Hideki Kuriyama, the manager of the Japanese national team who will face the WBC = World Baseball Classic in March next year, returned to Japan on the 14th after completing an inspection of the major leagues, saying, "By strengthening the precision pitching power and defense, it is possible to bring Japan into a close game. I felt that it was the winning form of baseball, ”he said, looking ahead to the actual performance.
In preparation for the WBC in March next year, Director Kuriyama had face-to-face and online interviews with Japanese players such as Shohei Otani and Yu Darvish, as well as inspecting rival team players, and returned to Japan on the 14th.
After returning to Japan, Kuriyama, who was interviewed by the press, explained the intention of this inspection, saying, "I asked not only the players themselves but also their coaches about the physical conditions of the Japanese players."
He also commented on his impressions of foreign players who play in the major leagues, saying, "The ball moves at a speed of over 160 km/h when it comes to relief and suppression. It's a ball that Japanese batters have never seen before, so it's a lot to see. I'm glad I did," he recalled.
On top of that, for the WBC, ``Since it is not possible to score a large number of points, I felt that strengthening Japan's precision pitching power and defense and bringing it into a close match would be the way to win. I have to think about how to fight," he said, referring to Japan's way of fighting.
On the other hand, when asked by the press about how to use Ohtani, he said, "I'm thinking about what kind of player selection, so I don't have anything to say about one player." I refrained from making a clear statement about the selection of Japanese players including.
In preparation for the WBC, the Japanese national team is scheduled to play a warm-up match against the Australian national team in November, and in mid-February next year, they will hold a training camp in Miyazaki City just before the tournament.