Orix player Ryoma Nishikawa exercised his free agent rights and transferred. He aims not only to further refine his bat control, which is said to be a genius, but also to add strength to it, so that he can ``swing it'' in the trajectory he envisions.
Last season, Nishikawa had a batting average of .350, second place in the Central League.
He exercised his free agent rights and transferred from Hiroshima, where he had been for eight years, to Orix.
During his time in Hiroshima, he even made a hit with a one-bound ball, and general manager Junichi Fukura highly praises his skillful batting as ``genius bat control.''
Entering the third day of camp, Nishikawa seems to be gradually integrating into the team, as he can be seen smiling and talking with the outfielders, including player president Yutaro Sugimoto and Ryoto Watanabe.
During practice, he practiced batting for about 20 minutes while other players were having lunch, and repeatedly showed off his sharp shots over the fence.
This year's camp has the theme of ``adding strength'' so that you don't get swung by fast balls, and we are increasing the awareness of ``swinging the bat'' in the trajectory you have envisioned.
The number of swings has increased since the Hiroshima era.
Nishikawa is working hard to adapt to the new stage, saying, ``I think pitchers in the Pacific League are fast and powerful.I want to take advantage of those pitchers.''
On the pitching staff, last season's Rookie of the Year, pitcher Shunpei Yamashita, entered the bullpen for the first time.
He threw 25 pitches with the catcher standing, carefully checking the direction of the catcher's fingers upon release.
Pitcher Yamashita was sidelined last August with a lower back injury, and said, ``I've only just started pitching, so sometimes the rotation of the ball is off.'' I want to do my best and aim for a fourth straight victory.''