Lotte's first-round draft pick, Genki Ishigaki (Kenta Takasaki High School), has now gone four consecutive games without runs since the game against Rakuten Eagles 's minor league team on May 17th.

On May 17, in the Rakuten Eagles farm team game, he pitched in the 6th inning with a score of 1-4, throwing 18 pitches in one inning, recording three consecutive struck out pitches, 4 pitches over 155 km/h, and a top speed of 156 km/h. The fastball that day was quite powerful. Regarding his current fastball, he said, "It's become quite stable, and I'm throwing my ideal fastball, so I hope I can keep going with it," and throws pitches that he feels satisfied with.

During an interview on May 5, he said, “My sharpness and power have improved quite a bit, but my speed is around 56, so I think I can increase it a little more—that’s the main thing,” indicating he wasn’t satisfied with his pitch speed. However, he now revealed, “I’ve been able to consistently throw over 150, so rather than focusing on my top speed, I’m working on maintaining a powerful fastball, fastball with good extension.”

What caught my attention was the Oisix match on June 11. breaking ball centered on fastball, he managed only 6 out of 19 balls. breaking ball explained why he became a pitch who was the main closer: "I was planning to keep straight and as usual, but my curveball was good from the bullpen before the match. Also, I thought my opponent's hitter was straight and tight, so I kept throwing curveballs and trying various things while pitching."

In the game Oisix on the same day, with the score 4-2 in the 8th inning with one out and no runner on base, he threw a curveball to Keita Sonobe, who called it looking after a 1-ball, 1-strike, and it was very good. In his first few appearances in the minor leagues, he mainly pitch fastball splitter, but in his recent appearances, he has been throwing curveballs as count pitches.

Regarding the importance of curves, he explained, "If the curves are good, the straightaways tend to be good as well, so I consider them quite important."

His weapon—splitter—has been effective in inducing swings and misses after getting batters into a count, starting with the inside pitch splitter he threw to Tensuke Higa, the leadoff batter in the eighth inning of the June 11 game against the Oisix (4–2), which resulted in a swing-and-miss struck out on a 2-strike.

"I'm able to get struck out with splitter for most of the time, but if I can just easily get one strike to get ahead in count, it will be easier, so that's what I'm practicing right now," he said, refining splitter as count pitch.

He also pitched at Zozo Marine Stadium, the home field of the first team, in games against The Giants second team on May 9th and Chunichi' second team on May 26th. In order to play for the first team in the future, he needs to get used to the unique wind at Marine Stadium.

Regarding the wind at Marine Stadium, he said confidently, "There wasn't much wind when I pitched there, so I haven't experienced the wind at ZOZO yet and don't know what it's like, but I want to keep working hard so that I can pitch my best anytime, anywhere."

He is currently building up his physique and gaining practical experience in the minor leagues, but he naturally has a strong desire to pitch in the major leagues. "I want to pitch on the major league stage as soon as possible, so I want to make sure I have a solid track record in the minor leagues before going up to the major leagues and pitching there. I will do my best." He is also focusing on getting results so that he will be ready whenever he is called up to the major leagues.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita