"If we maintain the status quo, wouldn't it be interesting?"
Pitcher Kyomi Yuasa of the Japan national team, Hanshin, answered with a grin.
The right arm, who made a break last season in his fourth year, will contribute to the world's best, so he will wear the Samurai Japan uniform without fear of change and improve his level.
(Osaka Broadcasting Station Reporter Takuto Nakamura)
Overcome repeated injuries
Pitcher Yuasa (23) is in his fifth year this season.
After joining the team, he suffered from repeated back injuries, and in the three years until his father's age, he pitched only three games in the first army, but last season, his fourth year, he was established as a set upper.
He pitched in 59 games, the top of the team, and won the title of best middleman with an ERA of 1.09 and 45 hold points.
When I was selected for the Japan national team for the first time in a warm-up match in November last year, I rushed up to the WBC Japan national team.
(Pitcher Kyo Yuasa)
“When I was in rehab, I had a very difficult time, but when I think about it now, I think it wasn’t wasted. I want to come with this in mind.”
The jersey number is "that senior's number"
Pitcher Yuasa, who wears "65" in Hanshin, has a jersey number of "22" in the Japan national team.
"22" is the number that Kuji Fujikawa, a legend who played an active role as a reliever in the OB of the team, had in Hanshin and WBC in 2009.
Pitcher Yuasa chose "22" himself this time.
(Pitcher Kyomi Yuasa)
“I think that I have to catch up and surpass my back because I am doing relief.
with a new breaking ball
Pitcher Yuasa faces the world stage with a strong determination.
Now, I am working on learning new pitches for the WBC and the season.
It is a slider that sharply changes horizontally.
Pitcher Yuasa did well last season with his signature over 150kg straight and vertical width with a sharply falling forkball.
The aim is to expand the range of pitching by adding a new type of pitch called a horizontal change slider.
During the Japan national team's warm-up game last November, I asked various pitchers for advice on how to hold the ball, and I found something that felt right.
(Kyoto Yuasa, pitcher)
“I learned how to hold the ball from Soichiro Yamazaki of Orix.
The image of the arm swing is the same as when throwing a straight ball.
It is said that the ideal trajectory is "not too curved, not too curved".
(Pitcher Kyomi Yuasa)
“The image is between the cut ball and the slider. When viewed from the left batter, the ball cuts into the in-course. I think it would be nice if I could hit the tip of the bat with a ground ball and hit the ball with a whiff like I was running away.”
Aiming for the ball that I want, I threw in a new type of pitch while repeatedly checking my senses at the team's camp in Okinawa.
(Pitcher Kyomi Yuasa)
“From the batter’s point of view, the more balls you have, the more types of pitches you can mark. I want to be able to throw with more confidence by then."
With a relentless desire to improve
This is the first world stage to challenge with great expectations.
The reporter asked a question to Yuasa, who continues to take on new challenges despite the risks involved by changing the style of last season that left results.
“The environment is different and there is pressure to carry the Hinomaru on your back, so don't you want to keep the status quo?” Yuasa replied with a grin
.
“Wouldn’t it be interesting to maintain the status quo?”
(Pitcher Kyomi Yuasa)
“The more new things I take in and the more I feel that I am growing, the more I enjoy it. That is why I want to grow even more.
” This may be Yuasa's greatest strength.
Fight against the world in an evolved form.
We are looking forward to Yuasa's spirited pitching.
(Pitcher Kyomi Yuasa)
"I think I'm just doing what I can do in the situation I'm assigned, so I want to do my best to show my strength in any situation and get good results."
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