Throwing 30~40 pitches and going straight to the Korean War?
Japan national team Shohei Ohtani (28.LA Angels)’s WBC start adjustment schedule has been released.
‘Sports Nippon’ reported on the 5th (Korean time) that Ohtani will not join the Japanese national team’s camp training, but will go to the national team’s actual game after appearing in an exhibition game at his team’s spring camp.
According to the newspaper, Ohtani will enter spring camp on the 16th and pitch in one of the following games: Seattle Mariners on the 26th, Chicago White Sox on the 27th, San Francisco Giants on the 28th, and Milwaukee Brewers on March 2nd. He pitches 30 to 40 pitches in 2 to 3 innings and immediately joins the WBC Japan team.
The Japanese national team has evaluation matches such as Softbank on the 25th and 26th and Chunichi on March 3rd and 4th, but Ohtani cannot pitch. He joined in early March and has no choice but to go straight to the main game. Ohtani, along with Darvish Ryu (San Diego Padres_), is being discussed as a starting pitcher for the Korea Match (10th).
The newspaper reported that Ohtani needed to adjust to jet lag, so after adjusting for more than 7 days, he could start the Korean match on the 10th, the biggest obstacle in the first round. It is like throwing 30 to 40 pitches once and going to the game against Korea. 메이저놀이터
The Japanese national team includes five major leaguers, but it is expected that their joining will be delayed. Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs), Masataka Yoshida (Boston Red Sox) ), Lars Nutba (St. Louis Cardinals) decided to play in an exhibition game at their team’s camp, and Darvish Ryu will also join Ohtani after March 1st.
The newspaper was concerned that the failure of major leaguers to participate in the four external evaluation matches was a stumbling block. In particular, it predicted that there is a possibility that it will be delayed until March 4, the day of the Tokyo Round participating teams’ gathering. This is because everyone prioritizes their team camp. There is no choice but to have less time to match hands and feet within the national team.