WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: QUARTERFINALS - ITALY VS JAPAN

March 16, 2023

Hideki Kuriyama

Tokyo Dome

Team Japan

Postgame Press Conference

Japan 9, Italy 3

Q. How do you feel? What is in your mind right now?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Yes, first of all, before the game started, I talked, as I talked, there was an atmosphere from the players that players got to do something and what I felt, there's a special chemistry before the game starts. This roster, this Team Japan, there's a bunch of younger players, and probably most of them are eager to advance to the semifinals so that they will have the opportunity to play against real major leaguers.

For the hitters, yes, this is going to be another serious game start for the semifinal and final, so that's how I feel right now.

Q. Ohtani, every single pitch, he was aiming and his at-bat, he tried to do a bunt hit. How did you see Ohtani playing, both pitching and hitting?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Yes, I was watching for him for quite a long time and these kind of moments, that was how I feel, this is Ohtani, this is Shohei, this is Shohei when he plays a must-win game like tonight, this is how we see who Shohei is not only Shohei but Yu Darvish as well. They crossed the ocean from the states to Japan, and I could imagine that there's a lot of difficulty adjusting to the conditions.

When we see Shohei playing, all the nation is feeling something extra how he worked hard.

Q. Let's talk about your pitchers, you put Darvish in the seventh inning, a late-inning situation. What was the key moment, the message you put him in the late inning such as seventh inning?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Once again, as I repeat, there's a large gap, like a 9-3 score, but no matter who pitched to Team Italy, they almost never swing and miss. They swing really hard. So there is like five- or six-run difference. It was a tough game from the beginning. Like I mentioned yesterday or the day before, this game was an all-in game, and this is how we did for tonight as we planned.

Q. In Italy, they have strong pitchers as well. And Yoshida and Yamamoto also hit home runs. How did you see those two home runs?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Continuously, well, the WBC tournament is like a tournament but from the true and correct copy in Miyazaki, it's about like a month long, so it's not a really short tournament. Like today's game, if hitters score many during the middle of the game, yes, this is the game, how we make momentum of the game and thanks to Okamoto and Yoshida, well, they finally hit hard. It's the result we want so we are very pleased.

Q. You changed the lineup. What's your prediction for the semifinal?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Well, yes, I have like a lot of messages to put Yoshida in clean-up and miles an hour I calm I for the fifth, but more important thing is to try to get a victory, that's the most important thing, so I'm not supposed to say a lot for the future. My only concern is just the victory.

Q. Playing baseball in front of such a huge Japanese audience, you played hard baseball as one team. How do you feel looking back at the previous five games?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: We are representing Team Japan but when I was with the nip pan fighters, my previous two years, that attitude had to be changed because of COVID-19. The fans were not allowed to come, and so I thank them a lot, and in order to make them pleased, winning is the only way we could do for them. That's why we played hard, and representing Team Japan, I'd like to say thank you very much, indeed, for fans.

Q. Yu Darvish had not thrown in relief in 13 years, and he's also become a huge mentor to players like Yamamoto. How important is it to the team that he has become a leader and someone who is really willing to do anything to win and set the tone for the team?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Well, we could say that this not -- but he joined from the beginning in day one, he is the guy that always does for the team, not himself. He always does the things for the future, not present.

Some day in the near future, I'd like to express how I feel for Yu. Yes, we are playing baseball to get a win, but in five, ten years, but him playing in this tournament.