Ryoichi Yazaki
2024/05/04
(Last update: 2024/05/04)
#Tokyo Six University Baseball
#University of Tokyo
Mukateru Watanabe of the University of Tokyo, who is increasing his pitching opportunities this season (all photos in uniform taken by Shota Inoue)
Her father is a famous pitcher who played in professional baseball. It was two years ago that the small, under-throwing pitcher like his father knocked on the door of the Tokyo University baseball team. While he has received a lot of attention, he has continued to work hard and has become an indispensable member of the Tokyo University pitching staff this season, his third year. Mukateru Watanabe (3rd year, Kaijo)’s greatest weapon is his ability to think. He thinks deeply about pitching and underthrows.
Increasing the probability of transmitting force to the ball
This spring’s Tokyo Six University Baseball opening card, the match against Keio University. Watanabe took the mound as a reliever in both games 1 and 2 and kept no runs in the first inning. Although he gave up his first run of the season in the second game against Meiji University, he has firmly established his position among the University of Tokyo pitchers.
He also experienced the mound at Jingu Stadium during his high school days. His first appearance at university was in the spring freshman tournament against Keio. He was the winning pitcher in the same tournament in the fall. Then, in the spring of his second year, he made his league debut as a reliever against Waseda University and pitched in two games. He didn’t have a win or loss star yet.
“The University of Tokyo has two confirmed starting pitchers this year: Kojiro Hirata (4th year, Tokyo Metropolitan West) and Taiyo Suzuki (4th year, National), so currently they are mainly pitching as relief players. Still, I’d like to try to fit in between the two in the fall.I’m gaining experience in open games so that I can start and throw 80 to 100 pitches. I am confident that I can do it myself.”
Watanabe expresses his response.
Kojiro Hirata wants to squeeze in as much as possible between the two starting pitchers, Taiyo Suzuki.
In college baseball these days, the number of pitchers whose fastest pitches exceed 150 km/h is increasing, but Watanabe doesn’t try to pursue that goal.
“I believe that there is no point in simply increasing the output if the probability decreases.Since pitching is an action that uses the body, there are variations in the way the force is transmitted from ball to ball. If you mix up a few pitches that don’t communicate efficiently, it won’t work in real life.I think reproducibility is important, but lately I feel like I’m not doing much practice focusing on that. When I look around, there are many people who are obsessed with making their bodies bigger through weight training, but I focus first on increasing the probability of being able to transmit force effectively. I try to eliminate power loss as much as possible and maintain stability so that I can consistently throw good balls even when the number of pitches increases.
Pitching technique based on “pitch tunnel”
Underthrow pitchers have the image of being “skillful.” However, as a characteristic of the pitching form, the extension (the distance between the release position and home plate) is closer than in overthrows, so it is said that “throwing from closer” = “giving the batter a sense of speed.” There are advantages.
Therefore, there is also an “authentic” under throw that pushes the ball with force. For example, the great pitcher of yesteryear, Hisashi Yamada (formerly of Hankyu), and more recently, Rei Takahashi (Yomiuri Giants). He is a so-called power pitcher who throws fast pitches and uses powerful curveballs.
On the other hand, Watanabe’s father, Shunsuke (current Nippon Steel Kazusa Magic manager), was a “technical” type who used breaking balls rather than speed to suppress batters. Watanabe also belongs to this category of under throws. Watanabe says, “I’m not chasing speed (ball speed) at all.”
“At first, I looked at it in absolute terms and thought it would be great if I could throw 140 km. However, speed is a relative thing. If I made batters aware of slow balls, I could throw 125 km. So even if you can’t get a whiff, you can get it in and hit it.So now I’m using a slower curveball and it goes along the same line and at the same angle as the first ball. That’s how I practice throwing fastballs.”
He declares that he is not chasing the ball speed at all (Photo by Ryoichi Yazaki)
Watanabe is talking about a pitching technique based on the theory of the “pitch tunnel,” which has become popular in baseball recently.
Pitch tunneling involves throwing multiple types of pitches in the same trajectory, making it difficult for batters to identify the ball. It is said that batters can distinguish the ball from 7 to 9 meters in front of home plate. If you can draw an imaginary tunnel at that location and pitch any pitch while imagining it passing through that tunnel, the trajectory of the ball to the tunnel will be the same, so the batter will see all pitches as the same type. And if it changes after passing through the tunnel, the reaction to the ball will be delayed.
Watanabe is currently aiming to master this skill. In addition to curve balls and sinkers, which have a large curve, he has also mastered cut balls, which have a smaller amount of change but have a trajectory closer to a straight ball.
The image is of a “mizukiri” where stones bounce on the water surface many times.
In high school, he used to throw fastballs in the mid-130km/h range, instead of the orthodox overthrow. He didn’t have the knowledge or mindset of the pitch tunnel back then. “So even though I was throwing a reasonably fast ball, I couldn’t get any results,” he recalls.
A typical under-throw pitching form is to lean your body and pull your arm out for a takeback, create a sag at the top, and then the ball will come out through a low position as if sinking. Because of its appearance, it is also called a “submarine”. My father pitched like that too. He made a big top behind his back, flexed his arms in a low position, and released the ball with the image of cutting it with his fingertips.
Watanabe, on the other hand, doesn’t pull his arm too far on takebacks, instead throwing from a shallow top position, swinging his arm compactly at a relatively high position for an under throw. It is reminiscent of a “mizukiri” (mizukiri) event in which a spinning stone is thrown toward the river and the stone bounces over and over again on the surface of the water. He also describes the release as a “pushing out” sensation rather than a “cut”.
“I’m not as tall as my father (he’s 177cm, I’m 167cm), and my arms aren’t long either. If I had long arms, I could use a cutting release to get closer to the batter and hit the ball better. I can make it look faster though.”
The aim is also to prevent batters from seeing arm movements. Since there is little bend in the arm, it is possible to prevent the timing from matching the movement of the arm. “If I let it flex, the slower ball would still come from a distance farther from the batter, which would actually be a disadvantage. If I tried to release it closer to the batter, I would have thrown it the way I do now. Ta”
Swings the arm relatively compactly for an under throw.
In addition, he doesn’t have much experience with underthrows and is not able to fully control the ball, so if his hands are too far away from his body, his control becomes unstable when he throws a breaking ball. That’s why I try to keep my arms as close to my body as possible. He explains, “My pitching involves a lot of breaking balls, so ball control is absolutely important.”
The ideal way is to use your body like “Denden Taiko”
To throw a strong ball, you will need to twist your body. However, Watanabe says he consciously tries not to incorporate any twisting movements into his pitching form.
“Twisting can also make it easier for batters to get good timing.In my case, when I twist, I tend to strain and my control becomes unstable.However, I’m not a big person, but , the joints are flexible and can create a range of motion through small movements, so force can be transmitted there.Therefore, I don’t think there is a need to twist.
The ideal way to use your body when pitching is to imagine the movement of a “Denden Taiko”. The principle behind the Denden Taiko is that by rapidly rotating the rod-shaped handle back and forth around the axis, a string attached to the side of the drum is swung, and a ball at the end of the string strikes the drum.
“Twisting your body’s axis creates a repulsive force, which allows you to throw a stronger ball, but you can also rotate your arm without twisting to create a strong swing of your arm. After trying various things, I found that the latter shape works best for me. I realized that it was suitable for me.I tried to create a pitching form in which the lower part of the stick of the Denden Taiko bends like a rubber band, and the weight shifts forward, and the upper body follows along with it. That’s what I thought.”
He kept the Keio University batting lineup scoreless and returned to the bench with a smile on his face.
Fans and the media naturally refer to him as “Shunsuke Watanabe Junior.” However, although they are in the same category of “technical people”, this parent and child may be completely different “under throwers”.
“There are probably many people who don’t know about my father’s playing days, so I feel like they’re just being lumped into the general framework of under throw,” Watanabe says with a wry smile.
For better or worse, Watanabe doesn’t have the dynamic pitching form or supple arm flex of his father’s pitching form. You could also say that he’s not chasing his father. Pitching that makes 125km/h look fast. That is what Watanabe is currently aiming for.
＊＊＊
The second part will be released on the 5th.
2024-05-04 15:23:01
#Baseball #University #Tokyo #Mukateru #Watanabe #Submarine #similar #father #Lotte #player #Shunsuke #Watanabe #years #Student #Sports
.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)
