Orix Buffaloes second-team pitcher coach Kazuki Kondo (43), who returned to his former team for the first time in 11 years, began his 'passionate coaching' in Maishima, Osaka on the 10th. He joined the autumn practice starting at 10:00 AM. After greeting each player, saying, 'I thought they had very honest eyes,' he first checked the weight training of the pitching staff.

In the afternoon, he played catch on the ground with Hajime Sato, who will be entering his eighth season next year. 'He stood out to me the most. He can reach an even greater scale. I felt it was a waste, and not just a little bit.' He immediately confirmed with his own eyes the trajectory of the left-hander, who has a blessed physique of 190 centimeters but has been struggling to grow. After that, they moved indoors for over two hours of one-on-one instruction, including shadow pitching and pitch drills with a stretch bar on his shoulders. 'We talked about body movement,' he said, as they exchanged opinions on how to use the pivot leg and weight transfer.

Second-team manager Hirano, who is in the same age group and became a coach at the same time, expressed high expectations, saying, 'During our playing days, we worked hard together and were good rivals. He is very diligent in practice and has a great spirit of inquiry, so I hope he can pass that on to the young players next.' The newly appointed coach, who was told to 'go ahead and be strict,' emphasized, 'The ideal state is for practice to be tough so that the games feel easy. We have to make them feel like they don't want to stay in the second team.' A hard worker who overcame four consecutive years of right elbow surgeries and was crowned the best reliever for the first time in 2018 during his time with Yakult, he will now give back his experience without reservation. (Shunta Nambu)