"I've been practicing various things, and I've been working on the quality of the ball in terms of the arm angle, while talking with my coach, so I think that's how it turned out."

Lotte's seventh-round draft pick, Taisei (Honda Suzuka), now throws from the set position instead of a no-windup when there are no runner on base, and his form, which previously involved his body leaning during translational motion, no longer leans.

"I think the change is that my arm angle has gone up, which might be noticeable to those watching," he said. Last year, while playing for a company team, he changed his pitching form between the Intercity Baseball Tournament and the Japan National pitch Championship, saying, "Of all the forms I trained with, that form felt the most comfortable. It was the form that allowed me to perform at my best." He recorded his personal best of 161 km/h at the Japan National Baseball Championship in November, but has the core of his form remained unchanged since he improved it last fall, despite this change in arm angle?

"I haven't consciously changed that much, so I think the only difference is the angle of my arms, whether my body is leaning or not, the angle itself, but other than that, I haven't changed much from my perspective. I think it's mainly a matter of conscious effort, and not much has changed."

Regarding the speed of fastball, he self-analyzed, "I think it will gradually increase from here on out, so even though I'm not in top condition yet, I'm still throwing 150 km/h. I think I'm able to throw at least a decent ball."

In the preseason games he was with the first team, on February 2 Chunichi 3, he retired Aisuke Mikami from a swinging struck out with two outs in the 8th inning with no runner in the 8th, 0-8, and strike on March 4 against Rakuten Eagles, he struck fork Rui Muneyama 2 with runners on first and second in the 8th inning with a 3-3 lead strike He had good fork to left-handed hitter, including a 140 km/h fork on the inside course where he missed a swing struck out.

However, Taisei said, "That's my biggest challenge." "I've been working on that even in the farm league, and it was the same in the last game (Rakuten Eagles 's minor league team on May 5th). I've been focusing on that as a challenge overall. I'm still not good enough, and I think I need to improve my precision even more," he said, reflecting on his performance.

Does this mean that the farm is focusing on and working on fork as a challenge?

The most important thing is the splitter and fork balls, which are the decisive balls. I throw the fork ball, so I need to improve the accuracy of the fork ball. I've been focusing on the accuracy of the count ball, which is the decisive ball, and I think that's what I need to work on the most.

Looking ahead, he emphasized, "What I need to do remains the same. If I don't produce results, I won't be able to move up, and producing results is the same whether I'm at the top or the bottom." He continued, "I've been feeling what works and what doesn't with my pitches since the open games, and I believe that if I do what I need to do, I'll be able to perform well at the top level, so I want to focus on that and work hard." Could fork be related to what works and what doesn't?

"That's right. Even if you can do it against a minor league batter, a major league batter won't swing at it, or they'll just make contact with the ball, or it'll turn into a hit. So, you have to work with the standard that you absolutely cannot be hit in the minor leagues. Just because you could do it in the minor leagues doesn't mean it's okay; it's meaningless if you can't do it in the major leagues, so I want to work to bring you up to at least that standard level."

In order to get to mound in the first team, I will focus on getting results while also working on my challenges.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita