On the 21st, Seibu announced that they would be sending three players, outfielder Shinya Hasegawa, pitcher Taishi Mameda, and pitcher Mikato Aoyama to the winter league in Puerto Rico.
Comments from the three players are as follows:
[Mikato Aoyama]
I want to experience high-level baseball firsthand, hone my strengths of varying speed and pitching speed, and focus on the strength of fastball. I want to learn and master the techniques and mentality to be able to throw with confidence in any situation, and come back home with that in mind.
[Taishi Mameda]
I want to learn about other players' training methods and how they think on mound. I think there are a lot of power hitters in the league, so I want to see how well I can compete against them and continue to use the feeling I gained towards the end of this season in actual games. I want to use this time to properly address my own issues and improve myself so that I can compete as a first-team player next season.
[Shinya Hasegawa, Department Head]
I've heard that this is a league that even major leaguers participate in, so I don't think I'll be used unless I produce results. I want to prepare well and approach the game with a hungry spirit so that I can play on ground as often as possible. I'm also looking forward to talking with many players. I want to gain confidence here and bring back many positive aspects so that I can prepare for spring training and exhibition games.
Related News
・ [DeNA] Tanuchi and Yoshioka sent to Dubai, Masuko and Hayato sent to Australia for the Winter League
・ [Seibu] Manager Nishiguchi gives homework to Shinya Hasegawa who will be participating in the Phoenix League, "Improve your batting skills"
・ [Seibu] Last fall's first draft pick, Taito Saito, who played in first-team games in his first year after graduating from high school, and fifth draft pick Hibiki Shinohara will be heading to the Phoenix League.
・ [Seibu] Shinya Hasegawa hits his 5th solo home run to open the scoring: "I'm glad I was able to hit it when we needed the first point."
・ [Seibu] Mikato Aoyama left the game after giving up one runs in the third inning, saying, "The tempo was bad overall."
