Port St. Lucie (Florida, USA), reporter Kim Tae-woo, video reporter Kim Seong-cheol] New York Mets, a star corps lined with superstars representing major leagues such as Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Francisco Lindor. But on the first day of official training for pitchers and catchers, there was one player who got the most attention from the press and fans.
Ahead of this season, Senga Kodai, a Japanese pitcher who signed a five-year contract with the New York Mets and realized his dream of advancing to the major leagues, is the main character. Senga, who came to the United States early and improved his condition스포츠토토, greeted his Mets colleagues and went into official team training on the 16th of our time.
While Japanese and local media are very interested in pursuing Senga, there are already quite a few fans cheering for him wearing a uniform with Senga’s name engraved on it. Senga’s tense expression is also slightly relaxed in the midst of it.
[Senga Interview]
“I had a feeling on the first day that I was having a good time with many famous players on such a high-level stage.”
Senga is one of the best pitchers in Japanese professional baseball, and a top right-handed pitcher who left a strong impression on our fans even in international matches. He conquered the Japanese stage with his proprietary forkball, which is evaluated as a fast ball in the mid-150 km/h range and a special grade. In the Star Corps Mets, expectations are high as the third starter following Verlander and Scherzer.
The most important thing is to adapt to the major leagues. There are many mountains to overcome, including a tighter schedule than Japan, a different environment such as the official ball and mound, and adaptation to American culture. Senga, who receives 75 million dollars for 5 years and 96.7 billion won in Korean money, is also determined to solve this task slowly.
[Senga Interview]
“There are a lot of veteran players on the team… I’m a rookie, so I have the idea to start by learning things clearly. I’m still in a situation where I can’t understand the language, but I think it would be nice to communicate little by little. “
The New York Mets, the number one major league team in terms of annual salary, is meaningless unless they win the World Series. Amid high expectations for Senga, a proven starting pitcher, whether he will be able to make the first step well has emerged as a camp topic.