"This is your first time participating in a full team practice today, right?"

Lotte's Shota Ueda joined the team's minor league practice at Lotte Urawa Baseball Stadium on the 18th.

Last season, he made starting line-up appearance in the first team in two years, starting in the game Seibu Lions on September 23rd. He led the team to win with excellent leadership, closer pitcher Yuki Karakawa, Koshiro Hiroike, and Rikuto Yokoyama runs. He also showed his presence at the end of the season, getting his first professional hit off Takayuki Kishi in Rakuten Eagles game against Rakuten on September 30th.

Regarding his offseason training for the new season, he said, "I was aiming to improve my overall level, but in terms of defense, I focused on strengthening my throwing and in batting, I was looking to increase my power." He has been working on refining his throwing and batting.

Regarding spring training, Ueda said, "Just being on the first team naturally puts me in a good mood, and I'm working hard," indicating that he started with the Miyakonojo group and was naturally motivated. Watching his batting practice, he was hitting the ball with more power, and Ueda himself said, "I feel like I'm making good progress, and I was in better condition than ever before during my off-season training, so I'm looking forward to playing in actual games."

Regarding the specific changes he made, he explained, "During my offseason training, I was working on things like timing, and hitting strong balls by making contact with the ball further forward, but now, working with Coach Nishioka, I'm trying to hit the ball at a closer point. It's like I'm expanding the range of my hitting range."

"First of all, I want to stand out with defense. I also want to showcase the power of my batting," he said, having already made his presence felt with his bat in exhibition games, getting one hit in a practice game against Hiroshima on February 18th and two hit and three RBI in a practice game against Hanwha of South Korea on February 22nd.

He had been showing signs of a different year, but on February 25th, he injured his right lower leg during practice. On February 27th, he underwent Achilles tendon repair surgery at a hospital in Tokyo.

When I visited Lotte Urawa Zozo Marine Stadium for coverage, he was wearing a cast on his right foot during Hayate's pre-game practice on April 25, but in the Rakuten Eagles second team game on May 5, the cast came off and he was walking between the outfield poles. During the Chunichi farm team practice on May 26, he ran between the outfield poles of Zozo Marine Stadium. On July 21, during the Orix Buffaloes farm team game, he was throwing catch balls with ground.

On July 30, he resumed sprinting and was seen doing so at the Lotte Urawa reserve team’s training facility ground.During Lotte Urawa’s practice session on August 18, he said, “I’ve been doing this indoors while wearing protective gear, but today was my first time doing it outside. I just wanted to try going through my usual routine,” catcher wearing protective gear and working with a physical therapist catch with a ball.

"I can block the ball at a practice level, but I still can't react quickly enough to the actual speed of pitcher 's ball, or rather, my reaction is slow, so I think that's the problem," he said, practicing blocking the balls thrown by the physical therapist.

He smiled and said, "It was fun, or rather, it felt great," referring to his first batting practice on ground in a long time.

He revealed that he has been practicing sprinting, which he started again on July 30th, saying, "I've been practicing to some extent, but my acceleration is slow, and there are still many challenges." He also explained his current situation, saying, "I've started practicing baseball techniques, but I'm not at the level I'm aiming for yet, so I think it will take a little longer."

When asked about the checkpoints for returning to actual games, he replied, "I think the important thing is how well I can react when I get into bullpen, so that's it."

"I haven't done it yet (catching pitches from pitcher in bullpen), but I plan to do it gradually. First of all, I think I need to be able to field, so once I can do that, I think I'll finally be at the level of a real game."

I wonder what thoughts are going through their minds as they undergo rehabilitation and practice now.

"I don't think I can go back to how I was before, so I'm aiming higher and working hard so that people will think I'm even better than I was before I got injured."

Regarding the improvements he's made, he said, "Because of my injury, I couldn't really do much upper body weight training before, so being able to dedicate time to that is a big difference from before."

Looking ahead, he expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "I want to show stability in defense, and since batting is my weakness, I hope to play in a way that shows people that I'm improving."

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita