◆ Practice match between Nippon-Ham and Chunichi (17th, Nago)

Nippon-Ham pitcher Fukuya Yamazaki (33) pitched as the second reliever, allowing two hits, three hit strike out one runs in two innings. He showed off the screwball technique he learned from Masa Yamamoto, who had been his temporary coach, and received positive feedback.

In the fourth inning of the second inning, he slashed right-handed hitter 's Chino with a screw and slashed struck out. From the right-handed hitter point of view, the trajectory that falls while escaping to the outside corner was "obviously hitter not suitable struck out so I had a feeling of 'Oh!' and it seems to be usable. After all, I can swing my arm well, so there was a part last year where I had to put my change-up behind, and I felt that it was really good because I could swing my arm with a screw."

As he looks ahead to his 12th year in the game this season, he said, "I want to continue baseball until I'm about 40 years old, so I'm thinking about how I can improve during that time. I think it would be great to learn a new type of pitch, and I'll take another look at my physical condition and how I use it.The young players are really good, so I'll take inspiration from various players."He has his sights set on further improvement.