Baseball international tournament "Premier 12" members announced 28 Sakamoto and Chiga 28 people October 1 18:58

Next month, 28 Japanese representatives of the “Premier 12” international baseball tournament held in conjunction with the qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics were announced, and the giant Hayato Sakamoto and the pitcher Chika Tsuga from Softbank were selected.

“Premier 12” will be held in Japan next month to serve as the preliminary for the Tokyo Olympics, and up to two teams will be eligible to participate in the tournament in addition to Japan where the Olympics will be hosted.

On the 1st, Director Atsunori Inaba had a conference in Tokyo and announced 28 people who were selected as representatives of Japan. In the field, giant Sakamoto, Softbank Nobuhiro Matsuda and Hiroshima Seiya Suzuki were selected as representatives since the WBC = World Baseball Classic in March.

In the second year of nurturing Softbank, Shukyo Shukyo, who has a strong taste, was selected for the first time.

Pitchers were chosen from the pitcher Softbank Chiga, the biggest player in the Pacific League, and the pitcher Shun Yamaguchi, who won three titles, including the most wins in the Se League.

Director Inaba said, “We thought that we could build a strong team by making a good balance of speed, power, and experience. Except for players who could not be called because of conditions or injuries, we were veteran players who had been convinced so far And the specialists were added to create the best members to win the tournament. "

Japan will play against Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Taiwan in the first league starting in Taiwan starting next month.

Softbank Chiga “I want to keep it at zero”

“We are honored to be selected. Premier 12 is the first tournament, and it was chosen for its regular pitching. "I want to hold it down to zero firmly. I want to throw it firmly for the team."

From Seibu, Akiyama, Genda and Sotozaki

Three players from Seibu were selected for the Premier 12 Japan national team.

Among them, Shogo Akiyama said, “This tournament wasn't won 4 years ago, so it ’s an honor to be chosen as a member to win the championship. I want to do my best to win, I think it's a valuable period where I can play with high-level players and I can raise my baseball level. I want to pull it in various places. ”

In addition, Sosuke Genda said, “It was a great honor to have been chosen, and I would like to play one game at a time, thinking about what I should do. I want to do it without losing calmness. "

Furthermore, Shugo Tonosaki said, “I want to play with all my strength so as not to be ashamed of Japanese baseball. I think I will be in charge of Uchino and Outo, so I want to be well prepared. I want to keep in mind that I will match the opponent's pitcher. "

From ORIX, three players Yoshida, Yamaoka and Yamamoto

Three players from ORIX were selected for the Premier 12 Japan national team, and comments were announced through the team.

Masanao Yoshida said, “I have chosen it as a representative of Japan, so I want to prepare well so that I can show the best performance. I will do my best so that I can play to contribute to the victory of the team.” .

“We are honored to be selected as a representative. I will do my best with the awareness and responsibility of the representative from Japan so that we can pitch the team to victory.”

According to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, “It is the first time and I am looking forward to the international tournament. I have chosen the top team, so I want to do my best to contribute to the team's victory with a solid pitching.”

Two pitchers from Imana and Yamazaki from DeNA

Two pitchers were selected by DeNA as the Japan representative of Premier 12.

Shota Imanaga said, “I feel honored and have a sense of responsibility to represent the team. I want to pitch boldly and carefully to contribute to the championship.” On top of that, I was enthusiastic about the next year's Tokyo Olympics, “I want to get a good result at the premiere so that I can be selected because I currently occupy about half of my head.”

In addition, pitcher Yamazaki said, “I want to show my heart as a representative of Japan and show the high level of Japanese baseball. I want to throw the two seam into my lap. " He said, “I want to create unity at the premier and gain momentum for the Tokyo Olympics.”