Shuta Ishikawa, who was moved to the bullpen, has pitched 9 inning over 6 games—combining both the first and second teams—since the June 23 Chunichi game against the second team, and has closer with no runs.
In his first appearance as a reliever—a June 23 minor league game against Chunichi—Shu Ishikawa threw 10 of 13 pitches in one inning, relying heavily on his fastball to overpower the opposition pitch. However, in his next outing on June 28 against Nippon-Ham, he pitched one inning and threw 30 pitches, with his fastball consisting of just 8 pitches, primarily breaking ball.I wonder if he was pitching with a specific focus depending on the day in the farm league—
"In the game against Nippon Ham, I thought things were getting dangerous, so I threw fork, and fork worked well, so I threw it again. With no bases loaded and fork, I got a swing and a miss with a fork, and catcher was calling for fork, so I just kept throwing them," he revealed, adding, "Basically, I want to throw mainly fastballs, and I want to cherish that, and my style is to get a foul ball hard and then closer with a curveball or fork. If I can get ahead in count with breaking ball as reliever, it's a lot easier, and basically I think I'll be challenging them in the pitch zone as much as possible."
What caught my attention was that he wasn't throwing cutter that he used to throw when he was a starter. In an interview on July 23rd, he muttered, "I just don't have the luxury to do that." He explained, "For example, in the second time through the batting order, I can throw a cut fastball to get ahead count, but in the first at-bat, there's no need to throw a cut fastball that's too easy to hit and not very polished, so that's one of the reasons."
Furthermore, he appears to be throwing a two-seam two seam fastball to the inside corner of right-handed hitter. In his first appearance since being promoted to the first team on July 19 against Softbank Hawks, with the score 0-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning with one out and no runner on base, he threw a 146 km/h pitch on the inside corner on the third pitch after a 1-ball, 1-strike to get Umino to swing and miss, and it was very good.
When asked if the inside ball he threw to Umino was two seam fastball, Ishikawa Shuu himself replied, "It was a straight pitch," and added, "The manager told me to try throwing two seam fastball, so I've been practicing it, but I haven't had the time to throw it because I'm not confident enough. I hope to be able to create count and situations where I can throw it when I have the time."
In his second appearance since being promoted, against Nippon-Ham on July 31, he took the mound in the 5th inning with the score 0-5. He pitch 3 innings, throwing 44 pitches, allowing only one hit, hit out two, and closer no strike out, showcasing runs characteristic quick tempo.
In his second year after the transfer, he started the season with the second team, but after being promoted, he didn't runs in either of the two games. pitcher signs of fatigue are evident, and this summer, Shuiri Ishikawa's strength will definitely be needed. "It really doesn't matter what position you are, so just throw whatever you're told. No matter what situation you get, even if you score a run, there's never a good development. You might be closer to inning your pitching at zero and move the game forward, but that's not the point—I'll keep going with zero. That's what matters most most. If I don't pitch in a way that makes people think it's okay to be old, or don't think I'm from my position or situation, I'll lose my ability to pitch. I want to be able to deliver results with quality." Committed to zero and contributing to the team.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
