The player who received the most attention at the Miyazaki Camp Hinata Sunmarine Stadium in Japan, where the World Baseball Classic (WBC) Japanese national team is training, is Darvish Yu (San Diego Padres).
There is an aspect that Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) has not joined yet, but it must be because he is showing the power of Japanese baseball by maintaining a top spot in the major leagues even after well past his mid-30s.
Darvish joined the Japanese national team on the first day of the call on the 17th and is training with his teammates. He pitched his first bullpen on the 18th. He had Softbank Hawks catcher Takuya Guy sit down and threw 35 pitches with a mix of fastballs, sliders, two-seams, and curveballs.
But when Darvish appeared in the bullpen, his teammates flocked to him all the more as a surprise. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes), who won the Pacific League Sawamura Award and MVP for two consecutive years, and Rocky Sasaki (Chiba Lotte Marines), the youngest player in NPB to have a perfect game, appeared in the bullpen to watch Darvish’s first bullpen pitching. revealed
Yamamoto took a position behind the bullpen net while Sasaki squatted beside Japan’s closer Ota Taisei (Yomiuri Giants), pulling out his phone. According to the Japanese media, The Japan Times, there were eight pitchers from the Japanese national team who watched Darvish’s bullpen pitching on the spot.
And a prominent celebrity watched the pitch from beside Darvish. It was Nomo Hideo. The Japan Times said, “Eight WBC pitchers fixed their eyes on Darvish’s pitching, and the legendary star old mother stood a few steps next to him.” He was concentrating on the ball while doing it.”
Yamamoto said in an interview with Nikkan Sports, “It looked very good,” and “everyone was great, but it was fun to see it after a long time.” Sashiki said, “All of Darvish’s breaking balls were very impressive. I took a video and saved it.”
After finishing the bullpen pitching, Darvish said, “Overall, it was good. The four-seam wasn’t very good, but the slider, two-seam, and curveball were good.” 스포츠토토
It’s been 14 years since the 2nd WBC in 2009 that Darvish became a member of ‘Samurai Japan’. It was a time when Japan won two consecutive championships. Darvish met Korea in the final and played an active part in Japan’s victory by throwing a tool to save the game. Darvish, who reigned as the best pitcher in NPB at the time, entered the major leagues by signing with the Texas Rangers three years later.
He is still hailed as a top-notch pitcher. Last year, he went 16-8 with a 3.10 earned run average and 197 strikeouts, establishing himself as San Diego’s ace. As a result, he even signed a six-year, $108 million contract extension. He was guaranteed active duty until the age of 42.
The Japan Times said, ‘The attention his bullpen pitching has received shows how important he is to the Japanese national team and how much he is respected. Darvish said he represents the goals of his teammates and he is participating in the WBC.
Darvish is likely to start for the Group B Korea match. The fact that he joined the national team without going through his team’s spring camp was his own will and coach Hideki Kuriyama’s request also worked. It should be seen that he is entrusted with the selection of important games such as the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, as well as the Korean match.
