Lotte's Naoya Masuda is quietly fulfilling his assigned role and contributing to the team.

Masuda has twice had the most saves and six consecutive years of 20 or more saves since 1919. He has supported The Marines bullpen for a long time, from the days when the team struggled to win, to the early 2020s, when Class A became a regular occurrence and a league championship was just around the corner.

It was a common sight to see him on mound in save situations. Last season, he said, "As you can see from the numbers, I think it was the worst year of my career," as he only made a career-worst 22 appearances, ending the season with a record of 1 win, 4 losses, 2 hold, 5 ERA of 4.35.

After the season ended, he participated in the autumn practice held at ZOZO Marine Stadium and the Miyakonojo autumn camp, saying, "I'm trying to change my Zozo Marine Stadium. I'm keeping the running the same, but I'm increasing my training a bit. I've had bad starts to the season for the past two years, so my shoulder and elbow are slow to recover. I'm starting catch practice earlier and taking it slow." He also made significant changes to his approach, such as incorporating weight training seriously. He kept moving his body without taking a break during the off-season.

Even after the season started, he had been doing catch practice before games whenever there was a gap between his appearances, but this season he has been consistently doing catch practice before games, saying, "There are a lot of days this year when there is a gap between my appearances, so I thought I'd try doing catch practice more often this year."

Have the things you've been working on since last fall, such as weight training, yielded any results so far?

"I don't know, we don't know the results of what would have happened if we hadn't done it and what would have happened if we had. Right now, it's only been six months since I started throwing, so we'll have to see how things have changed after a year."

◆ Model change!?

There has also been a change in pitch aspects. In the open game against Chunichi on February 23, which was his first actual appearance of the season, he drove in 2 strike against Seiji Kamibayashi in the 4th inning with two outs and first base with a score of 0-5, and on the third pitch, he missed the timing with a curve that he had not thrown until last season and hit it to the right. In the open game, he pitched in 6 games and closer runs, but there were many breaking ball, and it seemed that he had changed his model.

This season in particular, he has been effectively using not only fastball, slider, and sinker, closer other pitches such as cutter and curveball to get outs, and currently, the proportion of cutter and curveballs he pitch is higher than that slider.

When asked why he throws so many cutter and curveballs, he explained, "These days, baseball is all about data, so I think batters are waiting for pitches that only have data on them. I throw them to scatter that data and make the batters think twice."

However, there's something I don't understand. Watching pitch in practice games and exhibition games, I thought he had changed pitch style to one that relied more on breaking ball speed pitches, but in his recent appearances, the proportion of fastball has increased. Looking at pitch percentages this season, fastball account for 47.9% of the total.

When asked about this, Masuda replied, "I think it would be good if the batters also thought that way, so I hope I can continue in that manner," indicating that he is using tactics to keep hitter off balance and closer them from focusing on a specific pitch.

◆ Pitching in games where the team is behind

Masuda has served as The Marines 'closer for many years, but this season he has rarely pitched in high-pressure situations, such as when the team is behind or in the 9th inning of a game where they have a large lead, like the game against Seibu Lions on the 3rd.

"It doesn't matter where you pitch, so someone has to pitch there, and I don't think the game is over just because we're losing. If closer them scoreless there, we'll have a chance to win. There has to be someone to take on that role. I hope we can somehow get results there."

The man who has played the hardest position directly related to the team's win success for more than 10 years now, taking the mound in a behind-the-back situation and silently closer playing the role, has a different coolness to him than when he has been a staunch guardian god.

"No, no, I think everyone is pitching in various places, so I try to do my best to show them my back as much as possible."

Currently, he mainly pitches in games where his team is behind, but there are surely many fans who want to see him pitch in winning situations. "I'll do my best so that I can show you (him pitching in a winning game) again." When Masuda's name was called in the 9th inning of the game against Seibu on Seibu Lions, with the score at 10-0, the stands erupted in cheers. He is pitcher suits the 9th inning position, but no matter what position he plays, his attitude of putting his arm around the plate for the team remains the same. Young players should take that attitude to heart.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita