Orix Buffaloes pitcher Soichiro Yamazaki will make his first appearance in live BP (batting practice in a real game setting) on the 11th. He has been in bullpen four times since the start of camp on February 1st, and on this day he will be standing and throwing to check his condition. He set the theme as "The fastball will be the foundation, but how well can I throw the curveball and fork?" In 2013, he had ERA 4.28 in 28 games, but since September he has recorded one win and four hold in just eight games. He is gaining confidence in his "Fauche," which is somewhere between fork and change-up.

The ideal scenario is to be able to throw all three types of pitches with high precision, using them both as count pitches and strikeout pitches. The 160 km/h right-hander, who is expected to return to the winning pattern, said, "It would be a huge advantage if I could throw all of my pitches exactly as I want them to. If I can do that, I feel like I can really take off."