Torao Matsukawa talks about Roki Sasaki. He is already on the verge of becoming a regular catcher with his imposing lead, which is hard to believe for a rookie (Photo: Jiji Press) “I was surprised that he was the first pick in the draft, and to be the catcher for Roki Sasaki’s perfect pitching, he’s going to do a great job,” said Matsugawa.  Yoshi Kawabata, 68, who coached Chiba Lotte catcher Torao Matsukawa when he was in middle school with the Kaizuka Young team in Osaka, is the father of infielder Shingo Kawabata, who was the Central League’s top hitter in 2015 and is still active with the Yakult baseball team.   He wasn’t a catcher in Little League. Matsukawa joined the Chiba Lotte team after graduating from Kaizuka Young and City Wakayama High School, and made his debut as a starter in the season opener this year despite being a high school graduate rookie. He was an unusual choice for the catcher position. Kawabata was a teammate of Kenta Kozono, a pitcher from Kaizuka Young and Wakayama High School, who was highly regarded as the No. 1 pitcher of his generation. It was natural that Matsukawa was selected first by DeNA, but I had not imagined that he would be selected first. April 10. The youngest pitcher in history at the age of 20, Roki Sasaki became the first pitcher in 28 years to pitch a perfect game against the Orix, and the skills and tactics of Matsukawa, the catcher who played his wife’s role, contributed greatly to his success.   A perfect game is a game in which three outs are made in nine innings, and 27 batters are struck out in a regular fashion. If the catcher spills or fails to catch the pitcher’s throws, the pitcher’s rhythm will be off. That is how great Matsukawa’s catching was. “When I played in Little League, I played third and pitcher.” Kawabata testified, “I played third and pitcher when I was in Little League, so you never know.” “When I joined the team, I said I wanted to play catcher because it looked like fun. I saw him play third defense and he was good with the glove, so I thought I’d like to play catcher, too.” Their vectors matched, and the catcher Matsukawa was born. He joined the team in June of his first year of junior high school, and immediately afterward played in the first and second grade tournament, starting from the first game as the catcher and 4th position, and suddenly won the championship. Matsukawa’s latent ability and his own self-reliant spirit were the driving forces behind his growth in junior high and high school. Kawabata says this was the driving force behind his growth in junior high and high school. “I have a laissez-faire attitude toward children because they have their own personalities,” he says. For example, the form. If it makes sense and is easy for them to do, then that form is fine. On the other hand, on days when the team is not practicing as a whole, how motivated they are and how much they can practice on their own without forgetting their ambition. This is where the difference in the players’ level of growth comes into play.” Matsukawa was aware of this. He even rented an indoor practice facility after practice to work on his batting and swinging to improve his hitting. In addition, he had the good fortune of being able to continue receiving the ball from his teammate Kozono, the No. 1 pitcher of his generation, who had been selected by DeNA with a commanding No. 1 ranking.