It is preferable that the position of the stepping foot is constant, but it is “always difficult”.
With the Padres Yu Darvish, Masahiro Tanaka of Rakuten is also active as the starting pitcher this season. The two have long reigned as Japan’s leading pitchers. It was Yoshinori Sato, who won a total of 165 wins at Hankyu and Orix, who raised these “both giants.” How does Meihakuraku, who has been a pitcher coach at Orix, Nippon-Ham, Hanshin, Rakuten, and Softbank, see Lotte’s pitcher Roki Sasaki, who is showing overwhelming pitching this season? He was asked to explain while comparing with Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka.
Mr. Sato annotated “there are various places to see” by the coach, and emphasized that “look at the left knee” in the case of a right-handed pitcher. When throwing, it is basic to step straight on the left foot (in the case of a right pitcher, the left pitcher is the right foot) against the target, and if the lower body is weak, the body cannot be supported well and the knees will crack and the force will not be transmitted to the ball. .. As a result, the spin is lost and the lower ball often bows.
Roki Sasaki’s left toe lands almost straight to the platform. He points out that his left knee will not crack because his tip is slightly inward. It seems that Darvish had no problem since joining Nippon-Ham, but Masahiro Tanaka was broken. Therefore, in the fall of 2008, when Mr. Sato became the coach of Rakuten, he started correction.
The next thing to pay attention to is the position of the stepping foot (left foot for a right-handed pitcher). Even Darvish was disjointed when he was young, and every time he threw a ball, he leveled the soil at the stepped position. At that time, it was a pitch that aimed at the center, earned a count with a foul, and then aimed at the course after driving. Roki Sasaki does not shake when he is in good shape, but it is not constant yet. “Even a first-class pitcher does not always have a fixed position to take in every game. Whether it will last for a month even when he is in good shape,” says Sato. He says he can’t help but fall apart because he’s out of balance when he’s not feeling well.
It is difficult to repeat the same practice every day, depending on how quickly you can return to a good condition to become a winning pitcher. “If you don’t change from day to day with a different approach, your condition won’t improve easily. It’s also the basis of professionalism to practice with ingenuity every day while consulting with your body.”
According to Mr. Sato, Darvish, Masahiro Tanaka, and Roki Sasaki are three people. Darvish, who has been ringing since the Boys era, is called a “congenital pitcher”, and Masahiro Tanaka, who was also a catcher in the first year of Komadai Tomakomai High School, describes it as an “acquired pitcher”. After becoming a professional player, Masahiro Tanaka, who worked hard, gained control that was as good as Darvish. Mr. Sato is also enthusiastic about what kind of pitcher Roki Sasaki will grow into in the future.
(Takarin Matsunaga)