Seiya Suzuki, who joined the Cubs, said in an exclusive interview, “I will come if he has a personality.”

Seiya Suzuki (27), who joined the Major League Baseball Cubs using the posting system from professional baseball Hiroshima, gave an exclusive interview and talked about Shohei Otani (27), a close classmate who is challenging the majors.

Suzuki:
I’m not confident (major challenge), though I don’t have any. I became more motivated to change the environment and take another level up, so I made this decision.

Otani swept the major with dual wield last season. At the return home press conference last year, Otani was asked about Suzuki’s ability and said:

“I think he’s one of the best batters in professional baseball today.”

Suzuki, who was watching the press conference, said, “That question is useless, I will say so when asked there. I have no choice but to say that. No, not at all. “

He won a super-large contract totaling about 10.1 billion yen for five years, but he is the person in charge of Major League Baseball.

Suzuki:
How many major teams do you have? I don’t really understand that. I don’t even know what district (east, middle, west) it is in. There was a team that I used a lot in the game, the Yankees, the Giants, and Ichiro-san, so the Mariners.

Why did Suzuki, who said he didn’t know other than the famous baseball team, decided to challenge Major League Baseball in the first place?

When asked to fill in the line graph to see how his “interest in majors” had changed, Suzuki sang “Bun” and ran the pen brightly. Notably, in 2015, the line went up at a right angle. What happened this year?

Suzuki:
Mr. Kuroda is back …

In 2015, Hiroki Kuroda (47), who has 79 major wins in total, returned to Hiroshima Carp. The words of a senior 20 years older changed the values ​​of Suzuki, who was in his third year as a professional at the time.

Suzuki:
Mr. Kuroda said, “There are players who are close to you in the majors,” and when I saw the video, I was shocked and the moment I saw the video, it soared. Viewn.

What player did Hiroki Kuroda recommend to take a look at?

Suzuki:
No. 1 was shocked by Mike Trout and I thought it was cool.

Mike Trout (30). A player who belongs to the same Angels as Otani and has won three major MVPs in the past. His annual salary is 4.2 billion yen, which is the top of the major league baseball.

Suzuki:
Well, I want to do something with these people. I felt like I wanted to be number one. A major who wants to be number one in majors. It’s not about grades, but when you lose your aspirations, when it’s not interesting, it feels like it’s over. In the major leagues, it is said that the highest level is the highest level because it is done.

A superstar of the same age is waiting on the highest stage. About the match with pitcher Otani.

Suzuki:
I’m looking forward to it. It’s probably a strikeout, but … I’m looking forward to it.

reporter:
Will a changing ball come for the first ball of the first match in the majors?

Suzuki:
It seems to come. His personality is coming, absolutely. It seems like you can throw a curve while laughing, and you can play with it. I’m looking forward to that too.

reporter:
How many generations were born in 1994?

Suzuki:
Isn’t it Shohei and Otani generation now?

reporter:
Someday Seiya Suzuki generation …

Suzuki:
No, it’s not (laughs) I don’t need it. “Shohei-sama” and “Hanyu (Yuzuru) -sama” will continue to do this … I hope they will go (laughs).

I asked him about “English conversation”, which he was worried about, even though he thought it was extra care.

Suzuki:
It’s like gesturing. I communicate with foreigners who are coming to Japan, but I can’t speak, but I wonder if it’s okay. It’s like going through Japanese and letting (foreign players) speak Japanese.

At the time of the interview, I was pondering the press conference wearing a major uniform that I hadn’t seen yet.

Suzuki:
It’s Japanese (not English). I think it’s going to go through in Japanese.

Samurai Suzuki, who served as the 4th representative of Japan at the Tokyo Olympics and brought the long-sought gold medal, will “become the number one player in the world”, so this time he will cross the sea.

■ Seiya Suzuki
Born August 18, 1994, 27 years old. Born in Tokyo. 181 cm, 98 kg. He throws right and hits right. He is an outfielder. He joined Hiroshima from Nimatsu Gakusha Daisuke High School in 2012 in 2nd place in the draft. On September 14, 2013, his first year as a professional player, he made his first appearance in the Giants match (pinch hitter). He is the top hitter and has the highest base rate twice each (19 and 21 years), the best nine 5 times (16 to 20 years), and the Golden Glove Award 4 times (16 to 17 and 19 to 20 years). The total results are 902 games, 937 hits, 182 home runs, 562 RBIs, batting average .315. 17 WBC, 19 Premier 12, 21 Tokyo Olympics representative.