On February 2, Hiromi Ito pitcher (28), a member of Nippon-Ham the WBC Japan team, ran for the currently vacant fourth starting spot in the Samurai Japan team. bullpen He threw 23 pitches with six different pitches, including a straight ball, change-up and splitter, using the WBC pitch, and said, "I felt good and balanced. I'd like to be a starter if possible. The Sawamura Award-winning right-hander has stepped up to the starting lineup, leaving one slot open because of Ohtani's fielder commitment.

At present, the candidates for the starting position are likely to be MLB players Yamamoto (Dodgers), Kikuchi (Angels), and Sugano (free agent from the Orioles). Manager Ibata says he has not yet contacted him about specifics on how he will be used or when he will pitch, but "he has been called up, so he is preparing." Based on his experience of pitching three runs games as reliever in the last tournament in 2023, Sugano is expected to be used in a variety of ways.

Since last season's training camp, he has been improving the accuracy of catch ball and shadow pitching, and has been practicing energy-saving adjustments by minimizing the number of pitches thrown on slopes. On the previous day (1st), he said, "It might end with one pitch," but on this day, he said, "The feeling was better than I thought," and looked satisfied as he pitched to right-handed hitter from the 13th pitch and to left-handed hitter from the 17th pitch.

In the background, he checked the grip of change-up with pitcher coordinator Kaneko, who has a total of 130 wins. "(Kaneko) has a genius sense, so I chose the one that suits me best," he said. Although he was unable to reproduce Kaneko's change-up, which has a large drop similar to his fastball, he continued to try and error.

The next bullpen will look ahead to the second training session starting on the 6th. "I want to improve the accuracy of my fastball, or rather, the strength of it." The strongest pitcher in the NPB is steadily sharpening his claws in order to win the world championship again. (Haruki Kawakami)

With Ohtani avoiding pitching, the Samurai's starting and second starting pitchers will be the "three pillars" of Yamamoto, Sugano, and Kikuchi, who are expected to be assigned to one of the first round games against Taiwan (March 6th), South Korea (March 7th), Australia (March 8th), or the Czech Republic (March 10th). The remaining starting pitcher slot is likely to be filled by either Ito, Soya, or Miyagi, while Taneichi, Takahashi Hiroshi, and Kitayama will likely be second starting pitchers or relievers.