Lotte's Tatsuhiro Tamura catcher (31) and Toshiya Sato catcher (27) disclosed their voluntary training in Kamogawa, Chiba on March 21. Tamura said, "I think this is really a year of competition. This is my 14th year as a pro, and I feel the greatest sense of crisis. In that respect, I can't take my time.

Tamura had a disappointing season last season, appearing in only 18 games, with 1 Home Run, 3 RBI and a .158 batting average. The team's youngsters are on the rise, with Teraji taking the starting mask for the most games (75), Sato for 52, and Tamura for 12. 31-year-old Tamura, who won the Best Nine award in 2004, said, "It doesn't look like a huge wall. Teraji and Toshiya are not in a position where it is impossible anymore. In terms of ability, I may be losing now, but I don't think the difference is so great that I have to give up. catcher I have high expectations for myself as well," he said.

The voluntary training has been held at the Kamogawa City General Sports Facility, which the team used as its training camp, since 2012. This year, in addition to Tamura and Sato, juniors Konoshin Tomiyama, Taiga Hirazawa, formerly of the Lotte Marines and Rakuten Eagles with Kei Mizukami, and Taiga Hirasawa of Seibu Lions are also participating. Now in their third year, Tamura said they are increasing their technical training more than usual, and nodded, saying, "This year, I really want to be 100% ready when I start training camp on February 1st, so I'm really fired up."