Seibu Lions Lions catcher Takeru Takeru Furuichi (23) attended the club office in Tokorozawa, Saitama on the 3rd to renew his contract, signing for an annual salary of 8 million yen, an increase of 1.5 million yen (estimated amount).
Although he only played in 10 games this season, his fourth year as a professional, he showed his power with 8 hit At Bat 18 at-bats for a batting average of .444. "They mainly praised my batting. It was in recognition of my efforts in the second half of the season and with expectations for next season," he said of the increased salary renewal.
Seibu Lions selected Meiji University's powerful catcher, Taiga catcher (22), with their first pick in this fall's draft. Manager Nishiguchi has stated that Kojima will accompany the team to the first-team training camp next spring, and it is expected that the competition for the starting catcher will intensify. "I think it will be a tough battle for the regular position, but first we need to get past (Yuto) Koga. I think the competition for the regular position will become even more intense, so we need to be on our toes," he said.
He plans to train with his teammates from the "2002 generation" this offseason, and is enthusiastic about doing his own training, saying, "I'll make sure to spend plenty of time doing weight training and practicing my skills to increase the scale of my training."
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