More than a month has passed since Lotte's Tsuyoshi Yamasaki was re-promoted on July 10, and he now has more opportunities to appear in the starting line-up at short stop.

After being promoted again, he appeared as a pinch hitter in the July 10th game against the Orix Buffaloes and recorded a hit. In the following game against the Orix Buffaloes on the 11th, he made his first appearance in the starting line-up since his transfer, batting 7th and playing third base, and recorded one hit. After recording a multi-hit game in the July 16th game against the Seibu Lions, where he started as the number 9 short stop, he gradually increased his opportunities in the starting line-up and finished the period before the All-Star break with a batting average of .279 and 1 RBI.

In the July 31st game against Nippon-Ham, which was the first game after the All-Star break, he appeared as the number 9 hitter and short stop, and in the second half of the season so far, he has been in the starting line-up as a short stop in a team-high 17 games.

He fulfilled his role as the number 9 hitter by connecting to the top of the lineup—number 1 hitter Kyota Fujiwara and number 2 hitter Misho Nishikawa—while recording hits in four consecutive games from the Orix Buffaloes game on August 9th to the Seibu Lions game on the 14th.

In the game against the Orix Buffaloes on August 9, in the 7th inning with the score 4-2, a leadoff hit to right field by Yamazaki led to consecutive hits by Fujiwara and Nishikawa to create a bases loaded situation, which resulted in a sacrifice fly to center by Koki Yamaguchi.

He struggled with a four-game hitless streak from the game against the Rakuten Eagles on August 20th to the game against the Softbank Hawks on the 26th, muttering, "Lately, it's not been great. I'm in bad form." To recover his batting form, he revealed, "I'm focusing on strengthening my muscles, around the knees, and my lower body because it's still weak," and looked forward, saying, "I believe I can still do much more, so even though things haven't been good lately, I want to keep working to make an impression."

In the game against Nippon-Ham on August 28, in the 7th inning with two outs and the bases bases loaded, with the score 2-6, he came to bat for the third time and said, "It was good to be able to get a hit after a long time," as he hit a 143 km/h fork, the seventh pitch thrown by Koki Kitayama with a 2-ball, 2-strike count, to center fielder field for a two-run RBI single. "I'm happy," he said, expressing his joy, and thanked the coaching staff for letting him stay at bat instead of being pinch-hit for that chance, saying, "I'm really glad I was able to get a hit."

While his batting is impressive, his contribution to defense is also significant. In the game against the Orix Buffaloes on July 26, with a 2-0 lead in the 4th inning and runners on first and second with no outs, he caught a ball hit by Tomoya Mori that looked like it would drop between left field and short stop while falling down, and got the second base runner Ryoma Nishikawa, who had strayed off the base, out. In the game against Nippon-Ham on August 21, with the score at 1-3 in the 6th inning and two outs with no runners, he extended his left hand and made a catch while facing backward on a fly ball hit by Daiki Asama behind the short stop.

I want to be able to turn the balls I induce into outs. I think I'm doing that now. I'm playing with confidence.

Ryusei Ogawa, the second baseman who forms the middle infield duo, is his junior by three years at Kokugakuin University. However, he said that they had "almost no" experience forming a middle infield duo during their university days.

short stop is a physically demanding position. Having undergone surgery on his left knee during his time with Rakuten Eagles, and not having played in either the first or second team last season, fatigue is a concern. Yamazaki explained, "It's a little. It's not zero, but it's something that happens to everyone."

The Marines have 30 games remaining. He expressed his determination, saying, "I want to contribute by firmly doing what I need to do."

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita