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Today was the end of the first block of spring camp for the Tigers.  The team has the day off tomorrow.

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4,500 fans watched workouts on Saturday.

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Yutaka Wada hit baseballs to the catchers during extra fielding practice today.

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Masahiro Nakatani impressed fans with a strong throw from center to home plate during situational fielding practice today.

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Kenji Jojima has taken fielding practice at first and third so far during spring camp.  During batting practice today, Jojima positioned himself in left -- OF/base-running coach Koichi Sekikawa and Wada were seen giving Jojima pointers on how to play the outfield.

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Phiten had Kyuji Fujikawa try out three different insoles on Saturday.  The effectiveness of the insoles were measured using a new high-tech system that grabbed information from a gyroscope strapped to Fujikawa's hip while he threw thirty-two pitches.

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Team owner Shinya Sakai does not like the idea of announcing starting pitchers.

=== UPDATE 2/6 @ 12:45am

Via Sponichi: Fans listening to MBS Radio's Toragumi Tigers Live! on Saturday were given the following four options and asked to select which they most wanted to see this season:

• Kenji Jojima at first base
• Yasutomo Kubo used as a reliever
• Daiki Enokida used as a starter
• 1st round draft pick Hayata Ito batting lead-off on opening day

The results: 246 fans apparently were interested in Enokida as starter; 105 in Ito batting lead-off on opening day; 30 in Kubo as a reliever; and 21 in Jojima at first.

The Ichi-gun coaching staff arrived in Okinawa today.  They were greeted by about 20 village officials at the airport.

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Yutaka Wada plans to place a lot of emphasis on fielding practice and on selecting the right members for the bullpen.  He also said he was not worried about Matt Murton arriving at spring camp late (should it come to that).

On Sunday, Wada told reporters he planned to have his advance scout check on the Yokohama Bay Stars, beginning on the first day of spring camp (they will hold off on scouting the Chunichi Dragons since they will not face them until mid April).

Advance scout Masao Iida said, "I want to see how things change with [Kiyoshi] Nakahata managing the team.  Then there is [Alex] Ramirez and whether or not he will play first.  And we know he is a good hitter so want to check him out."

The Tigers open the season against Yokohama this year.

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Takashi Toritani worked out at Ginoza from 10am until around 3:30pm today.  He hit two balls over the fence during outdoor BP.

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Training camp for the 2011 draft class at Naruohama ended today.

5th round draft pick Ryoma Matsuda returned to Osaka for his high school graduation and will rejoin the team tomorrow.

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Randy Messenger arrived in Japan today and told reporters that he already tossed bullpen sessions and batting practice.

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Jason Standridge also arrived today.

"I threw three or four bullpen sessions before coming and I am further along than I have been in the past.  I feel great, as does my right arm.  I am ready to compete," said Standridge.

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Craig Brazell worked out in the indoor training facilities at Koshien on Sunday (he arrived at around 11am).

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Masahiro Nakatani took 43 swings during outdoor BP on Sunday and hit six over the fence (four off right-handed pitchers and two off left-handed pitchers; all hit to left).

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Ryota Arai took 45 swings during outdoor BP on Sunday and hit five over the fence.  He also did some running and took some BP in the cages.

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1st round draft pick Hayata Ito used three different bats during soft toss BP on Sunday (90 swings).  All three bats were basically the same size and weight, the only difference: material (and manufacturer).  The bats: Hi-Gold North American, maple; Rawlings, white ash and maple.  Ito took 90 swings and switched bats seven times.

"I listen to the sound and I check to see how if feels when I make contact.  There are ones that seem to fit and there are ones that seem to be off the mark.  I may change the weight, but I want to leave the size the same.  Even bats made of the same material, like maple, are different based on where they come from and the manufacturer, so I really take a lot of care in how things feel on contact," said Ito.

Ito also tried a bat made of Japanese ash once, but found it too soft.

As for the ball he hit over the fence during outdoor BP: "Personally, I try to imagine hitting the ball into the gaps in the outfield and the sometimes it can go over the fence for a home run.  I do not want trick myself.  There are a lot of hitters that can make the ball fly."

After practices on Sunday, Ito spent time signing autographs as he waited for a taxi.

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4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito has natural late break on his fastball.

"I personally do not want any break...  But the bullpen catcher told me he thought the pitch would be difficult for batters to hit and that I should not worry.  That made me see there are other ways to think about it," said Ito.

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Ken Nishimura not only worked out his curve, but also his lower body, during his bullpen session on Sunday.

"I wanted to focus on how I use my lower body, so I threw curves.  If I can [also polish the to curve] to where I can use it in games, that would be good," said Nishimura.

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Keiichi Hirano told reporters on Sunday that he plans to sign on the dotted line when he meets the Tigers for a third round of salary negotiations on January 31.

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Bullpen sessions:

Sunday

Daiki Enokida threw 45 pitches.

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.

1st round draft pick Hayata Ito worked out on his day off today: he spent about 30 minutes running and about an hour in the cages.

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Kentaro Sekimoto, Atsushi Nomi, Shinji Komiyama, and Kohei Shibata worked out for about six hours at Ginoza Stadium in Okinawa today.  Workouts included running, playing catch, and warm-ups.  Nomi also tossed BP to the other three players.

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Takashi Shimizu and Issei Morita participated in the Hoekago Parade at Harimanokuni Sosha Itatehyozu Shrine in Himeji, Hyogo today.

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Takumi Akiyama could toss a bullpen session as early as Monday (1/16).

Seems Akiyama also took a fairly hard hit with the reality stick: after his first year with the Tigers he spent about a week signing autographs for people back home; this year, it took him just one day.

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Shinjiro Hiyama is hoping he will be ready to begin swinging the bat with both hands by the time spring camp begins.  For now, he will continue to rehab/strengthen his left shoulder while swinging a shorter/lighter practice bat with just his right hand.  He will also spend another week or so in Guam (he supposedly left today).

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Shingo Matsuzaki worked out at Naruohama on Saturday for the first time since joining the team via trade from the Rakuten Eagles (he also finished moving into his new place on Friday).  Matsuzaki's workouts included running, playing catch, and lifting weights.

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2nd round draft pick Hiroaki Saiuchi might be cleared to join the rest of the 2011 draft class for workouts beginning on 1/16.  Saiuchi had been working out under a separate training program due to a right ankle sprain.  He was seen playing catch at a distance of about 70 meters during workouts on Saturday.

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The media learned on Saturday that Daiki Enokida will most likely be handled as a starter during spring camp and that pitcher roles will be finalized in mid-April.

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Yutaka Wada appeared on MBS's Seyanen! on Saturday and spoke about how he would use Kyuji Fujikawa in the 7th inning if he had another closer to turn to.

"You want to try and stop the opposition's momentum in the 7th inning and I have this strong impression of Kyuji [Fujikawa] doing that when the Tigers finished in first in 2005 and then there is [Takuya] Asao entering games in the 7th...  Having someone like that can change the way the offense operates," said Wada.

He then added, "I only spoke about this because it was brought up, but right now Kyuji will close and we will need to figure out whom to pitch in the 7th and 8th innings. ... I will not say there is no chance for it, but if [Yasutomo] Kubo is pitching well...  I mean, I have this image of Kubo pitching well in relief back when I was a batting coach.

"I want to throw out any prior roles and look at all the player with a fresh pair of eyes and then think about where they fit in.  I want to reconsider all of it, line-ups, pitcher roles..."

Wada also mentioned the possibility of batting Tomoaki Kanemoto 6th and Craig Brazell 7th in the line-up.  1st round draft pick Ito could get a look in the two hole.

Sanspo has posted a fairly lengthy interview with Craig Brazell (here and here).  I don't really have the time to go through and translate it all, so I have selected a couple of the more interesting bits.

On the team's concern about his weight:

I am working with a bodybuilding trainer this time around.  I am also working on strengthening my hamstrings.  My goal is to avoid getting injured in 2012.  It is really hard to have to sit out because of an injury.

On Yutaka Wada becoming the new manager:

I am a little uncertain of how to approach him (laughter).  I mean, up until now, I was asking him if there were any problems with my swing and he would give me immediate feedback.  He would say it was my shoulder or my back leg.  I feel like I might continue relying on him for advice even though he became the manager.  He does know my swing really well.  But I do not that he will change.  After all, he knows everyone's hitting style the best.  The good swings, the bad swings.  I think he might continue to help out with hitting advice.

On the Yomiuri Giants' improvements:

I heard about them.  [Toshiya] Sugiuchi, [D.J.] Houlton, [Shuichi] Murata.  Interesting moves.  But I actually look forward to the challenge.  Hanshin - Yomiuri games are kind of like the Super Bowl here in the States.  I think there are more reasons to be excited now.  More than the Giants' though, I am actually worried about Softbank (laughter).  Not only did they lose Sugiuchi and Houlton, they also lost [Tsuyoshi] Wada.

On playing out his career in Japan:

I have thought about finishing out my career in Japan.  My dream is to retire in Japan and then play golf everyday.  But I will need to learn how to speak Japanese if I am going to retire in Japan.

On how the new baseball is allowing pitchers to pitch inside more:

The pitchers do not have to be afraid of pitching inside.  If they are pitching at Koshien, Nagoya Dome, or Mazda Stadium, they do not have to worry about giving up home runs.  Chances are the ball will not go over the fence.  Even home runs at Tokyo Dome and Jingu dropped off.  Personally, it feels like balls that are hit well end up hitting the outfield fences...  I think that is what it feels like.  And when that happens, pitchers can just throw strikes without any concerns.  Makes it tough for the hitters.  That is why there were so many 1-0, 2-1 type games last year.

On where he was when the March 11 earthquake/tsunami struck:

I was at my home at Rokko Island.  The whole building swayed and then the images of the tsunami showed up on TV.  At that time, I felt a kind of fear I never experienced before in my life.  I was worried about the tsunami coming toward me and I looked out to the ocean.  I do not think I will ever forget what happened that day.

On the start of the 2011 season up through to June:

I started worrying because I could not hit any homers in April.  Then I changed my approach to hitting around mid-May: I decided not to think about home runs.  I imagined hitting the ball to the outfield gaps.

On Wada, Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Norichika Aoki heading to the majors:

It was really too bad what happened to [Hiroyuki] Nakajima, but for the rest of the players, I actually makes me happy.  After all, it means I no longer have to face them (laughter).  I hope they do well over here [in the States].

The Hanshin Tigers announced today that they signed contract extensions with both Matt Murton and Craig Brazell at a hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.

Brazell's comments:

I am not satisfied with how I did this season.  I want to help the team win a championship, with the use of my bat, under the helm of new manager Yutaka Wada.

Murton's comments:

My family and I are excited about me playing for the Hanshin Tigers again next season.  Yutaka Wada was my batting coach for two seasons and I decided that my best option was to return and help him win a championship.  And for the many fans that supported me, I will make preparations during the off-season so that I am fully prepared for the new season.  I will do my best.

UPDATE @ 11:52pm - Sponichi figures Murton signed a one-year deal worth US$3M (up US$1M) with a team option for a second year.  Brazell is in the second year of a two-year deal and will be paid US$2M.

Yutaka Wada told reporters on Monday that Craig Brazell, Jason Standridge, and Randy Messenger were all expected to return next year.  Matt Murton is still a question mark.

Sanspo is reporting that Matt Murton will likely return to Hanshin Tigers next season because he may not be getting the kind of offers he was hoping for from MLB teams.

An unnamed source is quoted as saying, "A number of club have offered Murton a contract.  But none are for that much money.  It probably wouldn't be stretching things to say that they might be for about 1/10 of what he'd get in Japan. ... Some of the offers may be close to league minimum.  Fielding, hitting...  And teams may not see him as a starter and he wants to play [regularly]."

The Tigers latest offer is said to be a 2-year deal worth a total 600M yen.

Sanspo also notes that there's a good chance Craig Brazell, Randy Messenger, and Jason Standridge will all return next year.

According to Sports Hochi, contact talks between the Hanshin Tigers and Matt Murton are going well and that the team may have a realistic chance at retaining his services for the 2013 season.  The articles even goes so far as saying an agreement could be reached shortly.

Regarding the other three foreign players: Randy Messenger and Craig Brazell already have deals in place for the 2012 season while the team is still teetering on what to do with Jason Standridge.

Daily Sports is reporting that the Hanshin Tigers are leaning towards exercising their 2012 option on Craig Brazell because they like the power he brings from the left-side (seems that outweighed their concerns about his knees and his right hamstring).  The team is also working on bringing Matt Murton and Randy Messenger back next season.

The jury is still out on Jason Standridge -- the team will likely consider other options, including the possibility of Chunichi Dragon Enyelbert Soto becoming a free agent, before finalizing their decision on him.