Rakuten Eagles pitcher Shoma Fujihira (27), who will be playing for Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March, took to bullpen for the first time during the Miyazaki training camp on the 15th. He threw 36 pitches, including a new two-seam two seam fastball.

Darvish, his advisor, watched from behind and, based on his form of raising his left leg high to create momentum, told him, "If you can adjust it properly the way you want, you'll be fine." Darvish expressed his gratitude, saying, "I learned a lot from him, about how to use the high part of the ball and things like that.Every word he said carried a lot of weight and it gave me confidence."

As a substitute for Seibu Lions 's Taira, who withdrew from the game due to a strained left calf, he said, "I'm willing to pitch anywhere. I think it's a really tough situation with two reliever pitcher (including Hanshin Tigers 's Ishii) gone. I might pitch in the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning. There's also the possibility of pitching in the third or fourth inning. I don't have any reservations about that. I just want to do my best to perform to the best of my ability."