Joint voluntary training for rookies of professional baseball and Yakult has begun, and pitcher Nishidate, who joined the team with the No. 1 draft pick, expressed his enthusiasm for the team, saying, "I want to work on building a perfect body to compete throughout the year."
The joint voluntary training of the rookies who joined Yakult began on the 10th at the 2nd Army Stadium in Toda City, Saitama Prefecture, and six of the seven rookies participated, including pitcher Nishidate, who joined the team as the No. 7 draft pick from Senshu University.
As the head coach Shingo Takatsu and other leaders came to observe the team, the players first introduced themselves, and pitcher Nishidate said, "I will do my best to help the team.
After this, the players played catch after doing light training such as running and core training, and the Nishidate pitcher carefully threw each pitch while checking the balance of weight shift.
Pitcher Nishidate said, "We finished the first day in good spirits, and we want to work on getting our bodies ready to compete throughout the year before the camp starts."
Coach Takatsu expressed his intention to have three of the top draft picks, including pitcher Nishidate, participate in the first camp that starts next month, and expressed his hope that "we selected players who are university graduates and working adults with the intention of helping them from the beginning, and since we are not a pitching staff that can afford it, the hard work of such players will lead to the improvement of the team."