Nippon-Ham pitcher Haruki Hosono entered bullpen on the 6th and threw 47 pitches. With a slightly lower left arm compared to last season, he already reached 149 km/h.

He threw a powerful ball with his arm slightly lowered. "I'm trying to lower my arm angle. It's starting to solidify to a certain extent. In terms of the axis of rotation, it was 11:10 but now it's 10:30, so it's just a little more sideways rotation," he explained.

The time Hosono is referring to is the hour hand when looking at a clock from pitcher side. A difference of 40 minutes is equivalent to a 20-degree angle. "When I lowered my arm angle, the ball was stronger and it was easier to throw. I asked those around me and they all agreed, so I thought I might try changing it." He decided to make the change during his voluntary training in January with Ito and Kanemura.

The angle is called a three-quarter, but I'm also considering pitch lowering it further and from an angle closer to the side. I'm thinking about using it differently. I want to see how hitters react from the side, so I'll probably throw a few pitches during this camp, but my basic base is where it is now. I've been taking biomechanical measurements, and I've found that the ball is faster from the side, so I'm thinking about it.

On this day, Hosono pitched a variety of curveballs, including slider, cutter, fork, and two-two seam fastball breaking ball. He admitted that changing the angle of his arm "was a little difficult at first," but added, "I think I can now throw with the same feeling as before." He plans to observe batters' reactions in actual games during training camp.