Nippon-Ham pitcher Mizuki Hori (27) vowed on the 14th to increase his fastball speed and make a comeback to the first team. Last season, he appeared in 33 games in the farm league and had a good ERA of 1.65, but in the first team, he appeared in 2 games and had ERA of 16.20, failing to produce results. "My goal this year is to throw 153 km/h. Last year, my fastest was 151 km/h, so I want to be able to consistently get close to 150 km/h," he said, aiming for a comeback by increasing his fastball speed. "All pitcher in the first team are too fast. Uehara (who is also a left-hander) was fast too. So even though the angle is a little different, I think I need to throw at that speed to get noticed in the farm league," he said, showing his fighting spirit.

This offseason, for the seventh consecutive year, he has been training with his mentor, Miyanishi, on his own. Under his mentor's supervision, he has been doing a grueling exercise called heat training, which involves alternating short bursts of high-intensity exercise with short breaks, pushing his body to its limits. "It's so hard, I really want to go home every time, but it's because of that that I can enter camp in good condition," he said, expressing his gratitude to his mentor and feeling the benefits.

The 2016 first-round draft pick left-hander is in his tenth season this year. The talented pitcher, who won the Best reliever in 2021, said, "I think I'll be pitching early in spring training, so I want to be in top form then. I was pitching well all last year, but I wasn't able to get results in the first team, so I want to somehow maintain that form and get results in the first team." The 27-year-old, following in the footsteps of his mentor, will be a key piece in Shinjo's Fighters' quest for victory.