On the fourth day of the professional baseball camp, Seibu pitcher Mitsunari Takahashi, who was the opening pitcher last year, entered the bullpen and carefully tried a new pitching form.
Last season, Takahashi served as the opening pitcher for the second consecutive year, pitched in 26 games, and scored 12 wins, second in the league.
This season, he is working on a new pitching form that bends his arms to make his take-back smaller, saying, ``I can always put out a fastball in the 150km range.'' On the fourth day of the camp, he entered the bullpen in the morning.
Pitcher Takahashi watched a video of his own pitching form every time he threw a ball, and watched a measuring instrument screen that showed the number of rotations of the ball.
Pitcher Takahashi, who entered the bullpen again in the afternoon, threw powerful balls mainly in straights and carefully checked his new pitching form.
Pitcher Takahashi talked about the new pitching form, saying, "It's a ballet-inspired 'passe throwing method.'
And as the player's chairman of the team, he said, "I'm far from winning the league or being the best in Japan, so I want to achieve it this year. I want to take the lead."