Nippon-Ham manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo (54) announced on the 2nd that he would raise the evaluation of self-sacrifice and reform the way ESCON plays. He inspected the Red vs. White game, which was held in Kunigami, Okinawa, and featured mostly young players. He praised the scene in the third inning of the Reds, when Narama grounded out to second base with a 0-2 count and one out, scoring a run. He said, "This year, I'm rated at about three RBI. I've asked the front office to raise my evaluation. If ESCON plays a point-scoring performance like, 'Nice team batting! Get a raise!', it will make the players happy." He stressed the importance of self-sacrifice.

On the first day of camp the previous day, they conducted special batting practice indoors, hitting ground balls to the shortstop and second baseman, thoroughly instilling an awareness of team batting. Narama reflected, "I want to get my own hits, but I'm thinking about scoring runs for the team first." The manager said, "This year is a high-level, real tryout. It's the highest level of competition where players are putting their careers on the line." Now in his fifth year as manager, Shinjo's meticulous baseball is becoming even more refined.