Before the exchange game between the Central League and Pacific League teams in professional baseball begins on the 24th, players from each baseball team met, and the Central League players were the youngest and perfect game in history last month. He showed his willingness to play against Lotte's pitcher Roki Sasaki, who achieved the match.
This year, the 17th professional baseball exchange game will start on the 24th, and each team will play 18 games, 3 games each with 6 teams from different leagues.
One player from each of the eight teams participated in the online press conference, including pre-recording.
Among them, pitcher Yasuhiro Ogawa attended from Yakult, who was the number one in Japan last year and is currently the leader of the Central League. I want to go, "he said.
In addition, pitcher Ogawa does not have a designated hitter system because the team will play against Lotte at the Jingu Baseball Stadium, and there is a possibility that pitcher Roki Sasaki will enter the turn at bat. I want to see the raw straight. "
In addition, DeNA's second-year player Shugo Maki also expressed his enthusiasm about pitcher Sasaki, saying, "It's a pitcher that is hard to see throwing a great ball. He has to hit a straight at all costs."
On the other hand, from the Pacific League, pitcher Sasaki and Lotte's first-year high school catcher Ko Matsukawa, who has been building a battery since the opening, participated and said, "The Central League batter is studying while watching the video. I want to take the lead so that I can keep it straight. "
In addition, Orix rookie Tomoya Noguchi, who won the interleague game last year, said, "I'm glad that the Central League team has a lot of fan support, so I'm happy to be able to play. Of course, I'm aiming for consecutive championships in the interleague game." I did.
This year's exchange game is scheduled to be held from the 24th to the 12th of next month, and the team with the highest winning percentage among the 12 teams will win the championship.
Hiroshima Aizawa “I'm looking forward to playing against Softbank Yanagita”
Catchers Tsubasa Aizawa of Hiroshima, Takuya Kinoshita of Chunichi, Takuya Kai of Softbank, and Ginjiro Sumitani of Rakuten all participated in the online interview in advance.
Each of the four talked about their thoughts on the exchange game from the catcher's point of view, and Aizawa of Hiroshima said, "Unlike the battle in the Central League, it is the key to grasp the condition of the opponent batter in a short time. It is the number one in the ball world. I'm looking forward to playing against Yuki Yanagita of Softbank. "
Chunichi Kinoshita said, "I'm going to attack a low out course so that I won't hit a home run, but the Pacific League batter will hit the ball regardless of the direction, so I'd like to think about it and distribute it." Was there.
Kai of Softbank said, "Many Central League batters are doing great things, so you have to be careful. If you don't have a designated hitter system, the batting order will be different, so you need to keep in mind. There is. "
Rakuten's Sumitani analyzed, "Unlike the Pacific League, many outdoor stadiums are affected by the wind, so the way you attack will change. In particular, you have to be strongly aware of the wind at the Koshien stadium."