The 8th is the third day of the second season of professional baseball team Yakult's camp in Urasoe City, Okinawa Prefecture. Pitcher Keiji Takahashi, who suffered from a slump last season, threw over 100 pitches in the bullpen for the first time in this camp, and expressed his enthusiasm, saying, ``I want to throw fastballs that will surpass last year's pitches.''
Pitcher Takahashi contributed to winning the WBC (World Baseball Classic) last year as a member of the Japanese national team, but he was unable to produce the results he expected, pitching in 20 games this season with 4 wins and 9 losses. .
Pitcher Takahashi made early preparations for the WBC last year, and was unable to strengthen his upper body during this period, resulting in a form that opened his body early and caused him to lack sharpness in his fastballs. is.
This year's camp will also focus on weight training, with the aim of improving the quality of the straights.
On the 8th, he entered the bullpen for the third time in camp and threw 105 pitches, mainly fastballs, over 100 pitches for the first time in this camp.
At first, he wasn't sure of his control, but when he asked the batter to stand up, he gradually started throwing strikes, checking the rotation of his fastball and throwing each pitch one by one.
Pitcher Takahashi said, ``I'm making good adjustments.I want to throw fastballs that can surpass last year's, so I'm going to make adjustments based on the game in mind.''