Lotte's Shunsuke Nakamori has been shutting down hitters by using various strategies in his recent appearances, such as racking up struck out counts with his fork, throwing the slider to the outside of left-handed hitters and the inside of right-handed hitters, and throwing a one-seam fastball to the inside of right-handed hitters.

So far this season, he has pitched 35 1/3 innings and recorded 30 strike outs, with 19 of those strike outs coming from his fork. In the game against the Softbank Hawks on the 13th, with two outs and a runner on second in the 7th inning and the score at 4-7, he struck out Taisei Makihara swinging with a 136 km/h inside fork on a 2-ball, 2-strike count.

In an interview on August 4, Nakamori said that 'there have been many cases where the fork was being identified,' but currently he analyzes himself by saying, 'I think I am able to throw the fork at a good height.'

Looking at the fork since the interview on August 4, in the game against the Seibu Lions on the same day, with a 5-3 lead in the 7th inning, the 140 km/h fork that struck out the leadoff hitter Takuya Hiruma swinging on a 1-ball 2-strike count showed a good drop from the strike zone to the ball zone. In the game against the Orix Buffaloes on August 9, with a 4-2 lead and one out and a runner on second in the 7th inning, the 139 km/h inside fork that struck out Ryoto Kita swinging on a 2-ball 2-strike count also had a good drop from the strike zone to the ball zone.

Over the past month, he has been able to get swings and misses with a fork that drops from the strike zone into the ball zone.

Ultimately, I am a forkballer—or rather, a pitcher who gets swings and misses with vertical movement—so I think batters will be conscious of that once they are in a two-strike count. Even so, I am pitching to hit the right spots while making sure to mix in my slider and fastball effectively.

In the game against the Softbank Hawks on August 26, with two outs and no runner in the bottom of the 9th inning and the score at 3-5, the third pitch fork that got Kensuke Kondo to swing and struck out after two strikes was a ball that dropped into the strike zone. One wonders if it was intentionally thrown into the strike zone.

No, that's not it. I wanted to throw it into the ball zone, and I wanted Kondo-san to make an awkward swing, or rather, swing over the ball. Since he swung under it, I'm glad I got him struck out, but it would have been a waste if I had been hit when I had the advantage with a 2-strike count. The result was good, but I think I need to be more conscious of dropping the ball into a tougher spot in the ball zone.

◆ One-seam fastball

Regarding the slider, in the Rakuten Eagles game on August 20, he threw a 127 km/h slider on the outside for a called strike on the second pitch after a 1-ball count against the lead-off hitter Daisuke Nakashima in the 7th inning with a 4-1 lead. Then, with two outs and no runners in the 7th inning and a 4-3 lead, he threw a 130 km/h slider on the inside for a called strike on the first pitch to Itsuki Murabayashi, demonstrating his ability to throw the slider to the outside against left-handed hitters and to the inside against right-handed hitters.

Basically, I don't think left-handed hitters are waiting for a ball coming from the outside on the first pitch. Ideally, I want to throw pitches they aren't expecting, or use pitches they aren't waiting for to manage the count. It's also ideal to challenge them with power using fastballs to get fouls and set the count. On top of that, I think I've been able to throw the slider to the outside against lefties into good spots lately.

In an interview on August 4th, he said, "There have been many cases where the fork is being identified, so I started throwing a small slider again, hoping to have a ball that can get a count even if it reaches a full count. I want to throw it while assessing the batter's strengths and weaknesses," but he has not thrown a fast slider recently.

Fast sliders are numerically similar to forks in some ways, and since they aren't well-differentiated, I'd rather use my specialty fork. Recently, I've been trying to throw a one-seam to the inside against right-handers; I think just by making the batter aware of it, they won't be able to step in as much, which should make the outside pitches feel wider for right-handed hitters. Although Kurebayashi hit a home run off me, I want to keep using it more and more from now on. I hope to use it in situations where it's effective.

One wonders why he decided to throw a one-seam fastball.

Regarding right-handed batters stepping in, I wish I could use the outside of the plate more effectively or that my fastball velocity would improve a bit more, but for now, I feel like I'm just getting by while practicing to figure things out.

Regarding his fastball, he mentioned in an interview on August 4th that 'while the velocity is there numerically, the quality and metrics of the ball aren't that good.' However, he plans to refine it again after the season ends, stating, 'There are mechanical aspects involved, and it's difficult to change metrics during the season. I want to finish the remaining games without injury, and I believe I'll be able to practice a lot after that.'

For the remainder of the season, I intend to demonstrate my current abilities and fight through to the end.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita