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Matt Murton joined the team for practices today.  His workouts included warm-ups, playing catch, running, fielding practice, and batting practice against a machine.

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1st round draft pick Hayata Ito, Masahiro Nakatani, Kenichi Tagami, and Ryota Arai took extra fielding practice (about forty-five minutes) in the outfield at Kin Stadium today.  Takashi Toritani and Kentaro Sekimoto took extra fielding practice, under special instructor Tatsuro Hirooka, in the infield at Ginoza Stadium.

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Norihiro Akahoshi worked with players on their base-running skills (stealing bases) today.

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Shinjiro Hiyama started taking fielding practice a distance of about thirty meters (fielding and throwing) on Tuesday.

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Kenji Jojima started working on gloving one-hop throws from short and third during practices on Tuesday -- Takashi Toritani and Keiichi Hirano from short and Kentaro Sekimoto and Ryota Arai from third.

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4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito faced Issei Morita, Haruki Kurose, and 1st round draft pick Ito during batting practice on Tuesday.  He threw eighty pitches and allowed eighteen could-be hits.  Morita and Kurose each collected five could-be hits.  K. Ito threw a total thirty pitches to H. Ito, which resulted in twenty-three swings and eight could-be hits.

Takumi Akiyama faced Nakatani, Shunsuke, and Tagami on Tuesday and allowed five could-be hits on sixty-three pitches (or sixty-one pitches).  Nakatani collected one could-be hit and Shunsuke two could-be hits.

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Takahiro Arai's two hour workout with special instructor Hirooka on Tuesday began with making throws into a net while sitting in a chair.  From their, he got off the chair and moved further and further away from the net.  Toward the end, Yutaka Wada joined the group and started hitting grounders to Arai.  All told, 404 throws in the net along with fielding 112 grounders.

Sports Hochi Osaka provides a little more detail:

14:15 - a mirror is placed behind the net; picking up baseballs tossed to him with his bare right hand and then throwing them into a net while seated
14:45 - throwing into a net about five meters away after picking up baseballs tossed to him
15:10 - picking up baseballs tossed to him with his bare left hand
15:26 - picking up baseballs tossed to him with a glove
15:40 - fielding grounders hit by Wada and throwing into a new fifteen meters away
16:00 - picking up baseballs tossed to him and throwing into a net about five meters away
16:20 - end

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1st round draft pick Ito made a change to his batting stance on Tuesday, with help from batting coach Atsushi Kataoka: he dropped his hands down a little.

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The front four in the starting rotation will likely include Atsushi Nomi, Minoru Iwata, Randy Messenger, and Jason Standridge.  The remaining two sports are up for grabs and could go to Yuya Ando and Hiroyuki Kobayashi.

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The Murton's named their newest addition to family, Andrew Jacob Murton.

Matt Murton is working on starting up a personal site in Japanese.  He has also prepared some baseball cards and 5,000 bracelets with the phrase "Kami-sama wa watashi-no chikaradesu."

Murton did a lot of lifting during the off-season and gained three kilograms (currently weight 103kg) in the hopes of developing more opposite field power.  He also brought training equipment to the hospital so that he could work out while waiting for his wife to give birth.

3rd round draft pick Naoto Nishida took fielding practice at short during workouts at Naruohama today.

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Craig Brazell told reporters on Saturday that he worked out with Alex Ramirez for about month at Alabama State University during the off-season.  He also told reporters he weighed in at around 107kg (235 pounds), or about 12kg heavier than his listed weight from last year (reportedly not fat, but muscle).

Regarding the possibility of Kenji Jojima cutting into his playing time at first: "I have no intention of spending time on the bench in a platoon.  After all, I am here to help the team win.  Of course, the player that gives the team the best chance to win should play everyday.  There is a chance I could move to another position, but I will not let that bother while I play first."

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Atsushi Nomi does not want an exhibition game start against the Yomiuri Giants because he does not their scouts/players checking him out before the start of the season.

He also ｆocused on throwing to the inside corner of the plate (assuming a right-handed batter) during his bullpen session on Saturday.  For running, he did ten 60-meter uphill dashes and three 60-meter downhill dashes.

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According to Sanspo, 1st round draft pick Hayato Ito took 237 swings during practices on Monday and 422 swings during practices on Saturday (soft-toss BP 104 swings, BP 47 swings, hitting off a tee 45 swings, against a machine 111 bunt/slash bunts and 115 regular swings).

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Bullpen sessions:

Sunday

Tomoyuki Kubota threw 116 pitches in the bullpen in Okinawa today.  He also threw 109 pitches on Friday and 86 pitches on Saturday.

Saturday

4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito tossed 43 pitches to a standing catcher.  He also watched other pitchers like Tomoyuki Kubota and Naoto Tsuru toss bullpen sessions and later spent some time throwing into a net.

The Tigers held a meeting today and decided on player assignments for spring camp.  A total 44 players will attend Ichi-gun spring camp.  Included in that group: 1st round draft pick Hayata Ito, 4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito, Shinjiro Hiyama, Kenji Jojima, and Masahiro Nakatani.  Kohei Shibata, Ryo Asai, and Wei-Chu Lin will start things off at Ni-gun spring camp.

A list of players attending Ichi-gun camp can be found here.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto and Takahiro Arai attended an event at Saifukuji Temple in Kagoshima today and held a talk session.

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Shibata spent some time rehabbing at Koshien on Saturday -- he is currently not allowed to take BP or throw the ball.

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Pitching coach Takashi Yamaguchi plans to let Atsushi Nomi do what he wants during spring camp.  Nomi is a frontrunner for the opening day start on 3/30 (vs Yokohama).  That could mean pitching in exhibition games on 3/3 (vs Orix), 3/9 (vs Seibu), 3/16 (vs Lotte), 3/23 (vs Orix).

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Daiki Enokida has managed to drop his weight from 91kg (before fall camp) to about 85kg.

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Pitching coach Keiichi Yabu is interested in Ikusei pitcher Robert Zarate's progress and is wondering what kind of shape he will be in when he arrives in Japan.

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GM Eiichi Takano told reporters on Saturday that he wanted to finalize contracts with Yasutomo Kubo (has spoken to his agent a number of times and could be close) and Keiichi Hirano (would like to meet with him in person) before the end of the month.

If deals can not be reached with the two players, they will be responsible for paying for spring camp fees.

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Takashi Toritani's glove for 2012 was competed on Saturday.  Since 2004, the glove has been getting smaller and smaller.  This year, it is about one centimeter smaller.  He is also shifting to a creme-colored gloves (one with pink stitching and another with blue stitching).

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Shinta Hifumi will be trying out a number of different kinds of bats, including a Hiroyuki Nakajima model bat and a Takeya Nakamura model bat.

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1st round draft pick Ito will be using two cleats this season based on the model Ichiro Suzuki used last year -- one for use on natural grass and the other for artificial turf.  The artificial turf cleats will likely remain the same as the one's he used last season (one centimeter long spikes), but the natural grass cleats will have longer spikes (three to five millimeters longer) and fewer spikes (from ten to eight).  Each cleat will weigh about 250 grams. ... Ito's family visited Naruohama on Saturday.

5th round draft pick Ryoma Matsuda threw 32 pitches (all fastball) in the bullpen today.

Takumi Akiyama tossed 36 pitches in the bullpen today (while mixing in curves).  Akiyama also had his hair buzzed short on Sunday.

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Kyuji Fujikawa worked out in Ginoza, Okinawa today.  As part of his workouts to strengthen his lower body, Fujikawa has been running eight to ten kilometers a day.

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Tomoyuki Kubota also worked out at Ginoza today and tossed BP to the other players in his group, like Taichi Okazaki.

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1st round draft pick Hayata Ito has not taken one day off since the start of training camp for the 2011 draft class. ... Ito does not remember laying down bunts while playing college or high school baseball (official team games only). ... A lunch box named after Ito will be sold during spring camp at Ginoza Stadium: "Chicken Hayata" is a rice bowl that will sell for 510 yen (the number 51 is taken from his uniform number). ... Ito's father celebrated his 55th birthday on Sunday.

4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito tossed 35 pitches in the bullpen today (standing catcher).

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It took Atsushi Nomi about an hour and twenty minutes to throw 238 pitches during BP on Sunday.

"I did not throw very hard.  (upon hearing the total) Are you serious?  But I was not throwing at regulation distances.  It did not feel like I threw 200 pitches.  I push through little by little," said Nomi.

Nomi threw 177 pitches at around the same time last year.

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Matt Murton may not make it back to Japan in time for the start of spring camp because his wife is expecting their third child (sometime later this month).  Murton has already received permission from the team.

Minoru Iwata would like to record at least 13 victories in 2012.  He also does not want to give up any runs until, at the very least, his own team manages to score some runs. ... Iwata has switched equipment manufacturers, from Adidas to Asics.

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Pitching coach Takashi Yamaguchi told reporters on Tuesday that he would like to see Atsushi Nomi hit 200 innings again this season.

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The Tigers plan to have their advance scouts check out Toshiya Sugiuchi (YOM) beginning on the first day of spring camp.

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Sanspo notes that the Tigers are looking to play a practice game against the Nippon Ham Fighters on 2/12.  Sports Hochi adds that a practice game against the Hiroshima Carp on 2/14 is also being scheduled as well (the team's first practice game against Hiroshima in eight years).

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1st round draft pick Hayata Ito could make his "debut" on 2/12 against the Nippon Ham Fighters.  There is also a chance he could face Yusuke Nomura (Hiroshima's 1st round draft pick) on 2/14.

2nd round draft pick Hiroaki Saiuchi walked the field for about 40 minutes on Tuesday.  He then returned indoors and started throwing into a net.  The team will continue to monitor Saiuchi (right ankle sprain) and have yet to set a timetable for when he will be allowed to join the other members of the 2011 draft class for workouts.

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Hanshin officials told reporters on Tuesday that the room next to the bullpen was clean -- the players obviously heard about the comments Kyuji Fujikawa left with the media on Monday.  Ni-gun manager Haruki Yoshitake also spoke to reporters on Tuesday and said that he agreed with Fujikawa's assessment.

Daily Sports reports that the Tigers and Atsushi Nomi agreed to a deal worth 100M yen (up 49M yen) today.

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Yuya Ando tossed 62 pitches in the bullpen on Monday (27 to a standing catcher and 35 to a squatting catcher).

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Pitching coach Takashi Yamaguchi wants Hiroyuki Kobayashi to show he can handle starting early on (within his first two starts if possible).  He also said to reporters that the first four spots in the starting rotation were set and that he was looking for about five other starters to help round out the starting staff (injuries, extra rest).

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Kyuji Fujikawa told reporters on Monday that he was disappointed that the younger players this year do not seem to care about cleanliness/manners -- he found the room next to the Naruohama bullpen in disarray (muddy cleats and gloves thrown about).

"The room was a mess.  It is really unfortunate," said Fujikawa.  "They will not make it to Ichi-gun like this.  There is already a big gap between them and Ichi-gun players.  We are in a New Year and I do not understand why they do not feel the need to clean things up.  They will not be able to do well at Ichi-gun.  When I was younger, we organized slippers and shoes.  Clothes might be disorganized, but you will not see dirty cleats or dirty gloves at Ichi-gun.  They have no sense of being watched.  It is important that they are prepared to be seen at any time.  When I see players and Ikusei players mistreating equipment, I wonder what they are thinking."

He continued, "I wonder why the team staff is not saying anything.  This is something that could easily be spotted by the staff or the pitching coach.  I am really disappointed.  Things like this need to change.  We can not develop good players because they see this kind of stuff.  This is not really about players getting better, but about players taking more responsibility about being watched.  They need to always be prepared to be seen."

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Tomoaki Kanemoto attended his usual Goma meditations at Saifukuji in Kagoshima on 1/7 and 1/8.

Tomoaki Kanemoto became the oldest player in the CL to hit a homer at the age of 43 years and 1 month (the homer came in the 2nd inning of Shun Tono).  The previous record-holder was Hiromitsu Ochiai (playing for the Yomiuri Giants at the time) when he hit a homer in 1996 at the age of 42 years and 8 months.  The NPB record is held by Yoshiyuki Iwamoto (1957 with Toei) at 45 years and 5 months.

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The Tigers hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the game: Takashi Toritani, Takahiro Arai, and Craig Brazell.  The last time the 3-5 batters hit consecutive homers in one game against the Yomiuri Giants: 4/17/1985 -- Randy Bass, Masayuki Kakefu, Akinobu Okada.

Overall, it was the 9th time three players hit homers consecutively and the 4th time the 3-5 batters did it.

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Atsushi Nomi recorded his 8th straight win against the Yomiuri Giants (going back to his first victory on 7/19/2009) and tied the franchise record set by Shigeru Kobayashi in 1979 and Tadayoshi Kajioka between 1947-1948.

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Yuya Ando started a Ni-gun game against Orix today and was tossed from the game after he hit a batter in the head in the 5th.  He was scheduled to toss about 100 pitches during the start, but only ended up throwing 61 (4 IP, 1 R).  Ando's next rehab start will likely take place during a three game series against Orix (at Naruohama) that begins on 5/10.  The pitch count limit will probably be dropped for that start.

Hanshin Tigers

Kenji Jojima did some throwing during practice today, including long distance throws (at about 80 meters) and throwing the ball between third and first while sitting.  Jojima told reporters he felt confident about being ready and catch an exhibition game as earlya s the 16th (vs Lotte).

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Sanspo notes that Atsushi Nomi has never suffered a broken nail and hates using the rosin bag.

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Matt Murton went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts yesterday.  After the game, he stayed back for about 2 hours (game ended at 3:47pm and he left the stadium at 5:43pm) and apparently spent some time talking to batting coaches Yutaka Wada and Atsushi Kataoka.  Seems Murton was trying to see if the coaches noticed anything wrong -- he wanted to make sure he was doing what he wanted and not falling into any bad habits.

FYI: Murton went 0-for-3 today (strikeout, fly out to center, GIDP).

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Craig Brazell was 5-for-12 in 5 exhibition games, heading into today.  He also picked up another hit today (he went 1-for-2) and has now hit safely in 5 straight games.

Yomiuri Giants

Shugo Fujii will be starting tomorrow's Ikusei League game against Seibu (at Seibu).

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Jonathan Albaladejo threw 38 pitches in the bullpen yesterday.  No word on when he'll be pitching, but he will be joining the Ichi-gun roster on the 11th (vs Hiroshima at Mazda Stadium).

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Hayato Sakamoto started wearing new cleats on the 8th.  In terms of size and shape, they're basically the same as last year, but their about 10 grams lighters (from 310 to under 300).

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From yesterday's Ikusei League game today vs Yokohama:

Micheal Nakamura entered the game in the 6th and tossed a shutout inning in relief; he also gave up 1 hit.

Takayuki Terauchi started at short and batted 2nd.  He collected a hit in all 4 of his trips to the plate.

Yakult Swallows

Kentaro Kyuko (5th round) wore contact lens during his outing yesterday after he had trouble reading the signs from the catcher during his first outing on the 6th.

Hiroshima Carp

Yuya Fukui (1st round) started an Ikusei League game today (his first "pro" start) against Softbank and gave up 2 runs on 6 hits over 3 innings of work.  He also topped out at 139km/h and was charged with a balk.

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Kenta Maeda's got his new insoles (2 pairs for his cleats and 2 pairs for his training sneakers) yesterday.  Maeda started using the insoles last summer and found them to be beneficial in relieving the strain from his legs.

Maeda was first introduced Matsumoto Gishi Seisakusho (the company that makes the insoles) in late May 2010.  When he visited them for a fitting, they took a mold of his feet and also videotaped him (hi-speed camera) while walking and running.

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Tomohiro Umetsu threw 111 pitches in the bullpen yesterday.

The Tigers are seriously considering Atsushi Nomi to be their opening day starter.  And assuming he continues to pitch well, it should be his to lose.

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Craig Brazell was not in the starting line-up today but will be tomorrow.  And Brazell's Sanspo Tigers' Promise: if he can make Sanspo's front page 10 times during the year, he'll get a voucher for 100 bowls of tokumori tendon (beef bowls) at Yoshinoya.

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Kenji Jojima's current comeback schedule: he'll only make appearances as a batter (pinch-hitter or DH) in exhibition games on the 12th (vs Chunichi) and 13th (vs Yomiuri); after that, he'll travel with the team beginning on the 16th (vs Lotte) and will more or less be ready to suit up as a catcher.

Jojima's practice at Koshien today included BP and catching in the bullpen.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto might get into a game (as a DH) as early as the 12th (assuming his right shoulder is feeling fine).

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The Tigers are planning on pitching their trio of Tomoyuki Kubota, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, and Kyuji Fujikawa during their upcoming four games at Koshien Stadium (4/9, 10, 12, 13).  And since most teams tend to substitute their vets with younger players towards the end of the games, the Tigers will likely use the trio in the early innings.

Kobayashi tossed a bullpen session during practice today.

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Owner Shinya Sakai and president Nobu Minami held a meeting yesterday and agreed to consider a trade to improve their outfield situation.

Sakai - "I think we have enough talent to win. ... But if we're going to consider the options, then a trade is a possibility.  It is also our jobs to see what kind of trade possibilities there are."

Minami - "If Kanemoto was 100%, we wouldn't need to think about a trade.  And ideally, we'd love to leave it up to the younger players like Wei-Chu Lin and Keisuke Kano, but they really haven't managed to step things up.  I just think if we're talking about a 144 game season, we'll need at least one more player..."

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Nikkan Sports mentions the following 6 players as being on the cusp: Katsuhiko Saka, Ryota Arai, Hiroki Uemoto, Kohei Shibata, Yuya Nohara, and Issei Morita.  And while the original plan was to give these 6 players until the 8th to prove themselves, it seems they were given an extension until the 14th.  The reason: the 6 are slowly beginning to show some signs of life and don't want to a damper on that; and even though Tomoaki Kanemoto and Kenji Jojima will probably begin playing on the 12th, they'll be limited in the amount of time they can actually play as the Tigers will ease both of them back in slowly.

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Head coach Katsuhiko Kido apparently found the perfect ground rake (made by Evernew) at Kurashiki Muscat Stadium.  He actually wanted one for himself and contacted Muscat Stadium personnel for more information.  In the end, the Tigers also decided yesterday to order a bunch.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

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Yesterday's intra-squad game:

Randy Messenger tossed 2 innings in relief for the red team and did not allow a run on 2 hits.

Yuya Nohara hit a home run to right in his at bat in the 9th inning.

Takuya Takahama picked up 2 hits.

===== 2/23 @ 12:43am

Jojima continued to work out under a separate training program today.  Part of his program today including stopping / going / sidestepping while running.  After practice, he told reporters he felt no pain or discomfort in his left knee.

===== 2/22 @ 10:10pm

Kubo threw over 300 pitches in the bullpen today.

===== 2/22 @ 3:38pm

Ni-gun spring camp in Aki, Kochi ended today.

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Matt Murton and Craig Brazell each took 76 swings swings during lunchtime BP today and each hit 11 over the fence.

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Kenji Jojima's workouts yesterday included running, BP, and playing catch.  He also closed things out with a dash at full speed.

At this point, it appears Jojima is about 10 days ahead of schedule.  He told reporters the biggest thing was that he never had any problems with swelling in his left knee during spring camp.

===== 2/22 @ 12:08pm

The Tigers decided yesterday to call up the following 6 players from Ni-gun camp: Hirotaka Egusa, Ryuji Wakatake, Takuya Takahama, Ikuro Katsuragi, Yuya Nohara, and Keisuke Kano.  Ni-gun camp ends today.

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Akinobu Mayumi told reporters that he likes what he sees in Yusuke Kuroda so far (he's making the change from pitcher to position player), especially his speed and his throwing arm.

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Atsushi Nomi and Yasutomo Kubo both tossed bullpen sessions yesterday -- Nomi threw 165 pitches and Kubo 132.

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Tomoyuki Kubota threw 36 pitches in the bullpen yesterday; it was his third bullpen in as many days.  The Tigers are also hoping he'll be able to toss BP during the final block of spring camp (sometime on the 24th or 25th).

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The advance scouts in the stands were reportedly impressed with Hiroyuki Kobayashi's fork.  While usually thrown with the ball in between the index finger and the middle finger, Kobayashi throws it more with his thumb and middle finger.  The end result is apparently a pitch somewhere in between a change and fork.