Nippon-Ham infielder Kotaro Kiyomiya (26) held a public training session in Saiki City, Oita Prefecture on the 19th, where he received a strange command from fellow trainee Softbank Hawks: "Become a horse owner." Yanagida is one of the leading horse owners in baseball, owning horses such as God Valley, which has one win in the JRA. "Gita-san is pushing me. He's telling me to become a horse owner, so I need to hit more and earn more," he said, emulating the footsteps of his mentor, who is expected to earn an annual salary of 370 million yen this season.
To become a dream owner, he wants to hit more home Home Run. Last season, he had 143 hit second in the league, but only hit 12 Home Run, which was a slump. "I have to aim for 30 hits. I want to be able to pull the ball properly and hit home run," he said, demonstrating that he hit nine home runs over the fence, including one to right field, in 85 swings during batting practice that day. He takes video of each pitch on his smartphone and carefully checks that his body is not leaning toward pitcher when he steps out with his right foot, in an effort to improve his power hitting.
If he forms a trio of 30 home runs with Reyes, who was Home Run king last season with 32, and Mannami, who hit 20, he will become the second player on the team to do so since Wilson (37), Ogasawara (31), and Obando (30) in 2000. "Our appeal is our long hits. We want to set ourselves apart from other teams," he said, setting a goal of hitting 30 home runs for the first time in his career.
When he renewed his contract in December last year, he signed for 130 million yen, the first time he had broken the 100 million yen mark. This season, his ninth year, he will be appointed as the players' association president. "This year we will definitely win. I want to lead the beer shower." In this season, the year of the horse, Shinjo Ham will become the winning horse by defeating the champions led by Yanagida. (Kawakami Haruki)
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