Lotte's Akira Yagi has been pitch in securing wins for the team this season, supporting bullpen.
In the middle of the 2024 season, Yagi learned two seam fastball on the advice of manager Saburo (then manager of the minor league team), expanding pitch repertoire. Last season, he made a career-high 27 appearances and recorded 5 hold, but ERA was 5.96. It was a great shame that while he had many runs appearances, he also had many appearances where he gave up a lot of runs.
inning This season, he pitched 2 runs innings against The Giants on June 5, but he pitched 6 consecutive games without a loss runs from April 16 against Nippon-Ham to May 9 against Softbank Hawks and 4 consecutive games without a loss runs from May 17 against Orix Buffaloes to May 26 against Hiroshima. inning closer He pitched 2 1/3 innings without a loss in the games against Orix Buffaloes on April 22 and Softbank Hawks on April 25 runs and 2 innings without a loss in the games against Softbank Hawks on May 9 and Rakuten Eagles on May 24 runs.
When asked why he hasn't given up many runs this season, he said, "Last year, close pitches would be called balls, and then after balls, I'd throw a pitch in a sweet spot and get hit. That was basically how it was, so this year I'm throwing with the intention of it being a foul ball. I think that's the difference."
The types of pitches he's throwing seem unchanged from last season. Could he have changed something about his approach outside of pitch?
"I feel like I've changed my approach in terms of my mindset." When asked specifically what he changed, he said, "When I was in the farm team, Coach Mima had always told me, 'You're throwing such good pitches, so why are you getting hit?' even when I was still playing, so I decided to be more relaxed," indicating that the positive advice he received from farm team pitcher coach Manabu Mima was the catalyst.
"I simply changed my mindset from thinking, 'It's going to be a foul,' to throw with confidence. That way, even close pitches start going for strike."
He also revealed that the accuracy of his pitches has improved, saying, "I think the accuracy of my slider has also improved, so being able to use slider instead of just relying on my fastball, two-seam two seam fastball, and fork means I have a wider range of options, which gives me more confidence."
He has recorded a team-high five wins this season, and has been frequently called upon to change the momentum of the game. "My job is to pitch long inning, so I sometimes give up Walk, but my job is to challenge the batter and get them out. I don't think about the flow of the game; I just do my own pitching."
As he was pitching, he emphasized, "Whether it's slider or two seam fastball, I'm not throwing pitches that are too difficult; I'm able to challenge them within the strike zone and get them out. I'm confident that even if I throw a pitch that's a little easy to hit, I can still get outs."
two seam fastball along with fork has become one of his weapons. He said that when he first learned to throw two seam fastball midway through 2024, he discovered the fun and joy of getting batters to hit ground balls. Regarding his current thinking, he told us, "The power output is different now, and the ball speed range is lower, but I'm still able to closer the batters well. There's a certain enjoyment in moving the ball while throwing it."
"I believe my job is to perform well in the situations where the manager gives me the opportunity, so I'll just focus on doing my best wherever I'm assigned." Sometimes he's called upon to pitch when the opposing lineup is gaining momentum, a role that presents different challenges than pitcher pitch in winning situations, but he wants to continue to produce results here, climb the ranks, and support bullpen throughout the season.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
