Kyuji Fujikawa started playing catch today -- for about ten minutes, in the bullpen (because of the weather), on flat ground.  Source: Daily Sports 6/21/2012

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Akihito Fujii (right hamstring) threw out a runner trying to steal second in the 3rd inning of Wednesday's Ikusei game against Yamato Takada Club (Industrial League).  Source: Sports Hochi Osaka 6/21/2012

Fujii joined the Ichi-gun players for workouts today at Koshien.  Source: Daily Sports 6/21/2012

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USA-based scout Andy Sheets told reporters today that he felt Matt Murton was beginning to come around with his hitting.

"Watching him today (June 20), he looked good out there.  I think things will get better for him again. ... It is about keeping things simple.  This is not really advice, but just something I mentioned to him when talking about baseball," said Sheets.

Source: Nikkan Sports 6/21/2012 

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Possible closer candidates: Shinobu Fukuhara, Daiki Enokida, Kazuya Tsutsui, and Tomoyuki Kubota. Source: Sports Hochi Osaka 6/21/2012

Daily Sports reports that Enokida was selected to take on the closer job.

Sanspo notes that it is Enokida's job for the time being.

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Kenji Jojima worked out at the Naruohama training facilities today -- he walked outdoors for about thirty minutes and then did some trunk and gluteal training exercises indoors.  Jojima will train in the pool on Friday.  Source: Daily Sports 6/21/2012

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Yasutomo Kubo, Kazuhito Futagami, and Takumi Akiyama will make starts during a three game series against Ni-gun Orix that begins on Friday.  Source: Daily Sports 6/21/2012

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Akiyama joined the Ichi-gun players for workouts today and threw fifty pitches in the bullpen under the watchful eyes of Yutaka Wada and pitching coaches Keiichi Yabu and Takashi Yamaguchi.  Source: Nikkan Sports 6/21/2012

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Ikusei pitcher Robert Zarate faced ten batters during situational batting practice on Wednesday and gave up five could hits.  Ni-gun pitchers Shingo Matsuzaki and Hirokazu Shiranita also made appearances during situational batting practice: each faced ten batters, Matsuzaki gave up two hits and struck out two while Shiranita allowed two hits and walked one.  Source: Sanspo 6/21/2012

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Ryo Asai joined the Ichi-gun players for workouts on Wednesday and got two at bats during situational batting practice: fly out to left, ground out to short.  Source: Sanspo 6/21/2012

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The Tigers plan to place more emphasis on hitting for average than hitting for power when scouting new talent overseas.  Source: Nikkan Sports 6/21/2012

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The Tigers are thinking about offering Olympic Gold Medalist (wrestling) Saori Yoshida a chance to throw out a ceremonial first pitch some time after the Olympics.  Source: Sports Hochi Osaka 6/21/2012

Akihito Fujii was taken off the active roster today with a right hamstring injury.  Fujii suffered the injury while running out an infield single in the 9th inning of Tuesday night's game against Rakuten.

"Fujii felt some pain in his right hamstring after running to first yesterday," said chief trainer Tatsuzo Tsunekawa.  "He got an MRI this morning at a hospital in Sendai and was diagnosed with a strain.  Fujii will start rehab tomorrow.  He iced the area down last night.  We will not make an announcement on how severe the injury is.  That said, he was able to walk back to the team hotel."

Source: Daily Sports 6/6/2012

Akihito Fujii was re-examined today -- there were no issues with his eyesight or brain.  The team is still not sure how long it will take for a full recovery, but assuming he is able, Fujii could begin a rehab program at Naruohama as early as Wednesday.

According to Sanspo, Akihito Fujii (fracture in his left cheek) will be re-evaluated today.  Depending on the results, there is a chance the Tigers will move to acquire another catcher.

"I heard that Akihito Fujii will be re-examined on Tuesday.  We are hoping he can return in about a month, but if it takes longer than that, we may have to think about making a trade," said a team source.

Pulling off trade could be difficult though since a number of other teams (Yakult and Hiroshima) are also struggling with their catching situations.

The Tigers have eight listed catchers on the seventy-man roster.  However, Kenji Jojima (left knee) and Fumihito Haraguchi (tightness in lower back) are not 100%.  With the team is trying to convert Masahiro Nakatani to an outfielder, that gives the team four catcher serviceable catchers: Shinji Komiyama, Taichi Okazaki, Takashi Shimizu, and Ryohei Hashimoto.  There are also at least two other players that are capable of catching: Ryo Asai (outfielder, but has experience at catcher) and Keisuke Kano (currently listed as an outfielder, also coming off herniated disk surgery).  The Tigers have one Ikusei catcher in Seiya Hirokami.

Tuesday night's game between the Hanshin Tigers and Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium.

Top of the 2nd inning, runner on second, no out.  Tigers are up 2-0.

Akihito Fujii in the batter's box for Hanshin.  Kan Otake on the mound for Hiroshima.

Otake was tossed for throwing a dangerous pitch.

Fujii was carried off the field on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital where he was informed that a full check-up was necessary.  The team plans to send Fujii back to Osaka on Wednesday for testing.

Aside from Kenji Jojima and Fujii, the Tigers currently have just one other serviceable catcher on the active roster: Shinji Komiyama.

Today's Ni-gun game against the Chunichi Dragons, at Nagoya Stadium: Hirokazu Shiranita started the game and tossed six shutout innings while allowing three hits.  He also did not walk anyone and topped out at 144km/h. [Daily Sports] ... Shinjiro Hiyama entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the 7th inning and hit an infield single.  He was immediately replaced by a pinch-runner. [Daily Sports]

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The Tigers announced today that both Yasutomo Kubo and Kazuya Tsutsui contracted the flu.

On Monday, the players, coaches, and staff wore surgical masks as they traveled to Takamatsu.

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Sanspo reports that Tomoaki Kanemoto will make the opening day line-up in left, batting sixth.

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1st round draft pick Hayata Ito will most likely be with the Ichi-gun team for the remaining exhibition games.

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Akihito Fujii is hoping to play in as many remaining pre-season games as possible in order to shake off the rust.

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Sanspo Tigers Promise: Daiki Enokida is aiming to drop his road ERA to 2.20 or better this season (down from 4.40 last year). If Enokida can not make good on his promise, he will play catch with with a Sanspo reader.

Shinjiro Hiyama is scheduled to travel with the Ni-gun team on their three-game road trip against Chunichi that begins on Tuesday.

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Minoru Iwata will likely pitch in one more game before the start of the regular season: against the Seattle Mariners on March 25.

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The Tigers decided to send Takashi Shimizu to Ni-gun on Sunday to make room for Akihito Fujii.

Fujii worked out at Naruohama before heading to Marugame, Kagawa today.  He is slated to play in tomorrow's exhibition game against the Hiroshima Carp.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto temporarily returned to Osaka on Saturday and worked out at Koshien on Sunday.  He will rejoin the Ichi-gun team on Wednesday. 

Today's Kyoiku League game against Softbank, at Naruohama: 2nd round draft pick Hiroaki Saiuchi entered the game in the 6th and allowed a run (on a solo homer) one hit over an inning of work.  5th round draft pick Ryoma Matsuda tossed a shutout inning in relief and struck out two in a row. [Nikkan Sports]

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Randy Messenger's next start will likely be against the Hiroshima Carp (at Rexxam Stadium) on March 20.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto is scheduled to start Wednesday's game against the Hiroshima (at Kyocera Dome) in left. He did not play in today's game against Seibu and will not play in tomorrow's game against Hiroshima.

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Akihito Fujii and Shinjiro Hiyama played in a Kyoiku League game against Softbank today.  Fujii was the starting catcher and played through to the 5th inning and did not have a hit in two trips to the plate.  Hiyama entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the the 5th inning with runners on first and second and flied out to center.  He remained in the game as a DH and struck out swinging in his second at bat in the 8th.

Fujii could rejoin the Ichi-gun team on Tuesday and play in a game as early as Wednesday.

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Hiroki Uemoto started working out at Naruohama on Saturday.  Uemoto currently has his left elbow in a brace  (will need it for about three weeks) and will do exercises that focus on other parts of his body.  His workouts over the next two weeks or so will likely be limited to indoor exercises.

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Kyuji Fujikawa took a ball off his left leg during fielding practice on Saturday.  He was ok, but jokingly dragged his foot and told reporters that he was going to pitch even if his leg was broken.

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Matt Murton apparently tweaked his left hamstring during Friday's game against the Chiba Lotte Marines.  While the injury does not seem to be serious (Yutaka Wada told reporters he would be playing if this were the regular season), it is what it is and the team is playing it safe.  There is no set timetable for his return, but he could be back with the Ichi-gun sometime on or after March 21.

NOTE: Craig Brazell told reporters that while he had no interest in playing right because he was a first baseman, he would prepare accordingly since things can change during the season.

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Shunsuke returned to Osaka on Saturday because of fever (not the flu).

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Minoru Iwata worked out at the indoor training facilities at Koshien on Saturday and told reporters he really wanted more time to pitch before the start of the regular season (too much practice, not enough games).

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Takahiro Arai usually takes about eight minutes of batting practice, but on Saturday, he pushed that to about twenty minutes.

====== UPDATE @ 11:52pm JST

It seems there is a little more to the Fujikawa story...  According to Sponichi, Fujikawa was assisting with fielding practice drills by catching baseballs thrown in from fielders when Kazuya Tsutsui made an errant throw that bounced off the area above his left knee.  Fujikawa dropped to the ground and was later seen dragging his left foot around.  As he climbed into the bus he jokingly said, "I was taken out by Tsutsui.  Whatever.  I am actually ok."

Fujikawa must have really been ok since he tossed one shutout inning in relief against the Seibu Lions today.

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4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito (coming back from right shoulder discomfort) played some outdoor catch at Naruohama today -- he threw thirty baseballs about a max distance of about fifteen meters.

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Akihito Fujii is expected to play in a Kyoiuku League game on March 17.  Depending on how that goes, he could be given the green light to rejoin the Ichi-gun roster and play against the Hiroshima Carp on March 20.

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Hiroyuki Kobayashi was originally scheduled to toss three innings against the Yakult Swallows on Wednesday but instead went just two innings.  He will get to pitch his third inning against the Chiba Lotte Marines (at QVC) on Friday.

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Keiichi Hirano was back in the line-up again on Wednesday after missing two games with right knee pain.

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Of the fifteen pitches Kyuji Fujikawa threw on Wednesday, four were cutters.  He threw the pitch only a handful of times last year.  Fujikawa told reporters he does not plan to throw the cutter during the season.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto started/played left for the first time this year on Wednesday.  He is also slated to play left on the 17th, 21st, 23rd, and 24th.

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The coaches were upset that Craig Brazell did not run more aggressively into second (as in, why he did not slide) in the 2nd inning of Wednesday's game against the Yakult Swallows.  Brazell later explained that his foot got caught.

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Through Wednesday, Kenji Jojima was 9-for-19 with one homer and two RBI over eight exhibition games.

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The front office was informed on Wednesday that season ticket sales so far have come in under initial expectations.  Team owner Shinya Sakai told reporters he felt it might have something to do with the team not making any major moves during the winter, other than hire a new manager, and with the way they have played their exhibition games so far.

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Meiji University beat the Ni-gun Hanshin Tigers, 5-1, on Wednesday.  Shun Ishikawa (Meiji) hit a three-run homer off Robert Zarate in the 7th inning.

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The Tigers have played ten exhibition games and lost three of them by the score of 1-0.

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The Tigers will likely begin to play their veterans more often, beginning with their road trip to the Kanto area on Thursday.  That means younger players will have fewer opportunities to prove they belong on the opening day roster.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto did not play left on Tuesday because of the cold weather but did manage to play some left during today's exhibition game against the Yakult Swallows and committed a fielding error in the third inning.  He also picked up his first exhibition game RBI of the year.

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Yuya Ando's first regular season start could come on either April 1 (vs Yokohama at Kyocera Dome) or during the second series of the season (vs Yakult at Jingu, April 3-5).

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In addition to taking situational batting practice today, Akihito Fujii also got behind the plate and worked on his throws to second base.

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Shinjiro Hiyama worked out in center during fielding practices today.

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With Yuya Ando pitching well, the Tigers are now thinking about moving Hiroyuki Kobayashi back to the bullpen.  Kobayashi pitched against the Yakult Swallows today and gave up a run on one hit over two innings of work.

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The Hanshin Tigers will likely continue to give 1st round draft pick Hayata Ito a few more looks during their four-game Kanto road trip: March 15 vs Yokohama, March 16 vs Lotte, March 17 vs Yakult, and March 18 vs Seibu.

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Hiroki Uemoto was excused from practices today due to a possible injury he suffered during yesterday's exhibition game against the Yakult Swallows: while playing second base in the 6th inning, he collided with a runner trying to steal second and may have injured his left elbow; he was taken out of the game in the 7th.

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The Yakult Swallows stole four bases after the 5th inning of yesterday's exhibition game.  Battery coach Yasuo Yoshida advised Taichi Okazaki (three runners stole bases while he was catcher) to mix in waste pitches and pick-offs to keep the runners honest and to remind pitchers they should keep an eye on the runners on base.

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Kenji Jojima has been used as a pinch-hitter thirty times during his NPB career (6-for-26 with six RBI).