The professional baseball camp will start on February 1st.
Ahead of that, Yakult players who aim for the first three consecutive Central League titles in the history of the team entered Okinawa.
Director Shingo Takatsu said enthusiastically, "I want to organize what I have to do and have a fulfilling camp."
Each team is entering the camp one after another.
[Yakult] Triple Crown King Murakami is also determined to aim for the Central League's third straight victory
Yakult's manager Takatsu and the players arrived at Naha Airport on the 30th and participated in a welcome event held at a commercial facility in Urasoe City, Okinawa Prefecture, where the camp will be held.
At the event, bouquets were handed over to Coach Takatsu, captain Tetsuto Yamada, and pitcher Yasuhiro Ogawa.
In the corner where he answered questions from the gathered fans, Yamada was asked about his goals for this season, and answered, "As captain, I want to lead the team and win the league title for the third straight time in Japan." I was.
In addition, Munetaka Murakami, who was the youngest player to win the triple crown last season, was asked if he was aiming for the triple crown this year. A big round of applause was sent.
After the event, Director Takatsu announced that this season's slogan would be "Let's go!" I want to spend the camp," he said.
Yakult's 1st army camp will be held in Urasoe City from February 1st to 27th.
[Rakuten] Aiming for No.1 in Japan for the First Time in 10 Years
On the 30th, Rakuten, which aims to become Japan's number one for the first time in 10 years, left Sendai for their campsite in Okinawa.
Rakuten's this year's camp will be held in Kin town in the northern part of the main island of Okinawa for the first army, and Kumejima and Miyazaki prefecture for the second army.
Among them, players and coaches such as pitcher Hiroki Matsui, who participated in the 1st army camp, Hiroaki Shimauchi, the main player, and pitcher Yasunori Shoji, who was the first draft pitcher, arrived at Naha Airport on a charter flight on the afternoon of the 30th.
Due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the welcome ceremony was not held at the airport, and the players boarded the bus immediately after arriving and headed to the lodgings.
Pitcher Shoji, who responded to the interview at the lodgings in Nago City, said, "My goal is to welcome the opening with the first team, so I want to enter the bullpen from the first day of the camp and appeal, and I want to spend each lesson carefully." I was.
This year's Rakuten is expected to see the emergence of young pitchers, with five of the six newcomers registered under control being pitchers.