Friday

• 1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi took seventy-two swings and collected forty could-be hits, including five that went over the fence. (Nikkan Sports).

Saturday

• Yudai Ono threw 122 pitches. (Sanspo)
• Kenichi Nakata threw fifty-seven pitches to a squatting Motonobu Tanishige. (Nikkan Sports)

Friday

• Kenshin Kawakami threw ninety-three pitches.  It was his second bullpen since the start of spring camp. (Daily Sports)

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Between throwing batting practice and tossing a bullpen session, Yudai Ono threw about 200 pitches today.  Pitching coach Shinji Imanaka apparently had to step in to stop Ono.

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Ni-gun pitching coach Imanaka visited Ichi-gun camp on Friday and worked with Yudai Ono, Toshiya Okada, and Ryuya Ogawa.

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1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi took fielding practice at short on Friday.  While the team does see him as a third baseman, they also feel he may have a future as a shortstop.  He might also get a look at second.

Morimichi Takagi also spent over twenty minutes hitting grounders to Takahashi.

Friday

• Ryo Hidaka threw sixty-four pitches. (Sanspo)
• Katsuki Akagawa three 109 pitches.  It was his second bullpen session since the start of spring camp. (Sponichi)

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The team had the day off today

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Four members of the 2011 draft class, including 2nd round draft pick Ryohei Kiya, 3rd round draft pick Wataru Hiyane and 4th round draft pick Yuya Ota, went sightseeing today.

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A number of players, including Yoshinori Sato, Kyohei Muranaka, Kazuhiro Hatakeyama, Shinichi Takeuchi, Yasushi Iihara, Yuhei, Tsuyoshi Ueda, and Tetsuto Yamada worked out at the indoor training facilities at Urasoe Stadium today.

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Yoshinori is hoping to toss a bullpen session some time during the second block of spring camp (begins tomorrow).

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If the Swallows can win a championship this year, the city of Urasoe might be willing to change their stadium name to Urasoe Yakult Stadium.  They could also throw the team a parade.

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Ryo Hidaka was told by pitching coach Daisuke Araki to prepare himself as a starter since it is always easier going from starter to reliever.

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Team owner Tsuyoshi Kinugasa wants his players to drink three Yakults a day to help ward off the flu.

Saturday

• John Bowker faced Jumpei Ono during BP and collected three could-be hits (no homers) on seventeen swings. (Nikkan Sports)

Friday

• Hisayoshi Chono took fifty-eight swings and hit five over the fence.  Shuichi Murata took sixty swings and hit two over the fence. (Sponichi)

Saturday

• Scott Mathieson threw forty-one pitches, including his splitter and curve.  He also threw to Shinnosuke Abe for the first time during spring camp. (Sanspo)
• Shun Tono threw 100 pitches.  It was his third session since the start of spring camp. (Sanspo)

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NPB Commissioner Ryozo Kato visited the team today.

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The Giants received 1200kg of rice from JA Akita and 880 serviings of udon noodles from Sato Yosuke Shoten today.

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Masumi Hoshino faced Daisuke Fujimura and Taishi Ota during batting practice today and allowed five could-be hits on fifty-one pitches (mostly fastballs away).  Tatsunori Hara is hoping Hoshino can become an effective option out of the bullpen.

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Takayuki Takaguchi worked out with the Ichi-gun players on Saturday and took fielding practice at both short and second.  He also showed some power during batting practice.

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Takayuki Terauchi participated in the morning walk at Ni-gun today.  Terauchi felt some pain while throwing the ball during fielding practice on Friday but appears to be ok.

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Yuya Kubo (right hip) told reporters this morning that he was able to do some long distance throwing at a max distance of about 100 meters (although without much power since his range of motion is still limited).

On Saturday, Hara told reporters that he was still hopeful Kubo would be ready by opening day and that he still had the lead for the closer role.  When asked about Scott Mathieson, he said, "If I talk about Mathieson too much it might make Kubo worry/rush."

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Hisayoshi Chono has been teaching John Bowker some Japanese.

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Asuka Kuramochi (AKB48) visited the Giants on Friday for an article she is writing for the Shukan AKB48 Group Newspaper.

Saturday

• 1st round draft pick Hayata Ito faced Ryuji Wakatake and saw twenty-eight pitches: he swung at sixteen and collected eight could-be hits (seven went toward center).  Ito did not swing at twelve of the twenty-eight pitches. (Daily Sports)
• Tomoaki Kanemoto took fifty swings and hit ten over the fence.  This was his first day of outdoor BP since the start of spring camp. (Daily Sports)

Friday

• Masahiro Nakatani swung the bat ninety times during regular BP and hit eleven over the fence.  He swung the bat eighty-two times during extra BP and hit eleven over the fence.  He also swung the bat 112 times against a machine and hit four over the fence.  Total 286 swings, twenty-six over the fence. (Sanspo)
• Kyuji Fujikawa took sixty-two swings and hit three over the fence. (Daily Sports)  Or two over the fence. (Sanspo)
• Randy Messenger hit one over the fence. (Sanspo)

Saturday

• Yuya Ando threw fifty pitches. (Sanspo)
• Daiki Enokida threw ninety-one pitches.  It was his forth session in as many days. (Sanspo)

Friday

• Daiki Enokida threw 108 pitches.  He also threw ninety on Wednesday and eighty-nine on Thursday. (Sanspo)
  
• Takashi Toritani hit 134km/h on the radar gun, Yamato 131km/h and 1st round draft pick Hayata Ito 128km/h. (Nikkan Sports)  1st round draft pick Ito threw fourteen pitches. (Sanspo)

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Team owner Shinya Sakai observed practices at Ni-gun camp in Aki, Kochi today.

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Yuya Ando joined the rest of the players for practice today -- he was working out under a different training program since the start of spring camp because he was not feeling well.

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Masahiro Nakatani and Kenichi Tagami participated in early fielding practice (about 40 minutes) at Kin Stadium today.

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The Hanshin Tigers held a baseball clinic at Ginoza Stadium after practices today.  116 elementary school kids attended the clinic.

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Pitchers and position players swapped workouts during the morning session on Friday (about three hours).  During infield drills: Kyuji Fujikawa 1B and C, Ken Nishimura 2B, 4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito and Ryo Watanabe SS, Tomoyuki Kubota and Minoru Iwata 3B, Daiki Enokida C, and Takashi Toritani and Keiichi Hirano pitchers.  Randy Messenger got some time as SS while Jason Standridge worked out as 1B.

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Sanspo reports that it no longer seems like Kenji Jojima will have a shot at starting the regular season as a catcher.  A team rep told reporters on Friday that they were most likely going to go with Akihito Fujii for the start of the season.  And depending on how things go after the first few weeks of the seasons, the team will re-evaluate the situation.  Sanspo also notes that as of January, Jojima could not squat for even one minute.

Nikkan Sports adds that Jojima will not do any workouts as a catcher during spring camp (through to February 29) -- that means no catching in the bullpens.

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1st round draft Hayata Ito took fielding practice at Kin Stadium on Friday -- he spent about forty minutes fielding sixty-one baseballs launched from a machine that cost the team about 700,000 yen.  Partway through the session, he also switched glove hands.

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Shinta Hifumi would like to play the outfield, although he did order three type of gloves just in case: outfield, infield, and first base mitt.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto swung a training bat 115 times against a machine on Friday.

And Kanemoto on his shoulder after taking outdoor batting practice today: "My shoulder is around 60-70%.  All things considered, I think I swung the bat well.  I did not really pay attention to the batted balls since I was concerned about how well I was swinging the bat."

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Actor Ken Watanabe visited the team in Ginoza, Okinawa on Friday.

"Mae-Ken has resolve.  I think things will go well if he can keep an eye on things.  Nomura is quiet, but he changes when he faces hitters.  [It would be help] if [Mae-Ken] can watch over [Nomura] when he goed off by himself," said Matsuda.

Incidentally, Maeda and Nomura are the only two pitchers that have yet to toss bullpen sessions since the start of spring camp.

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Reporter Asami Konno visited the team in Okinawa today.

Saturday

• Shugo Fujii threw about fifty pitches.  It was his third session since the start of spring camp. (Nikkan Sports)

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Head coach Yutaka Takagi told reporters on Saturday that he was not fully satisfied with practices and that he felt as if there was something missing.  He also felt players were not being vocal enough during workouts.

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Kiyoshi Nakahata's meals on Friday (selected by a nutritionist):

Breakfast @ 7:30am - eggs, ham, natto, white rice, miso soup, yogurt

Lunch @ 12:30pm - beef curry, salad, corn soup, yogurt, a honey and lemon drink

Dinner @ 6:30pm - eel rice bowl, yaki soba, salad, hoikoro (Szechuan pork dish), kani-tama (crab omelet), mizutaki (hot pot), yogurt

Nakahata's hotel room is located on the 12th floor and has a great view of the training facilities (51,975 yen a night).  He watched over practices from his hotel room yesterday and again today.  Nakahata is also getting full reports and video footage of practices.

The Bay Stars announced today that the earliest Nakahata will be allowed to return to the field is February 7 -- while the fever has gone down, he is still having problems with his nose and throat.

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Team owner Makoto Haruta visited the Hiroshima Carp on Friday.

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The Bay Stars held a fan gathering on Friday.  About 1,000 fans attended.  A video message from Nakahata was also shown.

Friday

• Wily Mo Pena swung the bat sixty-one times and hit four over the fence. (Nikkan Sports)

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The team had the day off today.

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Four members of the 2011 draft class, including 1st round draft pick Shota Takeda, participated in an eel grab and cooking event on their day off today.

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Hitoshi Tamura and Kenji Akashi worked out on their day off today.  Both players are working through shoulder problems.

Regarding their shoulders:

Tamura- "I added too much muscle to my shoulder and now I am having a hard time rotating it. ... I do not think I will be able to participate in any situational fielding practice for a little while."

Akashi- "This is no time to rest. ... It is not like I can not throw the ball, but I am still a little worried."

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Special hitting instructor Futoshi Nakanishi spent some time working with Seiichi Uchikawa on Friday.  Nakanishi also coached Uchikawa in the spring of 2008.

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Sadaharu Oh told reporters on Friday that Alex Cabrera could help make Wily Mo Pena's transition easier.

Saturday

• Yoshio Ito swung the bat 112 times during extra BP and hit twenty-seven over the fence. (Sanspo)

Friday

• Between regular BP and extra BP, Sho Nakata took a total 135 swings and hit eight over the fence. (Nikkan Sports)  During regular BP: forty-five swings and twenty-four could-be hits, including five over the fence. (Sponichi)
• 7th round draft pick Takumi Oshima took seventeen swings against Ken Miyamoto and did not collect any could-be hits. (Sponichi)

Saturday

• Hisashi Takeda threw forty-nine pitches while having someone stand in the batter's box.  This was his second bullpen session since the start of spring camp. (Nikkan Sports)

Friday

• Yuki Saito threw six sliders.  He also threw ten pitches from the set position. (Sanspo)

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The Fighters announced today that Atsushi Ugumori was diagnosed with influenza B today.

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The Fighters held a fan gathering in Nago, Okinawa after practices today (7pm).  All Ichi-gun players were present.  1,000 fans attended the event.

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There is still a chance Hirotoshi Masui becomes a starter this year, but for the time being he will likely be used out of the bullpen.

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Kenshi Sugiya turned twenty-one today.

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Yuki Saito played catch with pitching coach Masato Ishii in the bullpen.  Ishii stood out in front of home plate and Saito threw the ball twenty-four times.  Saito is scheduled to toss a bullpen session tomorrow.

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Eiichi Koyano started working out indoors today after being sidelined with the flu.  His workouts included running and soft-toss BP.  Koyano is expected to rejoin the rest of the players for practices on Sunday.

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Sho Nakata shaved his hair down using his own clippers on Thursday night.

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Kazuhisa Makita took a 3.6km walk around the player hotel earlier today.  Makita was diagnosed with the flu on Friday and was given permission to go outdoors after his fever dropped.  He should be able to start working out again tomorrow.

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1st round draft pick Ken Togame and 2nd round draft pick Hirotaka Koishi went sightseeing on their day off today.  Their day included a tuna cut and clean demonstration and picking dekopons (citrus fruit) and kumquats.

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Fumikazu Kimura faced two batters during batting practice on Friday and allowed three could-be hits on 46 pitches.

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Tatsuya Oishi and Yusei Kikuchi will be starters for an intra-squad game on February 12.

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The ten members of the 2011 draft class relaxed at the Shigira hot springs in Miyakojima today.

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A number of players, like Shunta, Taiki Mitsumata, Masato Fukae, and Yusuke Kajimoto, worked out at the indoor training facilities at Miyakojima Stadium today.  Shunta spent about an hour in the cages.

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Dae-Ho Lee told reporters on Friday that no one will probably get to see him swing the bat at 100% during spring camp.