On the 8th, Rakuten Eagles manager Hajime Miki inspected the first day of joint voluntary training for rookies, which was held at the indoor training facility at Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi.

Checking on the energetic new players, the coach commented, "They all looked nervous. It's rare to play in front of so many people, so I imagine they're spending today with a lot of thoughts on their minds as the start of the season approaches."

The rookies' full-fledged professional careers are finally about to begin. Manager Miki said, "I want them to perform well right away, and I want the development players to work hard to become regular players, but I also want them to cherish what they've done up until now and experience a variety of things in the new environment of professional baseball. First of all, I want them to make this year a fruitful one, with a variety of experiences, successes and failures that will help them in the future."

The rookie joint voluntary training will be an important time leading up to the spring training camp that begins in February. "I think they were drafted because they were highly evaluated and have good qualities, so I hope they can spend January in a good position to prepare their bodies and minds so that they can fully express what they can do," he said emphatically.