Lotte's Humiya Motomae had been experimenting with a lowered elbow position during his self-training in January, but that position is gradually rising.
Honmae injured his left arm during a practice match against Rakuten Eagles on February 20, 24. On February 23 of the same year, he underwent screw fixation of the left humerus shaft at a hospital in Tokyo, and in 24, he did not appear in the first or second team, and became a training player from last season. After a long rehabilitation, he made a regular season return in the Seibu Lions second team match on September 24 last year, and also appeared in five games in the Miyazaki Phoenix League held after the regular season.
During the fall training, he experimented with a lower elbow form as a result of searching for a comfortable throwing position. After the farm league season began, he revealed in an interview on March 19th, "While throwing at camp, I realized that my weight transfer wasn't smooth. I've been trying to simply raise my arm in a position that's easy to raise, and transfer my weight in a position that's easy to transfer. I don't know if I've returned to my previous form, but I think I'm getting closer."
During an interview that same day, he said, "I'm doing this to make sure I don't waste any time, in order to speed things up from here on out." Now, more than two months after that interview, he has a positive feeling, saying, "My average fastball speed is increasing. The speed of breaking ball is also getting faster, so it's only little by little, but I think it's going well."
His elbow position is gradually rising. I wonder if this is the angle that feels comfortable for him to throw at now.
"Yes, that's part of it, and even when I'm throwing long distances, I'm more conscious of how I use my lower body than the position of my arm, so it's like my body follows from there. It feels like I'm naturally in that position." He is conscious of coordinating his upper and lower body.
Regarding hitter' reactions, he explained, "They're getting fouls, and my control has become much more stable. Just looking at my fastball, the way I'm using my front and lower body has changed a little. In March, I was getting swings and misses, and it wasn't intentional, but after analyzing it with an analyst, there was one point in how I was using my lower body that was causing me to lose balance, and that's where I was getting swings and misses in March. In terms of increasing my ball speed, that's both a good and bad thing, so I think it's a good thing that I've changed that and my ball speed has increased and I'm getting fouls."
He has been inning more and more innings, including three inning in a game against Yakult Swallows' minor league team on May 12th, but he emphasized that there are no problems, saying, "I have no concerns about my shoulder or elbow, and I didn't feel much damage the next day, so I think my stamina to pitch is fine."
He has pitched in 14 games so far, and ERA is 2.33, so he has produced results. "I've been able to keep it to zero, but I want to focus on the content of my pitching. If the content isn't good, I need to make a good impression and appeal to people, so I want to show more of my strengths to make a good impression," he said, not satisfied with the current situation.
"If I can make my fastball more powerful, or if I can study how to use it more effectively, and if I can make a good impression with my fastball, I think it will lead to being promoted to the main roster. I want to focus on the content of my pitches." From here on, he will aim to return to the main roster by focusing not only on the results but also on the content of his pitches.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
