Hiroshima Carp manager Marty Brown says he expects his team to be much improved this season and does not feel any pressure to get the club into the Central League Climax Series.
Brown will be leading the team as its skipper for the fourth season, and he's optimistic the Carp can make the playoffs in 2009.
"It's the same every year," Brown said on a cold, rainy day at the Carp's training camp in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, last month. "I don't look at it as pressure. Whatever happens, happens. I can't really control it. I get the team prepared as best we can and, if we come up short, I'll still feel good about what I've done."