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Matsunaka, Kishi fail to make Japan WBC roster
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MIYAZAKI, Japan, Feb. 22 (21:09) Kyodo
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Nobuhiko Matsunaka, whose bat helped Japan win the 2006 World
Baseball Classic, and last year's Japan Series MVP pitcher Takayuki
Kishi did not find their names on the final 28-man roster Sunday for
the upcoming WBC.
Veteran Softbank Hawks slugger Matsunaka had to skip part of the
training menu in the just-ended WBC camp in Miyazaki with a sore
Achilles tendon.
''The outcome was unfortunate but I tried hard. You just have to
produce results at whatever position you are given,'' Matsunaka said,
referring to his return to the Hawks camp.
Matsunaka hit .433 with no homers and two RBIs in eight games as
the cleanup hitter in the inaugural Classic.
Meanwhile, Kishi was nowhere close to the pitcher he was in the
Japan Series last November, in which the right-hander pitched a
complete-game shutout in Game 4 and threw 5-2/3 innings of scoreless
relief in Game 6 on two days' rest.
Some coaching staff voiced that the 24-year-old Kishi has no
other headline-making big game performance in his two-year
professional career.
''I couldn't show my ability at all,'' Kishi said. ''I learned
the importance of physical strength.''
Softbank left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada, Seibu catcher Toru Hosokawa,
a former batterymate of Daisuke Matsuzaka's, and Hiroshima Carp first
baseman Kenta Kurihara were also left out as Japan reduced its roster
to the final 28 on the final day of the weeklong camp. |
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