Lotte's Toshiya Nakamura practicing pitch in bullpen [Photo by Yuta Iwashita]
◆ Appeal in external matches"In the practice matches and the opening matches, I want to show what I have been doing, but from my standpoint, I have to get a result from the beginning. I hope we can bring that out there."
Lotte's Toshiya Nakamura, who had been so enthusiastic about the practice games and opening games at the Ishigaki Island Spring Camp, has thrown five innings in three games so far, allowing four hits, hit two strike out, and closer no runs in three games.
Minoru Nakamura made his first appearance in an overseas game on February 20 in a practice game against DeNA, where he was closer runs and gave up four hits in two innings, 44 pitches, and hit four hits, but in the opening game against The Giants on February 24, he was able to clean up the first inning without any danger.
In the "Kyushun Miyazaki Baseball Game" against Softbank on the 2nd, he entered the game in the eighth inning of an 0-9 game, and in the eighth inning, which was his first inning, he faced only nine pitches to three hitter three, and in the ninth inning, which was his second inning, he closer to retire three batters with a fast-paced pitch.
◆ Voluntary training strengthens physical strength
Minoru Nakamura worked hard in the fall training held at Zozo Marine Stadium after the end of last year's season with the theme of "strengthening physical strength, improving the quality of straightness, and practicing to learn one more new breaking ball," but in the off-season voluntary training, he worked hard to strengthen his physical strength, saying, "First of all, physical strength, running."
"I've been working on my slider since then, and if I didn't practice, I wouldn't be able to throw forever, so I threw a little bit more today (Feb. 4) in this camp. I hope I can get some kind of opportunity," he said, honing his new slider at the Ishigaki Island spring training camp.
He works hard to learn slider, but he has also thrown in the past. I wonder if it's a different slider than the slider I used to throw.
"The image is the same, but I want a slider that can get strike, and I want a count ball, so that's what I'm practicing."
After the end of last season, he said, "By the end of the season, my straight-line pitch velocity was dropping, so I need to work on it so that I can throw strong pitches at the end of the season," but he added, "It's the same with all things like running and pitching, but I think that if you work on the amount, you will naturally gain strength, so this camp is about throwing and running well. I want to build up my physical strength so that I can throw inning and not get burned," he said, adding that he continued to run and throw at the Ishigaki Island Spring Camp.
In recent years, he has shown an outstanding presence as a long reliever, but he has not been able to fight in one army for a year due to the frequent back-and-forth between the first and second armies. This season, I would like to fight as a team for a solid year.
Interview and text = Yuta Iwashita
