Pitcher Atsuki Taneichi, who won 10 games last season for professional baseball team Lotte, tied for the team's lead, entered the bullpen for the second time at a camp being held on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, and was joined by Japan representative Hirokazu Ibata, who was visiting for an inspection. He pitched a powerful fastball in front of the coach and appealed to be included in the national team.
Pitcher Taneichi was in the starting rotation last season until he had to leave due to a right elbow injury towards the end of the season, and with his combination of powerful fastballs and sharp breaking balls, he pitched over 136 innings and had 157 strikeouts, exceeding the number of innings pitched. In addition, he won 10 games in double digits for the first time in his career, which is tied for the team lead, and manager Rito Yoshii has named him one of the opening pitcher candidates.
On the 4th, he entered the bullpen for the second time in this training camp, and while coach Hirokazu Ibata, who was visiting to select members for the Japan national team's warm-up game to be held next month, was watching, he threw 35 pitches, mainly fastballs, to the seated catcher. I threw it.
Also, from the off, in order to stabilize the timing of the release, he was working on modifying his form by reducing the takeback slightly, so he checked the rotation axis and rotation speed on a tablet device for each ball. .
Coach Ibata had high expectations for him, saying, ``He's a player who can play on the national team because of his strength and sharpness with the ball.His finishing was outstanding.''
Pitcher Taneichi said, ``I talked to Manager Ibata and said, ``I've been selected as a final candidate, so I'll do my best to appeal.'' Just like the bullpen last time, he has good fastballs and is doing well for this time of year.'' It seemed like he was feeling a positive response.
Meanwhile, on the 4th, pitcher Aki Sasaki went into the bullpen for the second time and threw 52 pitches, commenting through the team, ``It felt good. I could feel it in my fingers.''
Regarding pitcher Sasaki, Manager Ibata said, ``He's grown so much in size and intimidation that it felt like he was the only one pitching from the front of the mound.''I told him, ``Since fall is here, I think I'll make an offer.'' He already hinted that he would be included in the national team for the ``Premier 12'' international tournament in November this year, and had high expectations for him to be a key player.