Lotte Roki Sasaki “Reiwa Monster” Background of Awakening April 29, 18:19

The last 105th ball was a 146kg forkball.

19 strikeouts in one game, which is on par with professional baseball records.

And pitcher Roki Sasaki of Lotte who achieved the historic achievement of the perfect game which is the 16th person in the history for the first time in 28 years.

After squeezing his right hand, he spread his arms and smiled on the mound.

20 years old in his third year as a professional.

Why did pitcher Sasaki, who has been called the "monster of Reiwa", awaken in this match?

I will look back on it with the testimony of the people involved.

(Sports News Department Reporter Takahiro Moriwaki)

Awakening

A fastball from a flexible form.

Professional batters struck out one after another in front of me.

As the number increased, the noise of the stadium increased.

"It looks like you're watching a different sport,"

the announcer tweeted next to me, who was writing the score at the press.

April 10, 2022.

ZOZO Marine Stadium (Chiba) on Sunday.

Lotte vs. Orix 3rd round.

It was the starting pitcher for pitcher Sasaki in the third game of the season.

In this game, pitcher Sasaki pitched the first ball to Orix's No. 1 Shunta Goto, which was a straight in the 160-kilometer range.

Push the 2nd and 3rd balls straight, and hit the 4th ball with a forkball with a large head to make a second ground ball.

This was the beginning of everything.

No. 2 Valera and No. 3 Masataka Yoshida struck out with a straight and forkball in two strikes and struck out with a forkball.

I felt a response by suppressing one inning with only 10 balls.

Pitcher Roki Sasaki

"I was able to get ahead of the strike and the quality of the straight and forkball was very good."

"Straight" and "Forkball"

From the second time onward, he took strikeouts one after another, centering on straights and forkballs.

He finished three times and struck out seven in a row.

He completely suppressed nine batters.

Of the 36 pitchers thrown by pitcher Sasaki so far, 34 were straight or forkballs.

Why was it possible to suppress the opponent's hitting line with only these two types of balls?

We talked to Takashi Toritani, who retired from active duty at Lotte last year after marking 2000 hits in professional baseball.

Takashi Toritani

"The straight and the forkball have almost the same trajectory. The forkball falls from the same line (in front of the batter). If the straight is about 145 km," I was able to wait for the straight and react to the forkball. However, considering that the straight base is 160 kg, it is easy to miss the ball because the balance between what to do and time does not match. It is beyond human imagination. "

Incident

Pitcher Sasaki continued to strike out one after another, breaking the professional baseball record with 10 consecutive strikeouts in the 4th inning.

He struck out three more five times and struck out 13 consecutive strikeouts.

But six times, something went wrong.

There was a scene where the straight shot rotated and came out higher.

Lotte Ryuji Kimura, pitcher coach

"The tendency to go to the ball zone because you aim too much is when the condition of pitcher Sasaki is not good. I will

December 9, 2019.

Lotte's new player presentation was held.

Here, pitcher Sasaki, who was in first place in the draft, was talking about his professional goals in a brand new uniform.

Pitcher Roki Sasaki

"The perfect pitcher is ideal for me, so I want to do my best to become such a pitcher."

However, there was a problem because we wanted that "perfectness".

That was "strength".

When the ball came first in the game, it became stronger, and the ball tended to walk and walk higher, becoming a walk or being hit, and self-destructing.

However, there was a player behind the fact that pitcher Sasaki did not self-destruct by "strength" in this game.

I'm Torao Matsushita (18), a catcher.

Younger catcher

Matsushita is the first draft rookie wearing the opening starting lineup mask even though he is in his first year after graduating from high school.

Pitcher Sasaki is the type who wants to assemble a pitch himself, and until now he has been shaking his head to the sign without hesitation against his senior catcher.

However, as I teamed up with Matsukawa, who is younger than me from the camp, and gradually gained experience in bullpen, practice games, and open games, I gradually opened my heart to Matsukawa, who actively communicates with me. ..

Pitcher Roki Sasaki

"It really captures my thoughts and gives me the ball I want to throw with a sign."

After 6 times when a slight change was seen.

Matsukawa said

to pitcher Sasaki,

"Let's keep it simple and at a good tempo as usual ."

Matsukawa talked about this scene as follows.

Torao Matsushita

"There is a place where pitcher Sasaki wants 100%. I think that he may be thinking about pitching himself or pitching himself. If you think more simply, it may be more advantageous. "

There were seven pinches in this match.

Three consecutive balls against No. 1 Shunta Goto.

It was a scene where I missed a perfect game if I removed the strike zone even with one more ball.

However, pitcher Sasaki has rebuilt from here.

He hit two straights in a row on a light fly and overcame this pinch.

Pitcher Roki Sasaki

"Thrown while believing in Matsukawa while controlling his heart"

Perfect game

8 times.

Pitcher Sasaki took three strikeouts in a row as if he had raised the gear one step further, leaving three outs until the perfect game.

A mound that has never been experienced nine times for pitcher Sasaki, who has never completed a complete game in his third year as a professional.

The stadium was filled with expectations and tension.

Short Yudai Fujioka

"It was a unique feeling. I thought that I would never hit (in defense), so I thought I could witness a great scene."

Catcher

Ko Matsukawa "It was my

first time and I was excited."

Director Hitoshi

"I thought I'd do it someday, but what can I do at such an early stage?"

Orix goes on a pinch hitter offensive.

Pitcher Sasaki took two outs with just four balls, and the following batter was Yutaro Sugimoto, the king of home runs last year.

Strike out three forkballs in a row.

It was the first perfect game in 28 years.

[Pitching content]

Number

of throws: 105

Strikeouts: 19 (15 strikeouts / 4 missed strikeouts)

　[

　Records,

　etc.

]

Perfect game, first complete game achieved

* Strikeout

　19 strikeouts: Japan professional baseball record Thailand

　13 consecutive strikeouts: Professional baseball new record

Pitcher Roki Sasaki

"I wasn't really conscious of the perfect game, so I threw it thinking that it would be okay to be hit. I was the one who gave up on the perfect game, so I wonder if that was good."

Days of patience

There were days of patience in achieving the feat.

Pitcher Sasaki, who marked 163 kilometers in high school and was called the "Monster of Reiwa" and attracted attention.

In the summer of his third year of high school, he was unable to reach the final mound while leading Ofunato High School to the final of the Iwate tournament as an ace.

He had thrown a total of 435 pitches until the semi-final, so he decided that the coach was likely to be injured and avoided pitching.

Pitcher Sasaki kept watching the game from the bench.

The team was defeated and did not participate in Koshien.

Pitcher Sasaki responded patiently to the interview while holding back tears.

Pitcher Roki Sasaki

"Since I'm playing high school baseball, I think it's natural that I want to play a game, so I wanted to throw it, but I don't think it's the director's decision."

Even after becoming a professional, the days of patience continued.

Considering the future of pitcher Sasaki, the team made an unusual training plan.

In order to prevent the injury of pitcher Sasaki, who is 1 meter and 90 centimeters tall and has little muscle mass, he gave priority to body building and did not throw it in the actual battle even once in the first year while accompanying the 1st army.

Director Tadahito Iguchi

"If you get injured, you can't do anything about it, so in order to make Roki fly to the world, we try to keep it down."

“Happiness being thrown”

It's my third year as a professional, with patience.

He entered the opening rotation for the first time and achieved the feat that he reached in the third game.

The words of pitcher Sasaki left an impression on me.

Pitcher Roki Sasaki

"I've had a lot of pain, but I've put up with a lot of things. I'm happy that I'm being thrown like this now. I am thinking"

To a bigger future

The match against Nippon-Ham on April 17, which was the next match after the perfect game.

In the 9th inning, Iguchi informed the referee of the change of pitcher, while the 8th inning was completely suppressed and the perfect game in 2 consecutive games became a reality.

This is because the number of balls exceeded 100.

The stadium and all over Japan are expected to achieve an unprecedented record.

During the interview, I thought the leaders made a courageous decision.

For a bigger future waiting for pitcher Sasaki.

Takahiro Moriwaki, a reporter for the

Sports News Department

, joined NHK in 2016. After working at the Matsuyama station, he is currently a member.

In charge of professional baseball Lotte.