A 15-year-old ‘best friend’ was born in the Japanese WBC (World Baseball Classic) national team. The 36-year-old Darvish Yu (San Diego) and the 21-year-old Roki Sasaki (Chiba Lotte) have been around since the first day of the national team camp.
The Japanese national team has set up a camp in Miyazaki from the 17th to prepare for the WBC. Although most major leaguers have not participated, Darvish is the only exception to the national team camp. The San Diego Padres gave Darvish the camp schedule, and Darvish chose the national team. Coach Hideki Kuriyama, who expected the eldest leader from Darvish, was delighted.
In an interview with Japanese reporters on the 17th, Darvish joked, “Right now (other players seem to be wary of him).” It is worth feeling difficult since a great senior who has been playing in the major leagues for over 10 years has arrived. Still, some players approached Darvish first and asked questions. Sasaki and Hiroya Miyagi, Sasaki’s motivation to join the pros, spent the first day of individual training together.
Japan’s Sankei Sports reported on the 18th, “Sasaki and Miyagi became students of ‘Darvish Academy’,” and “received advice on slider grips and release points.” 메이저놀이터
On the 18th, Darvish started pitching in the bullpen. While numerous young pitchers concentrated on watching the senior pitcher’s 35 pitches, Sasaki tried not to forget Darvish’s ball while even filming it with his smartphone. Sasaki said, “I thought each and every breaking ball was amazing. I recorded it.
Conversely, on the 19th, Darvish watched Sasaki’s pitching from the bullpen. Japan’s Sponichi reported the atmosphere at the scene that day, “Contrary to the previous day, Darvish watched Sasaki’s ball from behind the net. After Sasaki finished throwing the ball, we checked the video together and had a conversation.”
Sasaki said of a conversation he had with Darvish, “He talked about the overall feeling. He told me that the sliders were getting better.” The Japanese media looked back on their three days and expressed that Darvish, born in 1986, became Sasaki’s coach, born in 2001.