Lotte's Genki Ishigaki has pitched 16 inning in 14 games since his professional debut in a minor league game against Nippon-Ham minor league team on April 11th, striking out 27 struck out.

inning Although he has surpassed struck out, Motoki Ishigaki says, “It just so happens that struck out is the result, but I’m not really paying it any mind,” showing that he isn’t bothered by it at all.

In the Nippon-Ham second team game on the 11th, he pitched in the 8th inning with a score of 3-4, got the leadoff Yuma Imagawa out of 2 balls 2 strike on the fifth pitch, a 150 km/h fastball outside, and got the leadoff pitcher to struck out. He then grounded out Yushin Shimizu on the fourth pitch, 139 km/h cutter from 1 ball, 2 strike, and finally swung pinch hitter Daiki Asama from 1 ball 2 strike on the fourth pitch, 138 km/h splitter struck out. On this day, he threw 1 inning and 13 pitches, allowing 0 hit, allowing 2 strike out, 0 BB, and runs no pitches.

◆ fastball, splitter, cutter, curveball

When Ishigaki was interviewed on June 16, he said about fastball, "I'm working on being able to throw fastball powerful fastball with good velocity," but now he's looking ahead and says, "My speed hasn't been great lately, but I'm getting a few strikeouts, so I want to get even stronger."

On July 12 against Hayate, in the 9th inning with one out and a runner on first struck out, he got Shohei Suzuki to a 1-ball, 2-strike with an outside 149 km/h fastball in the 9th inning, 3-8 with two outs and a runner on first, and got Junsei Ōwatari on a 2-ball, 2-strike struck out for an outside 149 km/h fastball. On July 27 in the Fresh All-Star game, he threw to Yasushi Sasaki with two outs and a runner on third in the first inning, throwing a 153 km/h fastball on the first pitch.

He appears to be throwing some good fastball, but he pointed out areas for improvement, saying, "Personally, I don't feel like I'm doing well, so I'll work on correcting that."

In an interview on June 16, splitter said, "If I can easily get strike by count, I think it will be easier, so I'm currently practicing that."

Looking at the pitch that followed, in the Chunichi farm team game on June 24, with the score 2-3 in the seventh inning with no outs and a runner on first, he swung splitter a 136 km/h on the second pitch inside from the 1st strike, showing he was able to throw splitter of count pitches solidly.

Ishigaki revealed, "I haven't had a good feel for splitter lately, so I'm focusing on making sure they don't slip off properly. Right now, I'm consciously trying to get a good grip on the ball and drop it properly."

cutter Also, in the August 6 second-team game at Chunichi—with the score tied 1–1 in the sixth inning, two outs, and runners on second and third—the first pitch he threw to Kota Ishibashi, a 138-kilometer-per-hour outside fastball that Ishibashi took for a ball (cutter), was excellent.Ishigaki expressed his positive feelings, saying, “I’ve been trying to throw the ‘cutter’ since my last game (Chunichi, a minor league game), and it’s been feeling good—I’ve been getting quite a few swings and misses with it, so I’m throwing it with confidence.” In the minor league game on the 11th (Nippon-Ham), he also threw the cutter.

What caught my attention was that he wasn't using the curveball he'd been throwing in previous games against Chunichi Dragons' minor league team. He told me, "I don't have a bad feeling about it, so I'm keeping it ready to throw anytime."

The right-hander is gaining practical experience in minor league games, including pitching in Nippon-Ham Fighters' minor league game on the 11th, just four days after his previous start in Chunichi Dragons' minor league game on the 6th. "I haven't pitched in the majors yet, so I want to be able to do that this year." He is working hard to produce results in the farm system so that he will be ready whenever he is called up to the first team.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita