"Tsuyoshi (Coach Tsuyoshi Nishioka) told me that my starts were disorganized and I was often getting passed over, so he told me to start faster, hold the ball, wait and tell me where to hit."

During batting practice on the 3rd, Lotte's Ryusei Terachi started hitting faster than usual when facing a left-handed batting pitcher.

During batting practice on the 1st, he said, "I think I lowered my center of gravity a little," and was hitting with a lower center of gravity, so perhaps he was starting to hit earlier from that day onwards.

"I've been told this for a while, and there are some things I need to fix myself. I think I need to establish that in myself as well." He plans to continue hitting the ball as soon as possible.

During batting practice, there were many strong hits in the opposite direction from center fielder. Teraji himself also seemed to have a good feeling, saying, "It's been a while since I've had such a strong hit, so I think I've improved a lot." He enthusiastically said, "I'll stick with this from the next session and try to hit strong balls in the opposite direction from center fielder without being pulled."

On defense side, Teraji said, "Right now I'm in a variety of stances, which make it easier to block and do other things. I'm trying to keep my left side as my axis, but within that I'm looking for a position that makes it easier to block and catch." He was catching pitches from the pitcher in a variety of stances in the bullpen on the 1st.

On the sub-ground, Ryusei Miyazaki, who is aiming to become second baseman baseman, practiced defensively after the team practice, saying, "I think you need physical strength to practice, so I want to do a variety of exercises, and I was practicing defense, including strengthening my physical strength."

In order to win the competition for second baseman, he emphasized, "I think if I can hit, I'll be able to play in the game, so rather than focusing on improving defense skills, I want to make a strong impression with my batting."

Koshiro Hiroike, who is currently in his hometown of Miyakonojo for spring training, said of the camp, "It's really my hometown, but the things I do haven't changed, so I'm able to relax and not think of it as my hometown." He also said, "A lot of people I know will be there, so I feel I have to do my best," and is determined to show a good performance in front of his local friends.

Now that the first course is over, I wonder if he has been able to show what he has been working on in his personal training so far.

"It's only the third day of camp, but we've been able to do it. We've also resumed training that we hadn't been able to do, so I hope to be well prepared during this camp and be able to enter the season."

Also on this day, first-round draft pick Genki Ishigaki (Kendai Takasaki High School) entered bullpen for the first time since joining the pros, throwing 15 pitches standing up. The 4th is a holiday, and the second course will start on the 5th.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita