On the 9th, Major League Baseball Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto started camp in Arizona in preparation for the start of the season.
The Dodgers, to whom Otani and pitcher Yamamoto belong, will open the season opener in South Korea on the 20th of next month, so they started a camp earlier than usual from the 9th in Glendale, Arizona, for players working on rehabilitation from battery and injuries. did.
Of these, Otani responded to an interview with the press before the first day's practice and said, based on his recovery status from the surgery on his right elbow last year, ``The intensity of batting practice is close to 100%. I think I'll move on to hitting the ball.It's still about a month before I can pitch, so I want to focus on batting first and get my condition in place so I can get through the season without getting injured.''
Regarding camp with a new team, he said, ``It's my first year, so I think the first priority is to get used to my teammates.I'll be greeting a lot of different people, so I'd like to avoid going to the same people twice. I would like you to give me a break if it goes away.''
After this, Otani did not appear at the outdoor practice facility, and according to the team, he completed a rehabilitation program.
Meanwhile, pitcher Yamamoto entered the camp facility around 8 a.m. and warmed up by doing some light stretching and playing catch despite the chilly 3 degrees Celsius temperature. He immediately went into the bullpen and threw 21 pitches, including some breaking balls.
Pitcher Yamamoto practiced with a real-game approach in mind, with batters standing in the at-bat halfway through the game, and seemed to be getting a feel for himself.