"It's been dropping somewhat, so it feels a bit more stable, and I'm starting to get a feel for how to throw it."
splitter has become one of the key pitches supporting Lotte's Keisuke Sawada 's pitch this season.
He had been practicing since last fall, aiming to throw a fast, dropping fork, but in an exhibition game against Orix Buffaloes on March 10, with the score 1-4 in the 8th inning with one out and no runner on base, he threw two pitches to Ryo Ota, the third strike (137 km/h fork) and the fourth pitch (138 km/h fork), both of which were balls. However, from that appearance onwards, he started throwing a split-finger splitter with a shallower grip.
Even after the season started, splitter has dominated Pacific League hitter. In the April 3 Softbank Hawks game, he got the leadoff Ryoya Kurihara in the 9th inning with a 0-2 score and a swing struck out at 135 km/h splitter strike from 1 ball, and in the Seibu Lions game on April 12, he swung Canario from 2-1 strike with two outs in the 8th inning without two outs runner on April 12, swinging the fourth pitch at 131 km/h splitter and swinging struck out to a 133 km/h splitter was very good.
splitter fastball is in the 133-135 km/h range. I wonder if he wants to increase its speed a bit more...
"I hope it works, but I try not to expect too much. I just throw it hoping it will work."
Last season, he was able to use the slider he practiced for the winning pitch, expanding his pitch range, but this season his pitch rate of splitter has increased compared to slider so far. "I think the pitch is quite trustworthy," splitter also said, making it one of the pitches he can trust.
To highlight the effectiveness of breaking ball, fastball is also important. In an interview on March 3rd, he said, "fastball is a little slow right now, and that's causing fork to be slow as well." However, in an exhibition game at Vantelin Dome, he threw balls exceeding 150 km/h, and his fastest pitch so far this season is 152 km/h, with an average speed of 148.4 km/h. "I feel like fastball can still get better, so I think I'm still in the final stages of finishing up, and I feel like I can improve one or two more things from here."
His presence is increasing day by day: he pitched in the 7th inning of a 1-1 tie for the first time this season against Orix Buffaloes on April 7, went to mound in the 8th inning of a 0-0 tie for the first time this season against Seibu Lions on April 12, and pitched in the 8th inning of a 5-3 win against Nippon-Ham on April 16, the first time this season in a winning game. He has been pitching more and more in games that are tied or won. Even when he is pitching in a tie or winnable game, he keeps his arrow pointed toward himself and only pitch his own pitching.
"I want to do my best to produce results day by day." Sawada has been consistently producing results in exhibition games. In his fourth year with the team this season, he wants to be a pillar of support for bullpen throughout the season.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
