The upward flow that Director Tadahito Iguchi grasped in the monthly serialization and interleague game that talks about his true intentions
The three-week “Nippon Life Interleague Play” ended with Yakult winning the second victory for the first time in four years. Looking at the results by league, the Central League has won for the first time in two consecutive seasons with 55 wins and 53 losses. The young long-range guns, represented by the MVP-winning Yakult Munetaka Murakami infielder, stood out.
Only 3 out of 12 teams have won the exchange battle, which has become more melee than usual. Lotte was the only player in the Pacific League to win and came in third after Yakult and Hanshin. From the opening, the batting line was not strenuous and he was forced into a difficult battle, but the wind direction changed while fighting the interleague game. The last 6 games have been upward with 5 wins and 1 loss, and the final game of the interleague game, the DeNA game on the 12th, also won 5-4.
The league match will resume on the 17th. Lotte coach Iguchi, whose slogan is “grab the top” this season, thinks about one month from here to the ball banquet. While looking back on the interleague game, he talked about the current situation in the eyes of the commander, such as the acquisition of new foreign pitcher Roberto Osuna.
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The interleague game is over. The match against the Central League team, which you don’t usually play against, is very refreshing. I lost 3 games in a row on the way, but I was able to win with 10 wins and 8 losses. I feel that the condition of the team has improved considerably.
Of course, it’s still not perfect, but the batters that have been suffering have been connected to the batter. I think it is important that both Martin and Laird have begun to hit, and that the batting order has become fixed to some extent. The return of Ogino (Takashi), who holds the key to the attack, was also a tailwind, and I feel that we have finally made a start.
With the return of Ogino, the variation of batting order has increased. It’s like having two first batters in Ogino and Takabe (Eito). It can be changed depending on the condition of the pitcher and the type of the opponent pitcher, such as No. 1 and No. 2, and No. 1 and No. 9. Of course, Ogino has higher experience points in terms of creating the flow of the game and letting the opponent pitcher throw a large number of balls, so I would like Takabe to study there. I would like to make good use of the two ways, Ogino, which goes slowly, and Takabe, who goes steadily at a young age.