Lotte's Yuki Karakawa is "changing."

The first "change" is the curveball. As he mentioned in an interview on April 12, "The velocity has increased, I can use it to get a count, and I can throw it even after getting ahead, so I think it just depends on how I use it," he was throwing a fast vertical curveball in the 120 km/h range during the first half of the season. After the All-Star break, in the game against The Giants' second team on August 7, with one out and a runner on second in the first inning trailing 0-1, he got a called strike against Richard with a 115 km/h curveball on the first pitch and a foul on the second 115 km/h curveball. Similarly, in the game against the DeNA second team on August 25, he frequently used curveballs in the 110 km/h range, and in his recent appearances, he has hardly thrown any curveballs in the 120 km/h range.

Regarding the reason, he explained, "My perception of the curveball has changed compared to before. Previously, because there was the aspect of being a reliever in an extra inning, I had a desire to get swings and misses with the curveball. However, with the addition of the slider, the role of the curveball has changed. Since I am now using it as a pitch to change pace and to get a count, I feel like it doesn't need to be fast right now."

He is also throwing a slider that drops vertically into the inside corner for left-handed hitters. In his previous appearance against the DeNA second team on August 25, in the top of the 4th inning with a 1-0 lead, he induced a swing and miss from the leadoff hitter Hummel with a second-pitch slider that dropped vertically inside after a 1-strike count.

When I interviewed him previously, he mentioned that he focuses on throwing with a horizontal break, but the ball ends up dropping on its own. Should I assume that his approach remains unchanged from that time?

“Nothing has changed. In my mind, there's no need for the inside pitch to a left-handed batter to break horizontally, so I think I was able to get a swing and miss with a good mental image.”

In the Rakuten Eagles farm team game on August 16, with one out and no runners in the 6th inning trailing 0-9, the 5th pitch thrown to Shoya Sakaue at a 1-ball 2-strike count was a 135 km/h breaking ball. Also, in the DeNA farm team game on August 25, with one out and no runners in the 5th inning trailing 1-3, the 4th pitch thrown to Tatsuo Ebina at a 1-ball 2-strike count was a 138 km/h low ball. Since these appeared to be splitters, I confirmed with him, and he replied, 'Yes, probably,' indicating he has re-introduced the splitter he used to throw.

When asked why he decided to throw the splitter again, he revealed, "I wanted to show the batters that I have this kind of pitch; it's a ball I used to throw, and I've been throwing it a bit after being told to by (Takahiro) Matsunaga." While he expressed a desire to induce ground balls with the splitter, Karakawa had previously indicated a preference for inducing pop-ups to get fly outs.

Regarding the cutter and such, I hope they result in pop flies, but there are times when that's not the case, like when there's a runner. When the batter has a specific target, I feel like I want that kind of pitch as well, so that's why I'm throwing the splitter.

In his recent appearances, he has often thrown his signature cutter to the inside corner against both left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters.

In the minor league game against The Giants on August 7, with the score 1-1 in the 3rd inning and one out with a runner on second, the 138 km/h inside cutter thrown to Cabbage for a called strike on the second pitch was excellent. So was the 145 km/h inside cutter that struck out Shion Otsubo looking on a two-strike count in the 6th inning with two outs and a runner on first during the 0-9 game against Rakuten Eagles on August 16. Additionally, the 142 km/h first-pitch inside cutter thrown to Ryota Jojo with one out and no runners in the 3rd inning of the 0-0 game against DeNA's minor league team on August 25 was also impressive. One wonders if this is due to a desire to improve the precision of pitches to the inside corner.

I think it's difficult for any batter to hit a ball that comes right to the inside corner, so I feel like the ratio has increased because we know we can be a closer if we throw there.

Although it feels like his pitch style has changed since the beginning of August, Karakawa prefaced by saying, "It's not so much that it's changed," and then analyzed himself, saying, "Within myself, the slider is one thing, the fact that the curveball has become slower is another, and starting to throw the splitter is also a factor; even though it's at the minor league level, I feel like I'm gaining more range." The right-hander, who has expanded his pitch repertoire, will continue to prepare so that he is ready whenever he gets the call-up to the major league team.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita