The Dragons closed out their spring camp in Chatan today.

The team also updated their list of player assignments.

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Masahiro Yamamoto threw about 1,200 pitches during spring camp this year.

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Daola visited the Chatan Town Offices and met town mayor Masaharu Noguni to inform him that he was still thinking about whether or not he should accept the honorary residency.

The Dragons had the day off today.

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Maximo Nelson's right shoulder apparently is not getting any better.  He is now scheduled to have it examined when he returns to Nagoya when spring camp ends on February 29.

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Aside from meeting Masahiro Yamamoto for lunch today, Takeshi Yamasaki spent his day off relaxing at the player hotel.

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Through Monday, 1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi is 8-for-30 with one homer and five RBI over nine games.

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Possible upcoming starters:

• Hitoki Iwase, followed by Masahiro Yamamoto, on March 2, exhibition game against Hiroshima
• Kenshin Kawakami on March 3, exhibition game against Hiroshima
• Kazuki Yoshimi on March 3, exhibition game against Hiroshima

====== UPDATE 2/28 @ 3:21am

Morimichi Takagi had starting pitchers (Kazuki Yoshimi, Daisuke Yamai, Masahiro Yamamoto, Kenshin Kawakami, Jorge Sosa, and Kenichi Nakata) go through hit-and-run drills during practice on Sunday.

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3rd round draft pick Shinji Tajima and 4th round draft pick Takehiko Tsuji are scheduled to pitch in Tuesday's practice game against the KIA Tigers, in addition to seven other players, each tossing one inning each.

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The team worked out indoors on Sunday after their exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers was rained out. Workouts were kept light.  The team also has the day off tomorrow.

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Tony Blanco started taking batting practice on Sunday (about thirty minutes).  Said Blanco about his lower back pains, "It is getting better everyday.  I am still a little worried so I will take it one step at a time."

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Pitching coach Hiroshi Gondo told reporters on Sunday that the team can not take twenty pitchers to Nagoya Dome on March 2.  The plan at this point is to give nine young pitchers a chance to pitch in a practice game against the KIA Tigers on February 28 in order to begin the elimination process.  The Dragons are expected to carry twelve pitches.

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Morimichi Takagi apparently left 1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi and Masahiko Morino out of the starting line-up on Saturday against the Chiba Lotte Marines because he heard reports that 2nd round draft pick Yuhei Nakaushiro was still having problems with the ball slipping out of his hand on occasion.

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Takeshi Yamasaki will be forty-three years and four months on opening day.  If he is in the starting line-up batting fourth on opening day, he will break Tomoaki Kanemoto's (HAN) previous record of forty-one years and eleven months.  If Kanemoto manages to make the starting line-up as well, he will break his own record since he will be forty-three years and eleven months.  The NPB record is Hiromitsu Ochiai at forty-four years and three months.

FYI: Yamasaki played a February exhibition game on Saturday for the first time since 2004.

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Between pitching two innings against the LG Twins and tossing a bullpen session, Kazuki Yoshimi ended up throwing about 252 pitches on Friday.

Yoshimi's wife gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy weighing 3,194 grams, earlier today.

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Tony Blanco started taking soft-toss batting practice (about 30 minutes) on Friday after taking things easy the last few days due to lower bock stiffness.

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Masahiro Yamamoto, Kenshin Kawakami, and Yoshimi are scheduled to start three exhibition games beginning on March 2.  Each will toss two to three innings.  It is likely that the same three will be the ones to kick things off during the opening series.

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Through Friday, 1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi is 8-for-28 with one homer and five RBI over eight games.

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Kei Nomoto took things a little slow during practice today due to fasciitis in his right calf.  There are no plans to send Nomoto to a hospital at this stage but he will spend time away from Ichi-gun.

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Hitoki Iwase will likely get to start an exhibition game against Hiroshima on March 2.

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1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi spent some time signing autographs after practices on Thursday.

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Through Thursday, 1st round draft pick Takahashi is 7-for-24 with five extra base hits and four RBI over seven games.

The practice game against the LG Twins was canceled due to rain.

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Victor Diaz returned to practices today after missing a couple days to a cold.  Diaz kept his workouts light and told reporters he planned to get back to regular practices on Friday.

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The Dragons worked out behind closed doors for about an hour today.  They were apparently working on bunt plays and other kinds of plays involving signs.

Practices, on a whole, were kept fairly light today -- most of the regular players returned to the player hotel at around 2pm.

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Doala visited Chata Kuwae Junior High School today.

====== UPDATE 2/24 @ 2:38am

Masahiro Yamamoto and Kenshin Kawakami could pitch in a practice game against KIA on February 28.

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Masahiro Yamamoto is scheduled to toss situational batting practice at Ni-gun Yomitan on Feburary 24.

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Maximo Nelson has not done any pitching since he started feeling stiffness in his right shoulder on February 10.

====== UPDATE 2/23 @ 1:26am

The Dragons are planning to take it slow with Tony Blanco (tightness in his lower back) because they do not want to risk a serious injury.  They will probably keep a close eye on him for about a week to ten days.

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A Takeshi Yamasaki, Kazuki Yoshimi, and women's softball pitcher Yukiko Ueno got together with some kids today and wrote messages on baseballs for kids that attend Yamashita Junior High School in Miyagi prefecture.  This was a part of the Dragons' project to support victims of the Tohoku earthquake/tsunami.

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Tony Blanco complained of back pains during warm-ups today and was taken to a hospital for an examination.  It was the same kind of pain he experienced on February 10.  He is considered day-to-day.

Victor Diaz was excused from practices due to a cold (fever, headaches).

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Takeshi Yamasaki will likely bat clean-up during an exhibition game against Lotte on February 25.

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Enyelbert Soto played some catch and did some running on his day off on Monday.  Soto, who has been working out at Ni-gun camp because of an injury to his right calf, said to reporters, "I have no more concerns about my leg.  My shoulder is still not quite ready, but close to 100%."

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The team will soon begin giving Masahiko Morino more playing time at third base during pre-season games.  But the coaches want to keep giving 1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi opportunities to hit so they might actually try to keep his bat in the line-up by moving the rookie to the outfield.

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Kazuhiro Wada worked with weights during the off-season for the first time since his Industrial League days.  He has also been hitting a baseball that weighs 300 grams, about twice the weight of the NPB baseball, during spring camp.

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Takehiro Donoue told reporters on Monday that he is getting a better feel for how to use his left leg when swinging the bat.

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Doala could become an honorary resident of the town of Chatan as early as Feburary 27.  However, it seems Doala is not ready to commit and has put his decision on hold.  His reason: he is concerned about public opinion.

It should be noted that Nagoya could step in and ask Doala to become an honorary citizen and the village of Yomitan is reportedly thinking about asking Doala to become a tourism ambassador.

The Dragons had the day off today.

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Chatan mayor Masahru Noguni is interested in making Doala an honorary registered citizen.

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3rd round draft pick Shinji Tajima's next outing could come in an exhibition game against Lotte on February 25.  February 26th vs Hanshin is also a possibility.

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Through Monday, 1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi is 7-for-21 over six practice games.

Today was the last day of the third block of spring camp.  The team has the day off tomorrow.

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Through Saturday, 1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi is 6-for-18 over five games.  That also includes four doubles and one triple.

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Ryoji Nakata will continue his workouts at Ni-gun beginning on February 21.

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Comedian/singer Boo Takagi watched today's intra-squad game.