Lotte's Keisuke Sawada has been throwing mainly powerful fastball since the start of the season, but recently he has been mixing in breaking ball pitch is currently on a five-game scoreless runs.

fastball remains powerful. fastball struck out threw to get Shuta Tonosaki looking with the bases strike and no bases loaded in the 7th inning of the game against Seibu Lions on July 15, he said, "I threw it with all my might, so I think it was a good pitch." On August 2, in the game against Nippon-Ham, he said, "I think it was just okay," when he got Daigo Kamikawahata, the leadoff batter in the 8th inning, to hit a ground ball to the pitcher with a 149 km/ fastball on the inside corner with a 2-ball, 2-strike. He also threw a 151 km/h fastball on the inside corner to get Tatsuki Tatsuki Mizuno swinging and struck out with a 1-ball, 2-strike count in the 8th inning, with two outs and no runner on base, showing that fastball on the inside corner against left-handed hitter are also good.

Regarding fastball he throws to the outside corner for right-handed hitter and the inside corner for left-handed hitter, he says, "The diagonal fastball is the most important pitch, so I throw it with great care."

He has been training hard since last fall aiming for a fork that drops breaking ball quickly, and since the preseason game against Orix Buffaloes on March 10, he has been throwing splitter with a shallower grip. Currently, he says, "For now, splitter is the first pitcher to avoid floating and extra-base hits, so having him swing up to one bounce is pretty good." On July 15, in the game against Seibu Lions, with two outs and a runner on second and third in the 7th inning with a score of 3-5, he got Canario to swing at struck out from 2 balls and 2 strike in a 130 km/h splitter was fantastic.

slider, who were the core of the pitch last season, supported the Nippon-Ham pitch this season, including a 0-3 out-runner game on August 2, swinging struck out on the fourth slider pitch from 1-3, 2-strike in the 8th inning with one out and no to Yuya Shindo.

"I feel like my arm is swinging and curving, so I'm making fine adjustments, but recently it's started to come together, and it feels like it's becoming a pitch I can use to win games."

He has been throwing mainly fastball since the start of the season, and in an interview on May 12, he said, "I'm trying to overpower them with fastball, but they're not quite fastball perfectly, so I think it's better to throw slider and splitter rather than change-up... Once they start hitting fastball perfectly, I'm thinking of using the depth of change-up to challenge them." In an interview on June 28, he said, "I'll use it when the opportunity arises," showing that he has been closer without using his most confident change-up, very often.

Lately, he's been throwing not only fastball, splitter, and slider, but also change-up more often. "I don't think (hitter) are looking for them, so it's become a pitch that helps me get ahead in count, and I'm hoping to be able to use it as a strikeout pitch in my pitching strategy."

In the July 23 game Rakuten Eagles, where he closer one inning without runs, he threw 11 pitches, 9 of which were breaking ball, and his pitch using breaking ball really highlighted the strength of his fastball. "My pitch distribution was unbalanced, sometimes giving up power hits or home run, so I'm thinking about various things as I play."

This season, he has been pitching for the first team since the start of the season, and has already made a record 33 appearances since joining the team. "I will do my best to play in as many games as possible." Utilizing fastball, splitter, slider, and change-up, he will be pitching a lot this summer, his fourth year with the team.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita