Happy new year again. Not a ton going on in this final month before spring training starts, but Roki Sasaki talked about his preparation for the WBC, while a former NPB pitcher has been hired to scout.
So let’s get started shall we?
Sasaki getting feel for WBC ball
Lotte Marines right-hander Roki Sasaki, who will have the luxury of being in the shadows cast by Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani once Samurai Japan assembles in mid-February, said Friday that he’s been working out using the WBC ball over the winter.
“I’ve been throwing pretty hard with it. I just want to play within myself and contribute to the team,” he told reporters in an online media availability from Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, where he attended high school.
“How my secondary pitches will play when I’m throwing to a catcher in his crouch at near game speed remains to be seen, but I want to throw as much as I can with the WBC ball to have a solid feel for it.”
Sikorski to scout for Fighters
Brian Sikorski, who pitched for the Lotte Marines, Yomiuri Giants, Yakult Swallows, Marines (again), and Seibu Lions, over a period from 2001 to 2011, has been hired as a scout by the Nippon Ham Fighters, who had for years been leaning heavily on the work of former MLB pitcher Alan Hargesheimer and former Fighters slugger Matt Winters.
The first time I went to a winter meetings, in San Diego in 2014, I ran into Brian, who said he was there to scout up a job, and I’m pleased as punch that he’s found this one.
