Yakult's Tetsuto Yamada and Munetaka Murakami, who helped the team win the WBC = World Baseball Classic Japan, returned to the team to resume training and raised their Japan goals in line with their next goal.
Yamada and Murakami rested for two days after returning from the U.S., and on the 2th, they practiced for the first time after the tournament at the team's facility in Toda City, Saitama Prefecture.
Since the two players left their Yakult practice uniforms at Jingu Baseball Stadium, they showed up at the indoor practice field in the practice clothes of the Japan national team and received congratulations from their teammates and coaching staff one after another.
In practice, I alternately worked against the batting pitcher for about 26 minutes to check the feel of the ball.
Murakami said that he learned a lot from Shohei Otani, such as the way he thinks about baseball, and said, "I wanted to look at how to train and how to take supplements.
On top of that, he renewed his determination for the season that starts this week, saying, "I want to work even harder to become a player who can play an active role on the world stage, and this season I will do my best to win three consecutive league titles and regain the top Japan."
Yamada said, "I was happy to receive congratulations and words of excitement from many people, and I am glad that I was able to become the best in the world, and I am glad that I am playing baseball again."
When asked about his determination as Yakult's captain, he expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "I want to turn the switch on one more time and lead the team with solid results toward our goal of winning three consecutive league titles and regaining the Japan."
Of the four players selected by Yakult to represent the WBC Japan, NAKAMURA Yuhei and TAKAHASHI Keiji resumed training on the 1th.