Pitcher Naoyuki Uezawa, who signed a minor league contract with the Rays of Major League Baseball, participated in actual pitching practice for the first time at the camp he is participating in as an invited player, and showed off his performance by throwing 32 pitches and getting seven whiffs. did.
On the 23rd, pitcher Uezawa practiced pitching for the first time in Port Charlotte, Florida at the Rays camp where he has signed a minor league contract and is participating as an invited player.
Pitcher Uezawa threw 32 pitches against a total of nine batters, limiting his hits to just two.
In addition to his fastball in the high 140km/h range, he also had good control on curveballs, split balls, and other breaking balls, and he made seven whiffs.The pitching coach who inspected him was satisfied with his pitching, saying, ``It was amazing,'' and he appealed for promotion to the major leagues.
Pitcher Uesawa reflected on his first practice in a real-game format, saying, ``I was concentrating on throwing a lot of strikes.I think my breaking balls were pretty consistent, so I want to increase my straight output.'' .
He seems to be having a hard time with the ``pitch clock,'' a time limit between pitches that professional baseball doesn't have, and the ``pitch com,'' an electronic device that allows him to exchange signs with the catcher. It was difficult, and I was in a hurry and pressed the wrong button many times.I want to get used to it from now on.''
Pitcher Uesawa is scheduled to pitch in the exhibition game on the 29th, and he braced himself, saying, ``I'm constantly being sifted, so I think the result is everything, and I want to leave a result with my best performance.'' .