Giant Ace Tomoyuki Sugano From last year's regretful tears to a convincing smile October 31st 0:29
A joint press conference held at Tokyo Dome, the home base, after winning the Central League in a row.
Giant Tomoyuki Sugano lined up with director Tatsunori Hara as a representative of the pitcher.
"I wasn't very active last year, so I have a different joy than last year," he said.
At the same press conference last year, pitcher Sugano replied, "I haven't done anything, but they did their best" when asked about the success of the pitchers.
Then, Hara, who was next to him, said, "I'm not doing anything. I won't give up. He never said" No more "from himself."
Pitcher Sugano couldn't control what was crowded.
The smile of pitcher Sugano that I showed this time was a proof that I was able to send the season with pride that I was able to contribute to the consecutive championship as an ace.
Humiliation and form mods
Last year, pitcher Sugano was unable to pitch as he expected due to the effects of his back pain, and suffered a self-worst ERA of 3.89.
It was the first form of remodeling in my life that I worked on to prevent this humiliation.
A new form in which the center of gravity rests on the right foot, which is the axis, by moving the arm before the foot and twisting the upper body greatly.
Although it was confusing at the beginning, after a lot of trial and error, he said, "I feel like I'm being thrown in a very well-balanced form in terms of my physical condition.
I'm always able to perform at a high level
.
" Was grasping the response.
Change appears in ball speed
The change due to the foam modification appeared in the ball speed.
With the new form, you can maximize your power, and the average straight ball speed has increased from last season, marking the fastest ever.
Along with that, pitcher Sugano himself felt the most response this season with forkball, and the average ball speed increased by about 4 kilometers.
Pitcher Sugano said, "I think the batter feels more straightforward. I think it leads to things that can't be focused, fouls, and missed pitches." I was talking about what I was able to do.
Orbit correction with a forkball
There is a game that has won by increasing the number of drawers called "forkball".
In the game against Yakult on August 25, the slider was not decided at the first start, and the straight also lost 2 points with 4 hits, saying "I was in contact with the place I was holding."
In response to this, pitcher Sugano decided to correct the trajectory, saying, "I talked with (catcher) Ohshiro to try to make a drastic pitching like never before."
From the 2nd inning onward, even in a match where forkball was interwoven from an early count and "I wasn't feeling well", I got one hit from the 2nd to 7th innings and got a winning star with no runs.
Pitcher Sugano was convinced, "I was able to dodge the ball well. I think the batter's reaction was obviously different after the second time, and I am a new drawer."
Achieved a new record for 13 consecutive victories in professional baseball from the opening pitcher
Pitcher Sugano, who continued to search for the best way to win the greed as an ace, also got a new medal.
It is a new record for professional baseball with 13 consecutive victories from the opening pitcher.
Pitcher Sugano, who started in the game against DeNA on October 6, lost 3 points by the 4th inning, but after that he persistently broke the record with 3 goals in the 7th inning.
In addition, he was born in Heisei and achieved 100 professional wins in total at the same time.
After the match, pitcher Sugano said, "I think the records that our predecessors have set up are hard to come by. I'm really happy to be able to update them."
"I don't want to lose, and if I lose, the team also loses. It's equal to the loss of consecutive wins, and I'm bigger," he said as an ace.
Even though the winning streak stops, I look forward
In the match against Hiroshima on the 13th of the following week, pitcher Sugano suffered the first black star of the season with 4 goals in the 6th inning, and the consecutive wins stopped.
After the game, he immediately changed his mind, saying, "Sometimes I've gone too far. I tried to stick, but sometimes it didn't work. I'll fertilize this and make adjustments for the next pitch." ..
To recapture Japan
In October, the Giants lost the month for the first time this season, and the magic number did not decrease easily.
Even so, he won the league title in a row, and for pitcher Sugano, he won his fourth victory in his eighth year as a pro.
Toward the best in Japan, who has no experience yet, "I honestly felt the difference in power last year. Everyone in the team has the feeling that they will aim for the best in Japan, so I will definitely win so as not to lose from my feelings. I want to throw it with all my heart. "
Pay attention to pitching of pitcher Sugano in the summit decisive battle.