Orix, aiming for their fourth straight victory in the Pacific Professional Baseball League, will be heading to Miyazaki, where spring training will be held from February 2nd, and player chairman Yutaro Sugimoto expressed his determination, saying, ``I want to do my best to win our fourth consecutive title and become number one in Japan.'' Did.
We have summarized the movements of each Pacific League team.
Orix Yutaro Sugimoto “Aiming for 4th consecutive victory and number one in Japan”
Orix will be holding a spring training camp in Miyazaki City from February 2nd with the aim of winning their fourth consecutive league title for the first time in 46 years since their predecessor, Hankyu.
On the 31st, coach Satoshi Nakajima and the players arrived at Miyazaki Airport.
A large crowd of fans gathered in the airport lobby, and the players boarded buses heading to their hotels with smiles on their faces.
Coach Nakajima also immediately prayed for his victory at Odo Shrine in Miyazaki City and dedicated a votive tablet with the word "Itadaki" written on it.
Player Chairman Sugimoto, who wrote ``HOMERUN KING'' on the votive tablet, said, ``As a team, we want to do our best to win the league for the fourth time in a row and become number one in Japan.As an individual, we want to win the title of home run king for the first time in three years.'' I was talking about.
Orix's camp will be held from February 2nd to 29th at Kiyotake Sports Park in Miyazaki City.
Lotte's season slogan: "Exceeding ourselves."
Before entering the camp on February 1st, Lotte players held a meeting with the leadership and staff at the indoor practice field at Ishigaki City Central Sports Park.
During the event, coach Rihito Yoshii announced that the team's slogan for this season was ``We will surpass ourselves.''
In addition, Lotte has traditionally worn the same pinstripe uniforms for the 1st and 2nd armies, but at Manager Yoshii's idea, in order to give more weight to the 1st army's uniforms, the 2nd army's uniforms were changed to simple all-white uniforms. It has been announced that the design will be completely redesigned.
Coach Yoshii said, ``I want them to act with independence and responsibility, and count backwards from winning.I think everyone has a chance as a team that is still developing, so I want them to do their best.''
After that, the players practiced on their own, and pitcher Aki Sasaki, who is expected to be a mainstay in the starting rotation, played catch while checking his form outdoors, and threw powerful balls, including breaking balls, at a distance between the bases. We were preparing for spring camp, which will start on February 1st and last for about a month.
Softbank Manager Kokubo “This year we will regain the championship”
SoftBank players and leaders arrived at Miyazaki Airport on the evening of the 31st, ahead of spring training camp starting on February 1st, and were greeted by a large crowd of fans.
At the welcome ceremony, bouquets of flowers were presented to Coach Kokubo and player president Yukyo Shuto.
Coach Kokubo expressed his determination, saying, ``I want to have a fulfilling camp at the same campsite as his rival Orix.This year, I want to do my best as a challenger to regain the championship.''
Most of the main players will be participating in the camp, including Yuki Yanagita, Kensuke Kondo, and Hotaka Yamakawa, who newly joined from Seibu.
Kondo said, ``There's a lot of enthusiasm, I'm welcomed, and I feel like I'm starting.I want to win and leave a result that people will say, ``Kondo contributed the most.''''
SoftBank's spring training camp will be held until the end of February at Ikome-Mori Sports Park in Miyazaki City, and the team will continue to improve its strength under the newly appointed manager Kokubo in order to win the league championship for the first time in four years.
Rakuten Masahiro Tanaka ``As many wins as possible with new uniform''
Ahead of their camp-in on February 1st, the players participating in Rakuten's first-team camp arrived in Okinawa on the 30th, and on the morning of the 31st they conducted independent training at the camp site in Kin Town, Okinawa Prefecture.
Among them, pitcher Tanaka, who underwent cleaning surgery to remove bone fragments from his right elbow last October, immediately pitched in the bullpen.
With manager Toshiaki Imae watching, pitcher Tanaka asked the catcher to stand and throw 26 pitches, checking the slope of the mound and the condition of his body.
In addition, Rakuten, which is celebrating 20 years since the team's founding, unveiled a special uniform with the team color ``crimson red'' and a camouflage-like design of each prefecture in Tohoku, and pitcher Tanaka wore it for a commemorative photo. was doing.
Pitcher Tanaka said, ``This is a period of progress, so I pitched while checking the feel.I want to raise the level of my pitching and improve my condition so that I can be included in the opening rotation.I want to win as many games as possible with my new uniform.'' I did.