Lotte's Kazuya Ojima, who has reached the required number innings pitched for five consecutive years, has regained his form since being recalled to the first team.
Since the game against Orix Buffaloes on May 4th, he has pitched 7 inning in every game except for the game Chunichi on June 11th. His record since the game against Orix Buffaloes on May 4th is 2 wins and 2 losses, 40 2/3 innings pitched in 6 games, with 34 strike out, 10 walks and Hit by Pitch, and ERA of 1.99.
In his previous Rakuten Eagles game, he threw three out of four pitches to the leadoff Ryuya Taira in the first inning, swinging three out of four breaking ball to a third jay. It seemed he would use breaking ball-centered pitch that day, but from the second batter, Ryosuke Tatsumi, he threw fastball more pitches. "It's not just about the characteristics of the batter, but since it's hard to get up on the first pitch of play, we took that into account and conceded the first run. But given the current team situation, we have a vision where we can score a few runs, so we entered the game as little as possible to give up the first run."
In the first inning, Kojima gave up triple to McCusker, allowing the opposing team to score first. However, in the bottom of the inning, the offense responded with consecutive RBI hits from Toshiya Sato and Koki Yamaguchi, scoring 3 runs to take the lead. With a 2-run lead, Kojima gave up one run in the second inning, but kept the score at zero from the third inning onward.
"Lately, I think that might be a nice accent, so last time, since there wasn't a batter who matched that pitch, I talked with Toshiya Sato more and used it more often," he said, showing more pitch cutter than usual.
In the third inning, with the score 3-2 and two outs with no runner on base, he threw cutter to Naoki Sato, getting him to a 1-ball, 2-strike count before hitting a 140 km/h inside cutter for a groundout to second base. In the fifth inning, with the score 4-2, he faced Kohiro Komori, the leadoff batter, and got him to a 3-ball, 1-strike count before hitting a 138 km/h outside cutter for a called strikeout on the fifth pitch, a 145 km/h outside fastball for a swinging struck out.
"In a good way, the cutter's pitches aren't very reproducible. Because they're not reproducible, they curve a little, or even though they're called a cutter, they curve quite a bit. In a good way, they're scattered in a somewhat rough manner. When I aimed for a high cutter against a right-handed batter, they had the image of it coming in from a ball to strike, so they would swing at an outside fastball even if it was a ball. I think it had a good effect. Good control is important, but I think being a little rough around the edges is also important."
fastball also measured over 145 km/h, and with no 0-0 outs in the first inning, runner Tatsumi threw a look on the second pitch from 1st strike to get a 147 km/h fastball, and the fourth pitch, 147 km/h fastball, which put Taira down 3-2 in the third inning, was a good move after he missed the 1-ball, 2-strike on 1 ball, and got the struck out out.
"I think my strength has been consistently showing recently, and the fact that I can go straight for it in crucial moments gives me a sense of accomplishment. I think it's become a high-priority pitch for me. I believe it's very important to keep this up."
In his recent appearances, his two-pronged approach of throwing fork and change-up seems to be working quite effectively against hitter. "My fastball velocity range is getting similar, so ideally I'd like a slightly faster two-seam two seam fastball. My real ideal is to throw a two-two seam fastball like Seibu Lions 's Takeuchi throws, but even with just my changeup and fork, batters are reacting differently. I think there's a good difference, so I'm going to try to make good use of that."
Until now, they often struggled from late May to June, when interleague play began, but this season they have shown a stable pitch during this period as well. "I think I'm able to create games, but when I get support, I want to go for the 8th or 9th inning. I believe being able to throw long inning is my strength, so ideally, I can always be able to pitch around the 8th. At the very least, I think I can do it by now. I want to keep pitch that makes me want to entrust it to him." Kojima was knocked out in the Softbank Hawks game right after the season started, runs in the middle of the fifth inning and was removed from the first team roster. Show a different side of yourself in the mound compared to the previous match.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
