WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: QUARTERFINALS 4 - VENEZUELA VS JAPAN

March 14, 2026

Hirokazu Ibata

LoanDepot Park

Team Japan

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Around the world, many people are saying that the rules of the World Classic have been written to favor the United States and Japan. As a manager, what opinion do you have about that?

HIROKAZU IBATA: Of course I'm only thinking about the game that's in front of me. We have to win the game right in front of me, so I'm going to think about it after we win this game.

Q. Each country has its own brand of baseball. Can you talk about how Japanese baseball has evolved over the past couple decades and anything in particular that you've had to adapt to?

HIROKAZU IBATA: Nothing really in particular. I think a different kind of a pattern, including home runs, I think you're going to have to catch when they're not looking or something like that. I think it's been the same from the very beginning and from a long time ago. Nothing has really changed.

Q. This is going into the finals, and so once you lose, you're out. So I think many countries are trying to beat Japan. I think this is a team many teams have really been practicing analyzing play. So what do you think as a coach, the manager?

HIROKAZU IBATA: Of course not everybody has come into the finals, but we are just concentrating on winning the game right in front of us. So I think we have to give full swing to our game today, so that's all we're doing.

(FastScripts by ASAP Sports)