"I want to win as a starting pitcher."

In an interview after pre-game practice on the 13th, Lotte's Koshiro Hiroike expressed his determination in this way, and on the 17th, in the game Orix Buffaloes, he pitched 7 innings, threw 105 pitches, hit 7 hits, strike out 5, BB 1, and gave up 1 runs, earning his first win as a starter.

In the first inning, he faced a two-bases loaded, bases-loaded situation after giving up two hits and Walk, but he managed to get out of the jam without giving up any runs by getting Kotaro Kobayashi to fly out to second base. On this day as well, 14 of the 20 pitches he fastball in the first inning were fastballs, showing that he has a tendency to overpower batters with fastball in the early innings since becoming a starting pitcher.

Hiroike said, "In the early innings, I'll mainly throw fastballs in the first round, without aiming for specific locations, and I want to compete firmly in strike zone." Toshiya Sato, who has been behind the plate in 3 of the 5 games Hiroike has started, revealed, "Hiroike's best pitch is his fastball. There's no reason not to use that fastball. I think it's fine to change it when you feel like the batters are hitting it hard, and since he's not a particularly experienced pitcher, it's easier for him to get into pitcher if we throw it whenever we can, so that's about it."

In the second inning, two hit put runners on first and third with one out, but Keita Nakagawa hit a foul fly to right field and Ryoma Nishikawa grounded out to shortstop, keeping the score at 0. In the third inning, with the score still 0-0, Ryoto Kita hit a ball towards the right wall, but right Misho Nishikawa made a jumping catch, crashing into the wall in the process, to boost Hiroike's morale.

With some help from defense, he was hoping to gain momentum, but on the fourth pitch, fastball thrown after a 1-ball, 2-strike, he gave up a home run to Ryo Ota, who hit it into the left field stands. He allowed the first run, but in the 4th and 5th innings he retired the side in three batters each, and his performance improved as the game went on. In the 6th inning, with the score 0-1, he easily got two outs and allowed Kotaro Kobayashi to reach base with a single to left field, but then got Yuma Mune to ground out to third base.

In the bottom of the inning, with two outs and no runner on base, Sato Hit by Pitch by a pitch and Raito Ikeda hit a single to right field, putting runners on first and third with two outs. Soto then hit his third home run of the season, a three-run shot to left field, to take the lead.

Hiroike, who moved up to mound in the 7th inning with a 3-1 lead, said in an interview on the 13th, "fastball pitch speed is good and consistently runs in the high 40s, but on days when the ball doesn't come out due to waves, it also comes out below 45, so I want to eliminate that speed gap." However, in the Orix Buffaloes game on the 17th, he outpaced Wakatsuki, who was leading 3-1 in the seventh inning, with a 1-2 ball strike threw a powerful fastball from the 7th inning, including a missed struck out with a 152 km/h fastball. Although inning gave up runner, he closer runs without , and with a strong 1-runs inning inning, he earned win pitcher.

In the post-game hero interview, he expressed his delight, saying, "I feel like I earned win as a starting pitcher myself."

◆ In practice games, he pitched in relief.

At the February Miyakonojo camp, Hiroike had been eager to start, saying, "If possible, I want to pitch as a starter, so I want to make an impact and focus on pitching in the first team," but from the February practice games, he continued to pitch in short inning. In practice and exhibition games, he pitched 10 games over 8 1/3 innings, posting a ERA 1.08 ERA and earning his first spot on the opening day roster. His first appearance of the season was on March 29 against Seibu Lions, appearing in the 5th inning with the score tied 0-1. Although he runs due to a defense error, he pitched 1 2/3 innings and closer earned runs 0.

In practice games, he didn't pitch in multiple inning games, marking his first inning in a while, but he reflected, "I usually throw 1 inning in terms of speed, but even in 2nd inning, I didn't drop and was able to throw fastballs, so that was good. At that time, I was a bit breaking ball, but mentally I still haven't caught up, so I don't think I could pitch well."

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 made his first start of the season against Seibu Lions on April 12th, and in that appearance he pitched well, allowing only one hit and no runs over seven innings. Since then, he has continued to make starts. In practice games and exhibition games he only pitched one inning, but since the season started he has been pitching longer inning. He said, "I hadn't been able to pitch long inning in the exhibition games, so I was a little worried. I made sure to adjust properly and pitched when I got the chance, and I've been able to pitch longer inning than I expected."

He also has a routine leading up to his start, saying, "If I have six days between starts in a week, I decide what I'm going to do on that day and I'm able to do it." This time, he had eight days between starts, but he has clearly established his routine.

Going forward, as a member of the starting rotation, I want to keep pitching without leaving any holes. Regarding what is necessary to pitch continuously in the starting rotation for a year, he said, "While pitching in the rotation, I feel like six days after pitching in a game happens faster than I expected. Before I know it, it feels like a game is coming, so once I start pitching, I really need to take care of myself as soon as possible to recover from fatigue and be in perfect condition for the next outing. "I value care," he says. As a starter, he pitched in five games, achieving a QS (6 innings or more and within 3 earned runs) in 3 of those games. We look forward to the pitch going forward.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita