"My body is perfectly fine. I went into this year's season expecting that kind of thing to happen, so I think I'm able to pitch without any particular problems."

Lotte's Rikuto Yokoyama appeared in 12 games in May, including two instances of pitching in three consecutive games, recording 0 wins and 1 loss, ERA 3.09, and a new club record of 11 saves in a single month.

The two triple plays were certainly impressive, but what was even more impressive was the way he closed out the game when it looked like the tide was turning against him: on May 22, against Rakuten Eagles the game was 2-1 in the 9th inning, with two outs bases loaded and no runs scored, and the offensive time was long. He closed the game with three consecutive struck out innings in a situation where the flow of the game could have gone to the other team. bases loaded mound The next day, May 23, he pitched the bottom of the 9th inning of a 2-6 game Rakuten Eagles and scored five runs in a 7-6 9th inning. He gave up a Walk to Hideto Asamura in the first inning but retired the rest of the batters to save the game. He went up and gave up Walk to Montero in the top of the first, but put a zero on the scoreboard exactly.

Yokoyama explained, "I've been told that I'll pitch if the lead is reversed, so I'm preparing accordingly. I'm not in a hurry, and I think I'm able to concentrate and prepare my body properly without having too much time to spare."

◆ slider and sinker

pitch point in perspective, it's better to slider to throw count pitches on left-handed hitter, like the game against Rakuten Eagles on May 22. "If you only go sinker straight, left-handed batters can easily hit all the balls with a reverse direction. Because of the single-slider pitch type, you have to take care of the incoming balls, so lately I've been thinking about and thinking about those kinds of tactics so I don't get too one-sided," he revealed.

On May 27 against Hiroshima, with one out and a runner on second in the ninth inning with a score of 5-4, he got Seita Maekawa out of a 1-ball, 2-strike with a vertical breaking ball dropping 124 km/h, swinging struck out. Although the velocity was slider, when I checked whether it was slider or sinker the ball dropped vertically, they told me, "It's slider."

slider which clocks in at around 120 km/h, is a side-breaking ball he learned from his former teammate, Castillo. Is it a different slider from the Castillo slider?

"It's the same, but it just looks like it's dropping vertically because of the axis of rotation. When you try to throw low, you swing your arm vertically, so I think the ball naturally drops vertically on its own."

sinker also on May 22 against Rakuten Eagles, in the ninth inning with a 2-1 leadoff Fumiya Kurokawa in the ninth inning, swinging struck out from 1 ball, 2 strike strike, swinging on the fourth pitch of the 133 km/h sinker, then on May 27 against Hiroshima, with two outs and a runner on second in the ninth inning with a 5-4 lead, he swung Ma strike saya Yano on the third pitch, a 132 km/h sinker, and then retired him from this pitch with four consecutive sinker balls, swinging struck out on the sixth pitch, a 132 km/h sinker from the 3-ball 2 strike.

"For a while, sinker wasn't working very well, but around the beginning of this month, I talked to my pitcher coach about various things, and it's come back to a good feeling, so I hope I can continue to throw it without losing that feeling."

◆ Running through the challenging month of May

In an interview on March 28th, shortly after the season began, he said, "Every year, I tend to lose form from late April to around May, so I use Hawk-Eye to track my body and see the numbers, and I hope to be able to maintain my form throughout the season by understanding my strengths and weaknesses." This year, he managed to play in the first team through the challenging period from late April to May.

Reflecting on that, he said, "Until last year, I wasn't even on the first team in May, so I think it's good that I've made it this season." However, he added, "That might not happen until June this season, and it's meaningless unless I can pitch in the first team for the entire year without letting my guard down, so I hope I can do my best."

He fought through the challenging month of May and set a new team record with 11 saves in the month of May. I think it's good that I'm getting results. closer I just have to keep pitching zero in the situations where I am allowed to pitch, so right now I just have to concentrate on pitching in games and keep working at it. The season is still long, so I hope I can do my best without thinking about the numbers. runner Even when he pitches out of the bullpen, he is still able to close out games. He is becoming a reliable guardian god.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita