Nippon-Ham Koki Kitayama pitcher Rakuten Rakuten win The right-hander, whose 26th birthday falls on the 10th, reflected on his first start of the season on the 2nd against Softbank (ESCON), in which he went 1 runs to closer and winning pitcher in the middle of the 6th inning. breaking ball He is now aiming to pitch straight and aggressive again.
Kitayama will make the most of the opportunity that has come his way. He will be starting on the 10th, which is his birthday, and he said enthusiastically, "I'm 26 years old. I'm grateful that I've been able to play baseball safely and in good health up until now, and since this is a wonderful opportunity, I'd like to celebrate my birthday in a good way. I'll concentrate hard and enter the game."
In the previous game against Softbank on the 2nd, he went up to mound in the sixth inning, but was removed with a Walk in the first hitter. He was able to get winning pitcher in the middle of the sixth inning with a 1 runs but he said, "I was allowed to throw the top of the sixth inning and I couldn't finish the last throw, so I don't know how many innings it will be, but I want to make sure that I can finish the mound that I was raised. That's something I want to work on as a theme."
Regarding the Rakuten batting lineup, he said, "There are batters who can hit a soft pitch with one pitch. I want to make sure I can throw my own pitches one by one." Since he had runner on base every time last time and had a tough time pitching, he said, "I may have relied a little too much on breaking ball, so I want to focus on using my straight pitches and pushing with force again, so that I can show my strengths." He plans to focus on fastballs.
As the sun went down, the temperature in Sendai was still in the single digits and it was still chilly. "It was colder than I thought, so I was surprised yesterday (the 8th). But I've been practicing outside both yesterday and today, so I think I'm okay now." With a passionate pitch that made him forget the cold, he celebrated his birthday with a win. (Yamaguchi Yasushi)
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