"I'm not satisfied with the results of last season, and this year I might have a chance to make the opening day roster, so I'm aiming for that and hope to spend the season without ever being sent down to the farm team."

With such enthusiasm before the season began, Koshiro Hiroike of the Lotte Marines pitched 8 1/3 innings in 10 practice games in February, achieving ERA of 1.08 and securing his first-ever spot on the opening day roster.

In a practice game against Lotte Korea on March 1, in the 9th inning of 2-4 with one out and second base, right-handed hitter 's Kim Min-seong was killed with a swing struck out from 1 ball 2 strike, and in the open game against Orix Buffaloes on March 11, he threw the sixth pitch from 3 balls and 2 strike to Ryoma Ikeda in the 7th inning with two outs and first base with a score of 3-3 He threw a powerful ball into the in-course of right-handed hitter from the practice game, including an in-course 147-kilometer shot that stole the struck out. "The right batter's in-course is a ball that is my lifeline, so I am very conscious of that and try not to go too sweetly."

He showed confidence fastball, saying, "It's my main pitch, and I've been able to get fouls and swings and misses with fastball, so I want to throw it with confidence."

Regarding breaking ball he had identified as an area for improvement during the spring training camp in Miyakonojo in February, he said, "Since the start of this year, the proportion of off breaking ball I've been using has increased considerably compared to last year. As I've been throwing them in games, I've been using them more often in count and as a finishing pitch, and recently I've been getting more swinging struck out. I think I'm getting a good feel for it."

In the open game against Hanshin Tigers on March 17th, the 138 kg splitter that finished Nakagawa with a 3-ball, 2-strike swing struck out from 3 balls without two outs runner in the 6th inning of 1-2 was very good.

"The reproducibility is still not high enough, so I want to improve the accuracy a bit more," he said, clearly not satisfied.

In external games, "I want to finish with as few pitches as possible, so I think it's a good trend to be able to compete with batters without really disturbing control," and often finishes 1 inning with a small number of pitches, and in the practice game against Yakult on February 15th and the ball against Orix Buffaloes on February 25th, both at the Haru Miyazaki Baseball Games, He finished the first inning with only 8 pitches and a three-way strikeout.

He showed consistent pitch in practice games in February and earned a spot on the opening day roster. Having achieved his goal of making the opening day roster, he expressed his delight, saying, "I think the efforts I made to impress during spring training and exhibition games led to this result."

His first appearance of the season was on March 29th in the Seibu Lions game. When he took the mound in the fifth inning with a score of 0-1, he made defense mistakes and runs, but he threw 1 2/3 innings and closer earned runs 0. In the practice game, he did not pitch more than inning, and it was his first time in a long time that he straddled the inning, but he recalled, "In terms of speed, I usually have a lot of 1 inning, but even in the 2nd inning, I was able to throw straight without falling in particular, so it was good pitch breaking ball.

In the Softbank Hawks game on April 5th, he took the mound in the 5th inning of 2-3 with one out and one out and second base after starting Kazuya Ojima. He was hit at the right time by Kenta Imamiya and returned the runner left by Kojima, but he put 0 on the scoreboard in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings, which became a inning span, and threw 3 2/3 pitches and threw 61 pitches, giving up 2 hits hit, 2 strike out, and 0 runs.

He also had experience as a reliever in the first team last season, and when asked what he thinks will be useful this season, he said, "I don't know when I'll be pitching, so I'm making sure I'm not unprepared. I don't know when I'll be pitching, but I'm trying to prepare early so I don't fall behind." He emphasizes the importance of "preparation."

When preparing for the game, he said that what he values most is "I can't throw a good ball unless I sweat before I throw. I make sure to sweat."

Last season, he gained experience with the first team after the All-Star break, and this season he has been on mound for the first team since the opening day. "If I'm going to pitch in the first team for a whole year, I'm sure there will be bad days, so I need to minimize those as much as possible and always maintain good physical and mental condition." He will produce results in order to pitch in the first team for a whole year.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita