On the 31st, ahead of the start of spring training on February 1st, Nippon-Ham catcher Yua Tamiya (25) parodied the team's new slogan "DOMI!" by saying "I'm going to tami," revealing his determination to overwhelm his rivals and lead the team as the starting catcher.
Tamiya, who finished his final training in a light rain in Nago, Okinawa, revealed his personal theme for this season. "As catcher, I want to dominate so I can lead the team. This year I'm going to dominate." The day before, new player's chairman Kiyomiya Yuki announced a new slogan, "DOMI!", derived from the word "dominate," which means to dominate or overwhelm. Kiyomiya Yuki called for players to "use the term in various ways, such as 'Domi-katsu' or 'Domi-o'," and he immediately responded to the chairman's wishes.
To become "Tamiya," Tamiya, who played in 79 games last season, will need to "overwhelm" his rivals as the starting catcher. With Fushimi (who played in 64 games last season) having been traded to Hanshin Tigers, his competition will be Shindo (13 games last season) and Umebayashi (2 games). On this day, despite it being a day off, he was the first fielder to appear on ground, catch with Mizuno. He worked up a sweat for about two hours, batting indoors and running 5 kilometers on a treadmill. "I want to improve my technique and stamina so I can compete all year long." During the off-season, he said, "I've done everything I wanted to do," and he lost body fat and improved his sharpness.
Before the start of training camp, he updated his hairstyle. He had long blonde hair until then, but on the 29th he had it cut in the image of Nakajima Kento, an artist he is a self-proclaimed fan of. "I cut it darker, similar to (Nakajima Kento). It's much shorter, like Kenty's style," he said, raising his motivation.
Last season, he had a batting average of .253, 5 Home Run, and 2 stolen base. This season, he aims to starting line-up 100 games, batting .300, and stolen base 10 bases. With his new slogan in mind, he will "overwhelm" the catcher. (Haruki Kawakami)
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