Cepeda begins to stake claim for OF spot

Frederich Cepeda has taken little time to show he was ready to fight for a place in the Yomiuri Giants’ crowded outfield.

Four days after joining up with the Central League champions in spring training, the muscular Cuban has his first home run of the preseason, a three-run shot in a practice game Tuesday against the SK Wyverns of the South Korean league.

Batting left-handed, the switch-hitting Cepeda belted a low fastball in the fifth inning over the left centerfield fence, part of an offensive outburst in a 13-7 victory.

“I’m glad I was able to do something good,” Cepeda said.

The 34-year-old Cepeda joined the Giants in midseason last year under high expectations, having batted .449 with six home runs and 23 RBIs for Cuba in the past three World Baseball Classics.

But he never really made the adjustment to the Japanese game after making his debut in May, and batted .194 with six home runs in 52 games.

There are signs that this season will be different. After returning home, he played well in the Cuban league, then won the MVP award in helping his Cuba team win the Caribbean Series in Puerto Rico.

So he came to the Giants camp baseball-ready. To help him get over jet lag and get used to the Okinawa weather, he took batting practice on the team’s day off Monday, and on Tuesday was the first player in the indoor batting facility.

“Compared to last year when he came during the season, he is much more prepared,” Giants manager Tatsunori Hara said.

While Cepeda stole the spotlight, Taishi Ota, Itaru Hashimoto and Tatsuhiko Kinjo also had hits as they reminded him of the outfield competition, which will also included rehabbing Hisayoshi Chono and Leslie Anderson.

Nakata gets best of Otani

In a rare duel between two of Japanese baseball’s top young players, slugger Sho Nakata came out on top of Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters’ teammate Shohei Otani.

Facing each other in an intrasquad game in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, Nakata went 2-for-2 against Otani, singling to left in the first inning and belting a 154-kph fastball for a home run.

“At this point, that’s an amazing pitch,” Nakata said. “It just reminds me of how great a pitcher he is.”

While the right-handed Otani allowed four hits and two earned runs in four innings, he hit 156 kph on the speed gun and struck out nine.