[Editorial]Outfielder Masanao Yoshida (born in Fukui City) has moved to the U.S. Major League Baseball, but there are still Fukui Prefecture players who are exciting the professional baseball world. This season, there are 16 people under control, including training, and now the spring camp before the opening is being held. The opening game will start on the 23rd, and the official game will start at the end of March. What kind of drama will be born this season?
Fukui is by no means a prefecture that produces a large number of professional baseball players. However, in the past few years, the prefecture’s leading baseball team has advanced to the Japan Series, and as a prefecture citizen, it is worth supporting.
I would like to see the main prefectures that sweat at camp. Yakult’s Yuhei Nakamura catcher (from Fukui Commercial High School), who has won consecutive Central League titles, energetically performs free hits and coordination between pitchers at the Okinawa camp. His goal is to become the team’s first league champion for the third consecutive time and regain the top spot in Japan. As a 32-year-old veteran, he is well-adjusted, and the only thing to watch out for is injuries.
Orix won the Pacific League and Japan Series last season. Pitcher Soichiro Yamazaki (from Tsuruga Kehi High School), who has made a name for himself as a middleman, is a hot topic again this season. At camp, he polishes his fastball, which reaches 160 kilometers per hour. He is also working hard to learn forkball, and expectations are high for his leap forward. 14-year veteran pitcher Osamu Yamada (same), who was sluggish last season, is focusing on increasing the variety of pitches. If the width of the pitch is widened, the restoration is near.
2020 Japan Series MVP Softbank Ryoya Kurihara outfielder (from former Harue Kogyo High School), who had been out for a long time due to a serious injury, will send a fulfilling Miyazaki camp in hopes of a comeback. He plans to change his main battlefield from the outfield to third base, and in defensive practice, he handles sharp hits with ease. He is also good at hitting, and I can’t wait to see him in good spirits in official games. Seibu pitcher Tatsuji Masuda (from Fukui Institute of Technology), who is close to achieving 200 saves, and Hiroshima outfielder Ryoma Nishikawa (from Tsuruga Kehi High School), who is aiming for a 30% batting average and 25 home runs, appear to be doing well.
Outside of the players under control, outfielder Motohide Kinoshita (from Tsuruga Kehi High School), who is in his fourth year in Hiroshima, is the only cannon candidate who was selected for the team’s first army camp in training. He is also a mood maker and highly rated. In the third year of training the giants, pitcher Naoki Kasashima (same) became a disciple of pitcher Shosei Togo, the winning pitcher of last season, and practiced independently. The camp will start with the 3rd army, but it is possible to use a middleman only for the team whose task is to strengthen the pitching power.
Yoshida joined the Red Sox, and there will be the WBC for the first time in six years, and two prefectural schools will participate in the selected high school baseball for the second year in a row. Interest in baseball of citizen of the prefecture seems to increase more than usual. A prefectural professional player who has no choice but to adjust. I can’t wait to see who will be active this season.
