On the 15th, Orix Buffaloes Buffaloes infielder Kotaro Kobayashi (23) announced that he would be undergoing "long-term training" in order to play in every game for the first time. He began his voluntary training in Maishima, Osaka, before moving to his hometown of Shizuoka. He will be holed up in the mountains until just before the team's Miyazaki training camp in February, where he will be doing hard training for more than 10 hours a day.

"I've never played in 143 games as short stop, and I want to hit .300 and hit more than 20 home runs. I'm practicing to get results in games." He starts at 6 a.m., with a meal in between, and then goes to 5 p.m. He also gets help from his family, saying, "The food at my parents' house is really delicious." He has already spent 3 million yen out of his own pocket to buy a batting machine and more than 10 types of training equipment.

In principle, he will practice for more than a month without a break. "Until now, I have been hitting long tee shots comfortably," he said, and he has also revised his training methods, hitting balls set at 150 km/h. "I'm doing it like training." His career highs are a batting average of .275, 10 Home Run, and 48 RBI. In his seventh year, he is about to fully blossom, and a super serious battle is about to begin. (Osada Toru)