Lotte's fourth-round draft pick, Yuya Sakurai (Shohei High School), is working to improve his batting skills by addressing the issues he encountered in the first team.

　櫻井は開幕からファームで4番の打順で出場し、『4番・サード』でプロ初出場となった3月14日の日本ハム二軍開幕戦、2－6の8回一死二、三塁の第4打席、川勝空人が2ストライクから投じた135キロのフォークを左中間を破る2点適時二塁打でプロ初安打・初打点をマークすると、4月26日のハヤテ戦、7－1の8回無死走者なしの第4打席、大生虎史が2ボール1ストライクから投じた4球目のストレートをレフトへプロ初本塁打。

In May, he appeared in 19 games, posting a .316 batting average and 13 RBI, which earned him the “SMBC Trust Bank Farm Monthly MVP Award” for May. He was promoted to the pros for the first time on May 31.During pre-game practice that same day against the Hanshin Tigers, he looked nervous as he warmed up before the full team practice. He took Ryusei Terachi and catch balls and fielded grounders, and during batting practice, he hit a powerful ball to the opposite field off center fielder.

On the same day, with the score 4–2 in the eighth inning and two outs with a runner on third, he came in as a pinch hitter for Polanco, making his professional debut.In his first professional at-bat, he swung and missed struck out at a 143-kilometer-per-hour pitch on the outside corner two seam fastball—the fifth pitch of a 2-ball, 2-strike count—thrown by Masaki Oikawa. He appeared in two games and had two at-bats for the first team, going 2-struck out, before being removed from the first-team roster on June 4.

After returning to the farm team, he recorded three hit in the game against Oisix on June 11, and in his second at-bat in the 4th inning with one out and no runner on base in the game against Hayate on June 19, he hit his second home run of the season, a bullet line drive to left field off the first pitch, a 110 km/h curveball thrown by Yuki Nomura.

After gaining experience in the first team, he set a challenge by saying, "I came home swinging the ball and wanted to wait for a pitch I can hit properly strike," and challenged himself in farm games.

Looking at his batting form, his back is straighter, and it looks like he's changed compared to when the season started. When asked about it, Sakurai himself said, "I changed my form, or rather, I changed how I look at the ball." Regarding his batting since changing how he looks at the ball, he said, "I still swing at balls outside the strike zone sometimes, but I think I'm getting better at judging them," indicating he's feeling some progress.

From the game against Oisix on July 14th to the game against The Giants' minor league team on July 20th, towards the end of the first half of the season, he hit hit in five consecutive games, saying, "I think if I can hit strike well, the ball will roll into the hit zone."

◆ Currently on a 32-game error-free streak

defense had committed 7 errors by the end of April, but has only committed one since May. He has been error-free for 32 consecutive games since the game against Yakult Swallows' minor league team on May 12th.

"Lately, there haven't been many batted balls coming my way, but I've been practicing defense with Coach Miki during the week, so I'm reviewing my performance and making sure I'm properly preparing for the games."

Behind Sakurai’s consistent performance (defense), it seems there is the influence of Coach Ryoji Miki (infield, defense, base running), who played as a utility player during his active career, never neglected his preparations to deliver results even before games began, and retired from active play while maintaining a streak of no errors in games in which he entered as a substitute—a streak that began on April 24, 2019, against the Seibu Lions.

Sakurai analyzed, "There are some mistakes that don't result in throw errors, but I think that with the help I get, the mistakes are disappearing."

Sakurai played in 71 games in the farm league during the first half of the season, recording a batting average of .2 Home Run, 29 RBI, an OPS of .634, and a batting average of .326 with runners in scoring position. He is scheduled to play as the 'number 5 DH' for Pacific League PM.

"Rather than focusing on the Fresh All-Star game, I want to make sure I don't swing at balls outside the strike zone throughout the season." He prioritizes overcoming his own weaknesses over the Fresh All-Star game. He is climbing the ladder step by step to become a key player for The Marines in the future.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita