Professional baseball team pitcher Aki Sasaki of Lotte entered the bullpen for the first time on the second day of the camp being held on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, and threw 37 pitches, including some breaking balls.
Lotte entered camp on Ishigaki Island on the 1st, and on the 2nd day, pitcher Sasaki, who is expected to be the center of the starting rotation, entered the bullpen for the first time in this camp.
Pitcher Sasaki checked the rotation speed and amount of change of the ball on a tablet device as he threw a total of 37 pitches, focusing on powerful fastballs, mixed with sliders and forks.
Pitcher Sasaki commented through the team, ``Today I pitched while carefully checking the feel.''
In the bullpen, along with pitcher Sasaki, pitchers Kazuya Kojima and Atsuki Taneichi, who have been mentioned as opening pitcher candidates by manager Rito Yoshii, also practiced pitching.
Among these, pitcher Kojima is working on throwing a cut ball with a trajectory that curves sharply to the side, which he has mainly thrown to left-handed batters, but also to right-handed batters. On the 2nd, he threw a total of 35 pitches, including fastballs and sliders, to get a feel for it.
Pitcher Kojima said, ``There's a part of me that tries my best to show what I'm good at, but I want to do it without rushing too much, not being too impatient, and making sure I don't get injured.''
He then said, ``I want to do my best to bring the team a win in the first game of the season,'' renewing his strong determination to become the opening pitcher.