Yakult pitcher Masanori Ishikawa, the oldest pitcher in baseball at 44 years old, appeared in good spirits on the third day of camp, pitching in the bullpen and then repeatedly sprinting, saying, ``There's some competition within the team.'' "I want to make young people excited," he said with enthusiasm.
Ishikawa, a veteran pitcher with 23 years of professional experience who turned 44 last month, has won 22 consecutive years since joining the team, and is 15 wins shy of his goal of 200 wins in total.
Pitcher Ishikawa entered the bullpen for the second time since the first day of camp on the 1st and threw 40 pitches, including his signature curveballs and sinkers, using a rotating shaft with a built-in sensor and a ball that can measure pitch speed. Ta.
Pitcher Ishikawa is conscious of getting used to the slope of the mound at the beginning of the camp, so he is watching the rotation rate and other numbers displayed on a tablet device installed next to the mound for each pitch, and is learning how to use his body. I was checking.
After he finished pitching in the bullpen, he immediately went to the track and field stadium without having lunch, and did 10 40-meter dashes to improve his cardiorespiratory function. "No," he replied with a smile, showing his cheerful demeanor.
Pitcher Ishikawa said, ``I think we're at a good stage.I want to pitch with sharpness and control, so I'd like to gradually put more effort into pitching.There is competition within the team with young players such as the starting rotation, but the younger players... I want to make people say, ``I want them to go crazy,'' he said, expressing his enthusiasm.