Lotte's Kyota Fujiwara made his return to competitive play in a Chunichi Dragons minor league game on the 23rd (Zozo Marine Stadium), and has so far appeared in two minor league games since his return.

Aiming for a power-hitting style this season, Fujiwara—who has set his sights on winning the “batting title hitter” and “home run title hit”—posted a .385 batting average in spring training. After the season began, in the April 3 game Softbank Hawks—with the score 1–2 in the ninth inning with two outs and runners on second and third—he stepped up to the plate for his fifth at-bat, Kazuki Sugiyama threw an outside fastball from a 1-strike, Fujiwara hit a walk-off two-run doble over right field, reaching base in 16 consecutive games from the Softbank Hawks game on the same day through the Orix Buffaloes game on April 21.

In an interview on April 14, he said, "I've been drawing Walk at a good pace this year, and in this era, it's not about batting average, but on-base percentage and OPS that matters. I want to focus on that." Even when he didn't get hit, he was getting on base with Walk.

In the early spring, when the team was struggling, Kyota Fujiwara 's at-bats were a beacon of hope. But then, on May 10th, in a game against Softbank Hawks, nightmare struck. He injured his right shoulder while defense in the 5th inning and had to leave the game. He was diagnosed with anterior subluxation of the right shoulder joint at a hospital in Fukuoka City, and was removed from the first-team roster on May 11th.

In the first game after Fujiwara was removed from the roster, on May 12 against Nippon-Ham Fighters (Zozo Marine Stadium), Ryusei Ogawa and Misho Nishikawa both used Fujiwara's walk-up music for their first at-bats.

In an interview on May 13, Nishikawa explained the reason, saying, "Even when I was removed from the roster, Kyohei Fujiwara and I talked about how we wanted to win the batting hitter together. Kyohei told me that he was entrusting me with the dream of hitter the batting title and the most hit, and I was happy about that. I hope he can come back in as little as two months, and I'll hit well so that Kyohei can get as many at-bats as possible, and in the end we can compete for the batting hitter. I heard that and chose that as my walk-up music."

Fujiwara said, "I've been saying this with [Nishikawa] Shigeo since spring training, and I think he has the ability to win it," and added, "I also think I'm still in a position to win the batting hitter, so when I get back, I hope I can compete with Shigeo."

In the June 23 minor league game against the Chunichi, he returned to action batting leadoff (DH). In his first at-bat with the score 0–3, he lifted the first pitch from Hideaki Wakui (fastball), but the ball was carried by the wind (short stop), causing the third baseman to freeze (doble), resulting in his first hit since his return.In his second at-bat in the third inning with the score 1–4, no outs, and no runners on base runner, he drew a walk Walk from Wakui. He had two at-bats that day, with one At Bat, one hit, and one Walk.

In his at-bats against Wakui, he seemed to be able to distinguish between low strike and balls. So, how did the ball look to him when he actually stepped up to the plate for the first time in a while? When asked before practice before the game on the 24th, Fujiwara prefaced his answer by saying, "I've only had two at-bats," and then added, "I think it wasn't bad."

When it comes to swinging the bat, he said, "There is fear, but I just have to do it. I'll keep going and do it as I go," indicating his intention to overcome his fear as he swings the bat.

Although he did not play in defense during the games on the 23rd and 24th, he said, "defense is my weakness, so I'm trying to figure that out as best I can," and he took batted balls in center fielder position during pre-game practice.

In the second-team game on the 24th, Chunichi entered as a pinch hitter for Hiromi Oka, who was starting as the leadoff batter DH in the fifth inning, and in his first at-bat with no outs and no outs runner 1-3, he chose Walk from Konosuke Fukuda and reached base in his second consecutive game. In the following 2-3 inning with one out and a runner on first in the second at-bat, Hiroto Mori missed the fourth pitch, a 142 km/h cutter thrown from 1-ball, 2-struck out strike, and in the 8th inning with runners on second and third and one out, Toshihiro Sugiura hit a grounder to second with one out and 2 strike. During that time, third baseers runner and Yu Tatematsu scored, scoring RBI. That day, the record was 2 At Bat 0 hit 1 Walk 1 RBI.

After Fujiwara was removed from the roster, the first team's record swelled to a season-worst nine games below .500 after the May 13th game against Nippon-Ham. However, they won the interleague series with a record of 10 wins, 6 losses, and 2 ties, bringing their current record to 33 wins, 33 losses, and 2 ties, a winning percentage of 50%. Fujiwara reportedly watched the team's games on television even while he was sidelined due to injury. Fujiwara's presence is indispensable as the team aims to reach even greater heights. It may be a little premature since he has just returned to playing, but when asked what kind of performance he wants to show when he returns to the first team, he replied, "I want to do my best to ride this good momentum."

Looking back, Fujiwara was delayed in the open games in March 2024 due to a fractured right patella, but he was promoted to the first team for the first time on June 28th and maintained a consistent performance with a batting average of .290. If he returns to active play in the minor leagues around this time and then returns to the first team, many fans are hoping to see him hitting like he did two years ago.

"I'd love to do well, but professional baseball isn't that easy. First of all, I want to do what I can." The Marines fans are all waiting for Kyota Fujiwara to return to the first team as soon as possible. Currently, Fujiwara's batting record in the first team is .297 in 153 at-bats. Lotte has nearly half of their games left. We hope to see him reach the required number of at-bats and compete with Misho Nishikawa for the batting hitter in the fall.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita