"It's tough, but we're all in the same boat, so I want to fight through these six consecutive matches."

Kyota Fujiwara of the Lotte Marines has completed a series of nine away games in the height of summer against Softbank Hawks (MIZUHO PayPay Dome), Seibu Lions (Belluna Dome), and Rakuten Eagles (Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park), and has expressed his determination for the upcoming home games against Nippon-Ham and Softbank Hawks.

In the first away game against Softbank Hawks on August 11, he got three hit off ace Moinelo, raising his batting average to .302. In the second game, he went 0-At Bat-3 but hit one Walk, and in the third game, he had two hit and one Walk. He had a spectacular three-game series against Softbank Hawks, At Bat 5-hit-11 with two Walk.

The first game of the three-game series against Seibu Lions was on August 14, with a 4 At Bat 0 hit 3-struck out record. In his fourth at-bat with two outs and a runner on first in the 8th inning with the score down 0-4, he tried to swing and hit against Wataru Matsumoto, but fell struck out swinging. Speaking of Fujiwara, he hits with a no-step style after being pushed back, but even after the strike was 2 in, he explained why he kept swinging his legs to hit, saying, "If I can swing my foot and hit at all, I didn't hit at all that day, so I decided to try various things."

The following day, on the 15th, in his fifth at-bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with one out and no runner on base, he hit a 147 km/h fastball, the third pitch thrown by Masaya Kuroda after a 2-ball count, into the right-field stands for his sixth home run of the season. This was his highest Home Run for the season.

"My goal is to hit double digits, and I'm still aiming for it, but I'm more focused on on-base percentage than home run. I think that will lead to more wins for the team, so while it would look impressive to hit 10 home run, that's just something I hope to achieve. I don't want to change that much, and I want to focus on on-base percentage as my top priority."

On the 16th, he went 0-At Bat hit 4, and in the three-game series Seibu Lions, he had 1 Walk and 0 hit in 13 Walk At Bat. After a day of travel, in the three-game series against Rakuten Eagles starting on the 18th, hit 1 At Bat-3 with 1 At Bat in the first game, went 0-for hit 5 on the 19th, but on the 20th he went 2-At Bat hit 3 with 2 walks, getting on Walk 4 times in 5 plate appearances that day, and also forced Rakuten Eagles pitcher to throw 31 pitches.

"When things are going badly, you have to get away with it by Walk, or rather, if you don't draw Walk, your batting average will drop. I think the difference between a good hitter and a bad hitter becomes clear when things are going badly. Anyone can hit when things are going well, so when things are Walk badly, how many walks or how many hits you can squeeze out is what matters for your performance. I'm the leadoff hitter, so I get more batting order than others, so I'm very careful about that."

When asked what he focuses on as the leadoff hitter, he said, "My on-base percentage. I don't want that to drop, and recently I've been able to draw Walk despite not being at my best, so I think that's pretty good for me."

In the game against the Nippon-Ham on the 21st, back at their home stadium, Zozo Marine Stadium, he selected two Walk. In his fifth at-bat in the 10th inning of extra inning, he hit a hit to right field that set up Koki Yamaguchi ’s walk-off hit, and with 1 hit and 2 Walk, he contributed to win.

Regarding his current hitting performance, he self-assessed, "It hasn't been good for a while, but it's gradually getting better. My condition isn't great, but I'll do my best to somehow squeeze out at least one hit."

In an interview on July 23rd, he said this summer, "I just want to hit as much as I can," and so far in August, his monthly batting average is .288.

"Of course, we all want to hit as many home runs as possible, and we think about that every month, but it's not that easy. It's a tough time for everyone, physically and in every way, but rather than enduring, we want to attack. If we become defensive mentally, we'll just get beaten, so we have to attack. That's the mindset we're going into it."

Kyota Fujiwara has the goal of winning the batting hitter. Although he hasn't yet reached the required number of plate appearances, his batting average is .291. While the team will continue to travel for games, from the game Rakuten Eagles on September 16th to the game against Nippon-Ham on September 28th, he will play 11 consecutive games in the Kanto region. If he keeps attacking and keeps pushing forward, winning the batting hitter will come into view.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita