Orix Buffaloes pitcher staff is fighting hard despite missing pitcher Hiroya Miyagi and Shumpeita Yamashita.

"pitcher I've selected have exceeded my expectations, so I don't think our team is inferior in any way." At the final game of the interleague series, pitching coach Kazuyuki Atsuzawa, who is in charge of pitcher staff, looked on with confidence as the players came off the field after practice.

The team is facing a difficult pitcher situation. With pitcher Miyagi and Ryuhei Sotani selected for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) before the season began, Yamashita, who was considered the strongest candidate for opening day pitcher, injured his right elbow and has been sidelined since the exhibition game against Lotte on March 11 (Zozo Marine Stadium). Miyagi, who did start the opening pitcher, also injured his left elbow in his third game of the season against Lotte on April 9 (Kyocera Dome) and had to leave the game. Both underwent Tommy John (TJ) surgery in the United States in mid-May, forcing the team to play from the 13th game of the season onward with pitcher staff lacking both of its key left-handed and right-handed pitcher.

"It hurts so much. It hurts so much. It hurts so much, but now that it's come to this, we have no choice but to change our thinking. On the contrary, we have no choice but to act with the idea of how to turn this into something positive," said Coach Atsuzawa.

Turning a crisis into an opportunity. Coach Atsuzawa joined Nippon-Ham Fighters in 1994 as the second overall pick in the draft, after graduating from Omiya Technical High School and Kokushikan University. After retiring as a player, he continued to be involved in coaching on the field as pitcher coach for Nippon-Ham, Orix Buffaloes, and Samurai Japan, with the exception of a short period when he worked as a scout. This was one of the answers he arrived at from his extensive experience.

"Of course, the more pitcher we have, the better, but ultimately, only one person can take mound on any team. Whether we have 50 or 100 players, it's still just one. We want to get that one person up there in the best possible condition. We have rookie starters and rookie relievers. Every day, we want to help them grow together. They do get beaten sometimes, but I don't think we're inferior in terms of strength at all, so I trust them and send them out to mound."

What's needed for that is management. "When we coordinate the current roster, and look one week, one month, and three months ahead, we consider who might be out of form, which pitcher might be absent, and conversely, which pitcher might be returning, and we take all sorts of things into account," says Coach Atsuzawa.

A typical example of coordination is the reliever conversion of Naruki Teranishi pitcher. When the April 23 game against Lotte (Zozo Marine Stadium), where he was supposed to start, was canceled due to rain, he was put on standby at bullpen as a reliever player for the next day's game Nippon-Ham (Kyocera Dome). On April 19, Perdomo pitcher was removed from the roster with the possibility of being converted to a starting pitcher, and Soichiro Yamazaki pitcher, Ren Mukunoki pitcher, and Andrés Machado pitcher were replaced by the winning pattern. "It's not a long game. I use it after a winning match. I believe Teranishi is the one who can fulfill that role in preventing the destruction of Soichiro, Mukugi, and Machado." This was a reassignment aimed at the timing of Kosei Yoshida pitcher 's return to the first team (April 25), who underwent TJ surgery last March. To establish a "winning pattern" throughout the year, Teranishi, who wields sharp fork on fastball over 150 km/h, was essential for reliever.

"I felt bad for him (starting as a reliever), but he's necessary for the team right now, and Teranishi himself said he's not fixated on being a starter. I think Teranishi has a good chance of joining Mukunoki and Andrés Machado in the future. However, he's a rookie reliever. He won't know how to pitch when he's tired after pitching 50 games as a reliever until he experiences it. It's pretty tough, but we're letting him rest when he can. This is just a stepping stone, so I hope he'll do his best," he said, expressing his expectations.

Coach Atsuzawa's motto is, "The players we give us are the best possible lineup." "The starting pitchers and the nine bullpen are the best available on any given day. The best lineup changes, but we put them on mound with confidence. We plan for days in advance, and we select them based on their pitching style as well. Of course, since this is the first team, results are everything, but as a team and as an organization, there are many things we need to do, and we make our choices within that context," he reveals, explaining the behind-the-scenes process of pitcher selection.

This season, Taisuke Yamaoka pitcher, who had switched to a starting pitcher, pitched in Game Seibu Lions on May 24 (Belluna Dome), and was also used with consideration for his farm pitching posture. "He won't be running 150 km/h, but he's been preparing hard. I thought this was the right time to see how he can show his current form in the first team, so I started him. Some might ask, 'Why at this timing?' but I haven't raised it to the mound based on such an easy mindset. It's not about raising it blindly. "If you don't do that, you can't move forward." Yamaoka left the mound after 2 runs in the first inning, throwing 20 pitches and recording two outs, but it was Coach Atsusawa who made the decision. "That day, I wasn't thinking about a long inning. I sent him off, saying, 'Go be the first relief day.' So I took it down after 20 balls. "There's no need to make it public, but that day was a relief day." Yamaoka had several chances to be promoted to the first team, but due to team circumstances, he was often passed off. Still, his earnest pitching in the farm team gave him a chance. From the very start of the game, Yamazaki prepared with bullpen, aiming to energize Yamaoka with an all-out effort.

In the final interleague game, Kaito Iriyama pitcher Alen Kuri pitcher from the '4-day interleague' was connected with Teranishi, Mukugi, and Machado, and Coach Atsuzawa closed the match with Kosei Yoshida pitcher, who trusted Coach Atsuzawa for 'many times to help him,' earning their first win in 649 days and securing a winning record in the interleague play. Although he did not get a chance to pitch, Ryusei Gonda pitcher supported the bullpen with his pitch by gathering the ball low and allowing hits to catch it. "There's still a long way to go, just a long way to go." With Coach Atsusawa's keen eye for both the current and future holds, the Orix Buffaloes 's pitcher lineup will continue to thrive.

Interview and text by Masaki Kitano