Lotte's Daito Daito Yamamoto, who hit a team-high 11 Home Run last season, has not been able to produce the numbers he wanted at the start of this season. However, he has been expected to deliver results in the single at-bats he has come up in as a pinch hitter or substitute, and he has admirably lived up to expectations.

In the game against DeNA on the 12th, Yamamoto came in as a substitute for right field's defense in the 8th inning with the score tied 2-2, and his first at-bat came in the 9th inning with two outs and runners on second and third, creating a walk-off opportunity. The second pitch, thrown by Takita Miyagi from the first pitch, caught a 153 km/h fastball outside pitch, flew to right field, and runner Atsuki Tomosugi at third base stepped on walk-off 's home plate.

This hit came walk-off after Yamamoto had told reporters following practice two days earlier, on June 10, ahead of the game against the Chunichi: “Since I haven’t been getting many starting line-up at-bats, I want to make sure I’m fully prepared for the one at-bat I’ve been given and go into it as ready as possible.”

◆ Time spent on the farm

Yamamoto has played in 37 games so far, with a batting average of .172, 1 Home Run, and 5 RBI. He was removed from the first-team roster on May 4th and spent some time in the minor leagues.

He often talks about things like "how to get the timing right," and while continuing to work on what he's been doing in the farm team, he also said, "I was also talking with Mr. Fukuura about the rest," and he was seen diligently practicing batting and long tee batting one-on-one with farm team manager Kazuya Fukuura.

"I tend to spin around too much, so I want to be able to hit the ball more from within my body. It's like switching places," he said, emphasizing the coordination between his upper and lower body.

In a farm team game against Rakuten Eagles 's minor league team on May 17th, in the third inning with one out and no runner on base, Ryota Takinaka came up to bat for the second time and hit a home run off the sixth pitch, a 106 km/h curveball, thrown by Home Run with a 3-ball, 2-strike, into the left field stands. It was a fantastic hit with perfect timing.

"I think that was good. It was after two strike, so I think it was good that I was able to hit home run after two strike without being too cautious."

What I mean by "cautious" is that, looking at Yamamoto's at-bats this season, in the first at-bat against Softbank Hawks on April 3rd, in the 9th inning with one out and a runner on first and the score 0-2, he was behind Walk against Kazuki Sugiyama, but he was able to judge the 139 km/h outside fork on the 5th strike and the 153 km/ fastball outside fastball on the 6th pitch and drew Walk. Similarly, in the third at-bat against Nippon-Ham on April 14th, in the 7th inning with one out and a runner on first and the score 1-4, he was behind in the count against Kota Tatsu, but he was able to judge the ball and foul it off, and was able to judge the 144 km/h outside cutter on the 7th strike and draw Walk. Compared to last season, he has been swinging at outside pitches less often and has been able to judge the ball more often.

"How should I put it? I feel like I'm not swinging at balls outside the strike zone, or rather, I feel like I'm choosing the ball, and then I swing. I don't know if that's good or bad, but until I'm in a bit more of a tight spot, I think it's okay to swing at balls outside the strike zone, so I hope I can swing without choosing the ball."

Since being called up again on May 24, in his first at-bat on June 2 against the Yakult—with the score 4–0 in the 8th inning with two outs and runners on first and second—Kota Shoji hit a run-scoring single to right field off the fourth pitch fastball from 2 strike, and in his second at-bat in the sixth inning with no outs and a runner on first base in the 0–1 game against The Giants on June 5—where he started as the No. 8 hitter center fielder starting line-up—with a 0-1 count and two strike, he hit the fifth pitch—a fork—from pitcher Atsuhiro Inoue back in front of left field hit.

Regarding his batting performance since being promoted back to the first team, he said, "I feel like it's not bad, but... I often only get one at-bat, so I make mistakes in those. It's difficult, but I think it's not bad right now." He feels he's doing well despite being expected to produce results in just one at-bat. He hopes to use this walk-off hit as a springboard to hit even harder.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita