall training in October last year, he hit many balls to left field, but during batting practice at the Miyakonojo spring training camp, he hit many angled balls to center fielder and the opposite field, just like he did during last season.

"It's a slight difference in how I made contact with the ball; when I hit it well, it flew to the right. Last year, I had a lot of weak hits that didn't go far and went to the right, but I think there were fewer of those today (February 1st)."

Regarding the improvements in his batting, he said, "I've been focusing on consistency and power. My swing speed has increased, and the ball speed has also increased slightly, so I think that's an area where I've grown." As for the "finishing it off in one go" aspect he mentioned after the exhibition game against Korea, he said, "There aren't many easy pitches, and whether I can hit that one pitch or not will affect my batting average. I'll continue to work on that, as I did last year, this year as well."

"Last year there were a lot of things I wasn't used to, but this year I'm used to some things, so I think that's different from last year," he said, having gotten used to the environment and looking forward to progressing through practice games, exhibition games, and regular season. However, on February 10, he complained of discomfort in his right forearm during defense practice and was diagnosed with a right forearm flexor muscle injury.

After joining the team in the open game against Seibu Lions on March 13, he appeared in 8 games, including 2 hit games against Seibu Lions on March 15, his third game in the open game, and batted .364, 1 Home Run, 5 RBI. Especially in the open game against Chunichi on March 20, in the second at bat with one out in the 3rd inning of a 0-4 game, he said "I was hitting a strong ball to the right side of the plate. When I'm hitting it hard to the right, the bat comes out well, and I'm going to take that as a positive." Yuya Yanagi's fourth pitch, a 142 km fastball outside pitch from 2 balls 1 strike to the right home run wing, was good for two runs.

As he confidently stated ahead of the season opener, "Of course, I'm getting in shape, and I have no worries," he has made a strong start to the season, including a performance of 3 hit 3 RBI in the game Seibu Lions on the 28th, showing no signs of the sophomore slump.

Regarding extra-base hits, he said, "I do want to hit them, but I don't think about it too deeply when I'm at bat. I just hope that it will happen as an extra-base hit. Just like last year, I want to do my best without getting too carried away."

This season, he said, "I think the first thing that comes to mind is achieving better results than last year. I also want to win the Best Nine and Golden Glove awards, and although I won Rookie of the Year last year, I would like to add some other title to my list this year, and aim to be hitter hitter"

He stated his determination as a team, saying, "I think everyone is aiming for the championship. I believe that if we win each game one by one without looking too far ahead, it will lead to that goal, so I want to be a valuable asset to the team. I will do my best to do what I need to do."

Misho Nishikawa is at the heart of the batting lineup.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita