GOODYEAR, Arizona – When Shogo Akiyama takes batting practice each day, his main priority is working on his timing.
Usually hitting in a group with power hitters Aristides Aquino and Nick Castellanos, Akiyama hasn’t hit jaw-dropping homers. He’s mostly hitting line drives to the left-center and right-center gaps.
It was more of the same when he stepped into the batter’s box for the first time at Goodyear Ballpark for his spring training debut Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.