Japanese Company Helps Chicago Cubs with Pitching Form Analysis

Tokyo, March 17 (Jiji Press)--The Chicago Cubs, currently in Japan for their 2025 opening series at Tokyo Dome, is analyzing players' pitching forms with support from Japan's Next Base Corp.

The Tokyo-based company, which has signed a support deal with the U.S. Major League Baseball team, has expertise in baseball motion and data analysis.

Between February and March, Next Base executives including CEO Shinichi Nakao visited the Cubs' training camp in Arizona and analyzed the pitching forms of about 20 hurlers with minor league contracts with the team.

In the field of biomechanics related to baseball, Japan has focused on analyzing the mechanism of pitching forms while the United States has put emphasis more on injury prevention, according to Tsutomu Jinji, executive director of Next Base and associate professor at Japan's Kokugakuin University.

The Cubs are keen to help the team's pitchers prevent injuries. There may be something to learn from Japanese hurlers' pitching forms, Nakao said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]