The two “legends” of the Seibu Lions, Daisuke Matsuzaka (43) and Kazuo Matsui (48), the “original monster pitcher,” will serve as temporary coaches and managers.

Matsuzaka, who is active as a baseball commentator, participates in spring camp as Seibu’s temporary coach. From February 6, he joins the Miyazaki 1st team camp and instructs pitchers. This is a picture of Matsuzaka, a junior, helping senior coach Matsui, who rose to the Seibu Command Tower this year. It is like taking the first step as a leader two years after his retirement as a player.

Seibu, which switched to coach Matsui after the end of last season, is aiming for a championship in four years following 2019.

Last year, the team’s ERA was 2.75. 1st in the Pacific League. Among the 12 teams in both leagues, it is second only to the Hanshin Tigers (2.67) of the Central League. After being at the bottom of the team’s ERA for four consecutive years, he rose to the top of the league. 메이저놀이터

Matsuzaka was the pride of Seibu and an ace representing Japanese baseball. He entered the rookie draft with the first pick and won the most wins for three consecutive years from his 1990 debut season. He won 108 games in seven years with Seibu, including 18 shutouts. During this span, he completed 72 complete games. In 2005, he pitched 15 complete games. He’s a monstrous finisher.

Matsuzaka lamented the decline in his junior pitchers’ complete pitching ability. He has a good grasp of the Seibu pitchers he spent two years with right before his retirement.

It started at Seibu and ended at Seibu. Matsuzaka, who entered the major leagues in 2007, returned to Japan after playing for eight years. He wore a Softbank Hawks uniform, not his home team Seibu. His 3-year contract is over

After becoming a member, he went through Chunichi Dragons and retired from Seibu in 2021. He won 170 career victories in Japan and the United States.

Matsuzaka and Matsui played together for 5 years at Seibu. It is said that even after Matsui entered the major leagues in 2004, he continued their close relationship.

Seibu, who achieved two consecutive league victories in 2018-2019, fell to the bottom in 2021. Last year, it ranked third after Orix Buffaloes and Softbank.