"Basically, I'm going to stick to fastball pitches. I'm working on being able to overpower them with fastballs, so I think it's good that they're seeing me as a strong pitcher."

Lotte's Yuto Yoshikawa has yet to make an appearance in the first team this season, but he has been throwing powerful fastball in the farm league.

On May 3, in the Orix Buffaloes second team game with two runs innings closer, he said, "The last pitch was a pitch I put in a lot of power to get a swing miss, but the second pitch after the 3-ball 1-strike was really hard and relatively relaxed. Even so, the output was close to max, so I think I'm feeling pretty good," he said. With the score down 0-0 in the sixth inning with Ryoma Yamanaka one out and no runner, he threw the fourth pitch from the third pitch with a 147 km/h fastball, the fifth pitch was a low 147 km/h missed fastball, and the sixth pitch with a swing struck out and a 151 km/h fastball outside was outstanding.

In the Seibu Lions second-team game on May 23, when he runs two innings, he threw fastball over 150 km/h when runner was absent, and all fastball pitchers measured over 145 km/h. In the seventh inning of 2-3, he swung struck out the leadoff Ginjiro Sumitani all fastball with 1 ball and 2 strike, swinging and missing at 148 km/h fastball near the outside corner. "I thought it would be better to throw fastball on a bullpen, so I thought it would be better to go bold," he recalled.

In his third start of the season against Oisix on June 17, he showed powerful pitching, throwing 8 fastball out of 12 innings in the first inning, and threw 84 pitches over 6 innings, 57 of which were fastball.

fastball speed has clearly increased compared to last year, and it's also gained more power. Yoshikawa himself says, "That's definitely true. The average has simply gone up. It used to be in the low 40s, but now it's in the mid-to-late 40s, so I think it's gone up by about 2 or 3 kilometers per hour." He adds, "I think if the speed goes up, the power will come out even more, so I want to increase my speed. The power will come naturally."

fastball When asked why his performance has improved, he analyzed, “Simply put, my body has gained some strength, but last year I was kind of feeling my way through things, and there was a strong sense of uncertainty, especially at the start of matches.I’ve shifted my mindset a bit—instead of thinking, ‘I’m going to get hit,’ I’m approaching it with the attitude that ‘I probably won’t get hit.’ I think that’s why things have been going so well for me this season,” he analyzed.

cutter, thrown in the 137-138 km/h range, is also good. "I've been told that the speed of my cut fastball is increasing, and that it doesn't have too much of a curve, so it's like my fastball is slower and curves. I think that's working well to trick batters, and if it's a right-handed batter, it will lead to a swing and a miss, which will make my fastball seem even stronger or faster. I'd like to focus on those two things going forward."

change-up also had speed in the June 17 match against Oisix, swinging strike struck out from 2-2 on a 2-ball 2-0 lead against the leadoff walker in the second 0-0 draw.

"My coach has told me to swing my arm with all my might when I'm trying to get a strikeout, or rather, when I'm trying to get struck out, so I think it's obvious if there's any inconsistency in my form between my fastball and change-up. I throw change-up with the same arm strength as my fastball. I think 127 or 130 km/h is perfectly fine as long as I can get a swing and a miss. I'm not really worried about the speed."

In an interview on June 23rd, he expressed his determination, saying, "If I don't pitch next time and be on the first team the time after that, I'll be cut immediately given my position. Rather than someone else being demoted and me stepping up in their place, I think I need to have the spirit to push others aside and get myself up there. I don't think I can make it in the future without that kind of determination." In his first appearance since the game against Oisix on June 17th, against Yakult Swallows' minor league team on July 4th, he pitched 5 innings, throwing 72 pitches, hit only one hit, strike out four, BB one, and giving up no runs. Will his next appearance be on the first team mound, or in the farm league? He gives the impression that he could have a big breakout when he makes it to the first team. He is one of those pitcher that I personally want to see pitching in the first team that much.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita