Hotaka Yamakawa, a new member of the professional baseball team Softbank, worked for about 20 minutes after general practice to strengthen his defense after receiving a knock.
After completing general practice including free batting on the 7th, Yamakawa moved to the sub-field.
They also received a knock together with Akira Nakamura, a great player who had won the Golden Glove Award four years in a row until last year and competed for a regular spot in the starting lineup, and worked to strengthen their defense.
During the second half of the knock, the two were asked by their coach to catch 15 balls in a row.
Of these, Yamakawa's first shot was irregular and he was unable to catch it all of a sudden, and there were times when he lamented, ``I can't do it right now.'' However, after this, he started again from the first shot and continued with stable glove handling, and reached the 14th. When he was hit by a ball that almost crossed the first base line, his large body, which weighed over 100 kilograms, flew sideways and caught the ball, receiving cheers from the fans.
He then made a good catch on the 15th shot, completing the 20-minute defensive practice.
Yamakawa exercised his free agent rights and joined Softbank from Seibu this season, and is expected to be a right-handed batter with the long-hitting ability that the team lacks.
Yamakawa said of Nakamura, ``No matter how you look at it, he was amazing. I learned a lot from him and was able to persevere and practice without giving up.''
He then said, ``We have to win to get into the game, but to be honest, we can't match our defensive ability. I want to play to the best of my ability.''