Giants pitcher Shosei Togo won the title for the most strikeouts last season.

He has been praised for his decisiveness and high responsiveness, and for the first time, he will challenge the stage to compete for the best in the world.



It was an insatiable "inquiring mind" that became the driving force of pitcher Togo for the WBC production.


(Ryudai Kanazawa, Reporter, Sports News Department)

"Good dedication" x "Responsiveness"

“It felt so good that I threw more than I had planned,”



said Togo with a smile.



It didn't change at the Giants' training camp or at the training camp for the Japanese national team, suggesting that adjustments are progressing smoothly.

Last season, Togo won the title for the most strikeouts in a straight ball over 150 kilometers and a fork ball with a drop, achieving double-digit wins.



His success has been highly evaluated, and he will participate in a warm-up match for the Japan national team in November last year.

His first appearance for the national team was as a second pitcher instead of the familiar starting pitcher on the clean mound.

In addition, it was a warm-up game that was held with the official WBC ball, which is not the familiar Japanese ball, but I threw four innings and pitched well.



(Pitcher Shosei Togo)


“I was very nervous because I didn’t start in the middle of the game for a year. I think"

In addition to his "good dedication", he has a high "responsiveness" that doesn't bother him even when he pitches in the middle of a game.



In the WBC, where the number of pitches is limited, he was recognized as a "second starter" that Manager Hideki Kuriyama places importance on, and he achieved his long-awaited entry into the national team.

feel the difference and be mine

In anticipation of the WBC, pitcher Togo, who had been making adjustments with the aim of finishing two weeks earlier than usual, decided to use the WBC's official ball, which is said to be "slippery", at the Giants' camp that started on February 1st. I was working on dealing with it.

Looking at the adjustment, Togo, who is heading to the bullpen, uses the WBC's official ball and a professional baseball ball.



I had two balls in my hand.



Many players try to get used to the official ball without using other balls.



For example, Lotte pitcher Aki Sasaki and Hiroshima pitcher Ryoji Kuribayashi always tried to reduce discomfort by using official balls.

On the other hand, during pitching practice, pitcher Togo threw while switching between the official WBC ball and the professional baseball ball.



Why?

.



There was a sense unique to pitcher Togo.

(Pitcher Shosei Togo)


“Of course, I feel more comfortable with the professional baseball balls I usually use. I'm incorporating it to make it more clear."



In order to be able to handle the ball without discomfort, I intentionally make the fingertips feel different.



I believed in my own senses and continued trial and error.

“Inquisitiveness” shown as a longing representative

The place of the Japan national team gave pitcher Togo, who faced his own feelings and walked the path of believing he was the best, a new stimulus.



February 16th, the day before the training camp begins.

It was during a joint training session with pitcher Yu Darvish, who has been active in the major leagues for many years.



I had the opportunity to learn the feel of slider and two-seam releases from pitcher Darvish.

"I had a lot of feelings that I didn't have."



Togo will make those feelings his own through the training camp.



And February 25th.

In the send-off match against Softbank, which was the first actual match for the Japanese national team, pitcher Togo threw one inning, and although he had a runner, he kept it to 0 points.



Among them, he also threw a two-seam that he learned from pitcher Darvish.

(Pitcher Shosei Togo)


“It worked well against left-handed batters, but I still couldn’t throw well against right-handed batters. I want to adjust

All of these things:

“good dedication” to immediately test the newly acquired sensations,



“responsiveness” to act according to the role to be played in the Japanese national team



, and above all, “inquisitiveness” to try out the newly acquired sensations.



The WBC, a stage where you can hit the world, is right in front of you.



(Pitcher Shosei Togo)


“I think we can win the world championship with the best members, so I myself will do my best for Japan to achieve that goal.”

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