Yomiuri Giants ace Tetsuya Utsumi and his teammates started spring training on Feb. 1 in the pursuit of a second straight Japan Series championship.
But for Utsumi, his role in the regular season is on the backburner as the lefty gears up for March's World Baseball Classic.
"For now, the WBC is my No. 1 goal," he said at the team's spring training base in Miyazaki, where Japan's WBC training camp will begin on Friday.