Nippon-Ham pitcher Kota Tatsu (21) conducted voluntary training at the team's facility in Kamagaya City, Chiba Prefecture on the 22nd, revealing that he is embarking on an "experiment" in preparation for the start of training camp.

February 1st is like "New Year's Day" for baseball players. Teammates who have been training independently in various locations gather at the training camp and practice in their uniforms. On that day, professional baseball players all say the same thing:

"Camping is tiring..."

They said with a smile.

"Is it really just the uniform that makes you tired, or is it just a matter of mindset? It's an experiment."

He's been doing his off-season training in black pants, the same specifications as his uniform. He has three sets of them to avoid any gaps in his training, so he's serious about this experiment. On this day, he threw 60 pitches in bullpen, including some breaking ball.

"It's been like this forever. For the sake of the experiment. For now, it's like this all year round. If I'm tired after February 1st, then it's a matter of attitude. The uniform has nothing to do with it!"

While he approaches training with seriousness, he never forgets to have fun. Armed with a powerful fastball reaches a maximum speed of 156 km/h and a variety of breaking ball, he recorded 8 wins in 16 games last season. He is already scheduled to start the third game of the season on March 29th (against Softbank Hawks at Mizuho PayPay Dome). Just a few more sleeps until spring training begins. I'm looking forward to his research report from Nago. (Hiroshi Kato)