Orix Buffaloes Hiroya Miyagi pitcher Daiya Miyagi (24), a member of the Japanese WBC team, overcame a mishap in his first real game of 2012. On the 8th, he made his first appearance in live batting practice (batting practice in a real game setting) at the Miyazaki camp. He threw 20 pitches, checking all types of pitches except for change-up. He broke Hiranuma's bat with a fastball, and even in temperatures of 4.5 degrees, he had one hit. "Some of the balls were concentrated low," he said, suggesting there were some positives.

Wakatsuki, who is also a member of the Japanese national team, will be in charge of catcher, and it was originally planned to exchange autographs at Pitchcom. However, Wakatsuki failed to charge the equipment on the pitcher side, and the power was cut off before he could take the mound. "I'm not used to machines, so it's my mistake," said the wife with a wry smile, and hurriedly instructed the pitch with her finger. Miyagi also said, "Let's (practice) in the next pitch practice, and I'm not that mechanically deaf, so I think I can (adapt) (laughs)."

On this day, Soya, making his WBC debut, also took to the mound for the first time, throwing 20 pitches with no hit. "The ball wasn't as wild as I thought it would be. It's going well," he nodded. Both left-handed pitchers took to the mound in the Red vs. White game on the 11th, and will join Samurai Japan's training camp from the 14th. They will steadily make progress in their preparations and become a piece of the puzzle for consecutive world championships at the main tournament in March. (Nambu Shunta)