"It's completely different from what I expected. After winning the opening game, we haven't been able to win for a while, and I've realized it's not easy at all."

Lotte's second-round draft pick, Kaito Mori (Meiji University), has keenly felt the harsh realities of professional baseball.

At the new player announcement ceremony held last December, he declared his goal to win "Rookie of the Year," and he impressed at the rookie joint voluntary training in January, the Miyakonojo spring training camp in February, and practice games and exhibition games, and on March 21, he was tentatively selected as the opening day pitcher.

In the opening game against Seibu Lions on March 27, he said, "I was incredibly nervous. I don't think anyone can do both the opening game and my first appearance on the mound at the same time, and I'm glad I was able to pitch five runs innings." He held the opponent to four hit and no runs over five innings, closer the remarkable feat of making his professional debut and win his first game on the opening day.

After making a stellar debut, he pitched 7 innings with 5 hit and 2 runs in his next start against the Softbank Hawks on April 3. Although he suffered disappointing mound in his starts against the Nippon-Ham on April 15 and the Orix Buffaloes on April 22, he secured his second win on May 3 against the Seibu Lions, pitching 7 innings with 6 hit, no runs, and closer.Although Mouri got off to a strong start, he failed to win another game after this appearance. After suffering his third loss on June 10 against the Chunichi—pitching three innings with 10 runs—he was demoted to the farm team.

When asked about the aspects of the professional world that he found to be tough, he first mentioned physical condition. "In college, there are spring and fall matches, lasting up to two months at most. There are matches one after another, and they're only on weekends. In the pros, you play every day, six days a week, with six days in between. I was sometimes given days off, but I realized that the ability to recover during that time is extremely important."

Next, he mentioned the level of hitter. "The level of the batters is completely different from when I was in college. There's no time to let my guard down at all. I'm constantly focused, and I'm not trying to push myself too hard, but people often say that because I'm a rookie, I need to be more aggressive! I don't really like being called a rookie, but since it's my first year, I think I need to try out various things and find what works for me."

He shares words of reflection, but on May 3, in Game Seibu Lions, he threw a 149 km/h walk on the second pitch from the first pitch to the leadoff Junichiro Kishi in the fourth inning with a 5-0 lead, fastball on May 20 in the game Seibu Lions, where he hit Canario on a 1-1, 2-strike 1-1 in the third inning with one out and a runner on second base, swinging struck out on the fourth pitch at 144 km/h fastball; and on June 3 in Game Yakult, throwing a 139 km/h fastball on the first pitch to leadoff Yuyuha Matsushita in the 0-0 score, he threw a powerful fastball to the "right-handed hitter inside course."

"I am able to throw inside to right-handed hitter, but sometimes it's a little off and becomes a ball, or it becomes too easy to hit, which is causing me trouble. I need to be able to get ahead count and get ahead in strike, but if I don't go with that kind of image in mind, my pitching in the last few games has been causing me trouble. I need to hit more foul balls and improve my control. In the pros, strike zone is much smaller, so I think I need to get used to that."

breaking ball Also, in the June 3 game against the Yakult, with the score tied 0–0 in the fifth inning with two outs and a runner on first, he faced a tough at-bat against Osuna but managed to get him to swing and miss struck out on the ninth pitch—a 133-kilometer-per-hour fastball two seam fastball—after a 2-ball, strike count. That pitch was excellent.

"There are good points too. However, if the pitch I throw to get struck out is a little too easy to hit, the batter can finish me off in one swing. I want to improve the precision of those kinds of pitches while I'm here in the farm system, so that when I'm called up to the first team, I can perform well and make sure I don't fall back down here when I get there."

Having pitched in the starting rotation for the first team, his weaknesses became clear. "I think it's control. Control of my fastball, control of breaking ball. I'm not a blazing fastball pitcher, so I can't just overpower batters with a strong fastball. I'm working on refining my control and developing my own pitching style." The time he spent with the first team and the time he's currently spending working on his weaknesses in the farm team are by no means wasted. This is an important preparatory period for Kaito Mori to make a big leap forward as a professional baseball player. He will face his weaknesses and aim for even greater heights.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita