Since returning to the first team, Lotte's Kazuya Ojima has been consistently pitching with the same good tempo and dynamic pitch he displayed when he was readjusting in pitch league.

Kojima, who has led The Marines' starting rotation for many years, reaching the required innings pitched for five consecutive years, did closer the opponent to just one runs in four innings in his first appearance of the season against Seibu Lions on March 29th. However, pitch has been inconsistent since the start of the preseason, and after suffering his second loss of the season against Softbank Hawks on April 5th, where he gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings, he was removed from the active roster the following day.

After being removed from the first-team roster, he said, "Before that, I was playing catch with Yoshikawa and others, but Mima asked me to play catch with Okumura, and I thought it would be quite educational to play catch with another left-handed pitcher. I also thought that watching their pitching on the days they pitched would be part of my training, so I tried to pass on what I had been taught and what I had been doing up until then," referring to catch practice with third-round draft pick Raito Okumura (Yokohama High School) before the game against Hayate on April 25.

Okumura said, "I think that having people with various experiences watch pitch (in bullpen), rather than just relying on my own perception, will give me some insight. Being able to ask lots of questions and see what works and what doesn't is an advantage of being a high school graduate. I think I can still make mistakes, so I'd like to try out various things."

In his appearances on the minor league team, Kojima formed a battery with sixth-round draft pick Ryoju Okamura (Tomishima High School). Kojima revealed, "catcher was also a rookie, Okamura, so I tried to convey a pattern of attacking as simply as possible, and we just kept attacking in a simple way. When you come up to the majors, it's not like the data is relevant, but the types of pitches you've thrown closer or that have been successful in the past have become scattered, and I realized that I had neglected the fundamental importance of throwing a solid fastball. So, in the minors, I made sure to focus on getting fouls with my fastball."

Okamura said, "Whether it's the conversations between inning or before the game, I've been able to learn from Kojima's way of thinking and apply it to my pitch selection. I feel that working with a first-team player has been a great learning experience in terms of pitch selection."

Looking at Kojima's pitch in the farm, his last appearance before promotion was on April 26 against Hayate, and with no two outs in the first inning with a 0-0 score runner, he threw the second pitch from the left-handed hitter strike to Ryunosuke Imamura, throwing a 130 km/h slider from the 1st and seemed to have changed trajectory.

"We're still in the trial-and-error stage, and I recently had the opportunity to chat with Mr. Imanaga on LINE, and he taught me a little. We're still in the testing phase, but I feel like things are gradually becoming more stable, so we're trying out various things."

He pitched 16 1/3 innings in 3 games in the minor leagues, ERA of 2.76. "First of all, I want to continue doing what I've been doing in the minor leagues without changing anything, and I've been consciously working on being able to get foul balls with my fastball even if the batter is expecting one, so I want to keep that approach. I just want to keep a simple mindset," he said as he took mound for his first start in about a month against Orix Buffaloes on May 4th.

◆ pitch after promotion

Even after returning to the first team, his pitch tempo and dynamism remained unchanged from when he was in the farm league. He also focused on pitch fastball the start, and although he was lose pitcher in both the May 4th game against Orix Buffaloes and the May 13th game against Nippon-Ham, he pitched seven innings each time.

On May 22nd, he held Rakuten Eagles to 4 hit 1 runs 7 innings closer earn his first win of the season, and on June 4th, he earned his second win against Yakult, allowing 3 hit 1 runs over 7 innings.

"I haven't given up that Walk, but I'm trying to focus on pitching my own game as much as possible, so I think it's working out well not because of the opposing batters, but because it's Central League."

Speaking of Walk, in an interview on August 28, 2024, he said, "I feel like I'm getting hit hard when I try too hard to throw Walk in the strike zone because I don't want to give up Walk. Lately, I've been pitching with the mindset that it's okay to give up walks." But has his thinking changed since then?

"Depending on the situation, if I'm absolutely certain I'm better than this batter, I'll keep in mind the Walk of Walk, but I don't think there are any good Walk when there are no runner on base. I want to be careful about Walk when there are no runner on base."

Since his promotion, he has been right-handed hitter good with an in-course fastball. In his last appearance, he was outstanding fastball with an in-course swinging 146 km on the fourth pitch from 1 ball 2 strike at the top of the 2-0 first inning against Ayuka Matsushita, followed by an in-course 146 km miss struck out of fastball.

"I'm throwing straight pitches, and then mixing in breaking ball is something I'm trying to do for the first time against many batters. Even if an opposing batter is known to be strong against inside pitches, I don't have any data on how that will affect me. So, I don't think that I shouldn't use inside pitches just because they're hitting them; I'm attacking them aggressively. I think I'm continuing to pitch like that."

There were also instances where he made the batter anticipate an outside pitch, then struck struck out out with an inside pitch. "It's a balance, and it also stemmed from the first and second at-bats. Right now, even if my fastball is a little too easy to hit, I'm throwing with the intention of getting a foul ball out, and that's what's been happening, so I think I'm attacking well."

slider also said in the game Rakuten Eagles on May 22, "It was an advantage in terms of count, and it was a chance to test things, so I think using it worked well," and in the third inning with a score of 1-1, he retired the leadoff Ryosuke Tatsumi from 2 balls 2 strike from 130 km/h slider on a swing struck out, then followed up with two outs in the 5th inning with a 2-1 score runner Tatsumi swings and struck out misses on a slider that drops from 2 strike to 130 km/h vertically. He used a slider to drive Tatsumi down, then hit a horizontal and a vertical slider to hit struck out in two consecutive at-bats.

It was slider that he said he was trying in his pre-promotion interview, but looking at the pitch ratio, it is the second highest after fastball. I wonder if they are throwing slider in good shape -.

"Yes, that's partly because I'm good at going straight, but my feeling changes from day to day, so I'm always taking notes, asking questions when I'm interested, and constantly making new discoveries. I'm texting with Imanaga, and I've also texted Hayakawa about change-up, and I always have the desire to get a little better at baseball, so I think that's paying off in games."

Until last year, he often struggled around this time of year, but in his last start against Yakult, he showed a different side this year. "I've changed my approach from before, and I'm preparing for the game without taking in any data on the opponent, so I think that's working well. I want to contribute to the team in the next game I pitch. I'm pitching a month behind the start of the season, so I want to work hard to make up for lost time." As the team's key pitcher, he's looking to make a comeback from here on out.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita