Rakuten Eagles started the third day of their training camp in Kin Town, Okinawa on the 3rd.

Starting at just after 8:30 a.m., Munesato, Kurokawa, Yoshino, and Mizukami took part in early practice. Ambassadors Okajima and Ginji acted as batting pitcher and swung their bats.

In his first season last year, Muneyama played in 122 games, posting a batting average of .260, 3 Home Run and 27 RBI. He was named to the Best Nine at shortstop. This season, his second year, he is working hard to hone himself in order to make even greater progress. "I need to get stronger in all areas," he said with emphasis.

New players, including Ken Maeda, who returns to Japan for the first time in 11 years, Sato, who joined the team through the active player draft, and new right-handed pitcher Contreras, have started their first-team training camp. The team's rapidly growing young players will push forward in their quest to bounce back from last season's fourth-place finish.