Orix Buffaloes catcher Kenya Wakatsuki (30) attended contract negotiations at the team's facility in Maishima, Osaka on the 8th, and requested that the team take measures to combat humidity. Having acquired domestic free agency rights in the offseason of 2023, he signed a multi-year contract with a variable annual salary, increasing his annual salary by 50 million yen to 180 million yen (estimated amount). As he enters his 13th year as a professional, he appealed for the team to "protect" his tools of trade from the hot and humid environment.
"Kyocera Dome (the team's home stadium) is a dome stadium, and Maishima (where the team facilities are located) is close to the sea. It's inevitable that the equipment gets damp... and the bats get really heavy." The aide-de-camp is serving as the players' association president for the second time this season. He listened to the players' opinions and pleaded for the improvement of drying rooms and machinery. His proposal was accepted, and there is a "track record" that casual suits were allowed to be worn when traveling from this season, so he expressed his hopes, saying, "I don't think it will happen anytime soon, but I did talk about how it would be nice (in the future)."
As a player, he won the battle for the position with Mori, who was also born in 1995, this season and wore the starting mask in 99 games. Over the course of the season, he batted .272 with a .6 Home Run and .31 RBI batting average in 121 games. He also participated in the Samurai Japan training game against South Korea in Tokyo D in November, and is one of the candidates catcher for the WBC next March. He is one of the candidates for the WBC next March. （I'd like to prepare as if I'm going to be selected, and it would be great if we could work as a battery. (Shunta Nanbu)
Mitsuhiro Kubo (51), head of the team's management department, expressed a willingness to consider Wakatsuki's "humidity control plan." Since the team moved to Maishima in 2017, "we've been circulating the air all year round, but that alone isn't enough to keep up," he explained. "We've seen things like players putting their gloves in the refrigerator. We're currently considering introducing more facilities (both at Maishima and Kyocera Dome)."
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