With two days remaining until the start of the World Baseball Classic, Team Japan held a light two-hour workout in the indoor facility of Jingu Gaien in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Tuesday afternoon. Due to cold weather, the team practiced there instead of holding its workout outside at Jingu Stadium.
The players devoted much of that time to batting practice, looking to make hitting adjustments after a deplorable offensive performance in the final two warmup games against the Seibu Lions and Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome, where the Asia Round will be held from Thursday until March 9.
Players, including Seiichi Uchikawa (Yokohama BayStars), Norichika Aoki (Tokyo Yakult Swallows), Atsunori Inaba (Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters), Hiroyuki Nakajima (Lions), Yasuyuki Kataoka (Lions) and Munenori Kawasaki (Fukuoka Softbank Hawks), voluntarily arrived at Jingu Gaien earlier than required to take batting practice, as well as work on their mechanics and conditioning.