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Daisuke Miura will likely pitch once every ten days to keep him fresh for when the team really needs him.  His first start of the regular season could come against the Hanshin Tigers on April 1 at Kyocera Dome.

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The Bay Stars will decide on Thursday whether or not Alex Ramirez is healthy enough to make the opening day starting line-up.

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Hiroyuki Fukuyama was sent down to Ni-gun on Tuesday.

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Kiyoshi Nakahata apparently is not entirely satisfied with the new mascot.  When asked his opinion during a fan club event at Yokohama Stadium on Tuesday, he said, "We are a team trying to emphasize mobility but with short legs like that, how can he run?"

Kiyoshi Nakahata told reporters after today's exhibition game against the Rakuten Eagles that Kentaro Takasaki will be his opening day starter.

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The Bay Stars want to go with a five-man rotation, but there is some concern about whether or not Daisuke Miura will be able to handle pitching on five days of rest.

"Pitching on five days of rest might be difficult [for Miura]," said pitching coach Yui Tomori.  "But he has a mental presence and he is experienced. We need him to be healthy for the whole season.  We will use him carefully."

Miura responded, "I should be able to pitch on five days of rest because I worked out with that in mind.  I want to maintain a spot in the starting rotation."

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It appears Norihiro Nakamura will, for the time being, take over as the new clean-up hitter while Alex Ramirez (strain in his left rectus femoris) is out.  With regards to other aspects of the line-up, the Bay Stars will use their remaining exhibition games to figure out what to do -- they were initially planning on getting rid of the DH rule today and have their pitchers get used to hitting, but they will now continue to make use of the DH rule while they test out a number of different players.

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Head coach Yutaka Takagi told reporters that he did not mind if Ramirez missed the first ten games of the season if he can return at 100% for the remaining 134 games.

Ramirez started his rehab at Yokohama Stadium today.

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Nikkan Sports is guessing the following...

• The first four hitters in the starting line-up will likely be: Takayuki Kajitani, Hichori Morimoto, Takehiro Ishikawa (ideally would have been Yoshitomo Tsutsugo), and Nakamura (ideally would have been Ramirez).
• Keijiro Matsumoto will most likely slide into left (taking defense over offense).

Daisuke Miura is slated to start and pitch five innings against the Rakuten Eagles on Tuesday.

Miura, Kentaro Takasaki, and Yuki Kuniyoshi are all competing for opening day starts.

Sponichi notes that Takasaki could get the season opener on March 30 (vs Hanshin at Kyocera Dome) with Kuniyoshi getting the home opener on April 3 (vs Chunichi at Yokohama).

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The coaches decided to send Ikki and and Atsushi Kita down to Ni-gun today.  The two left Ginowan camp today and returned to Yokohama.  They will join the Ni-gun team on Thursday.

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Daisuke Miura apparently reached the 2,000th pitch milestone today (Nikkan Sports mentions 2,085).  He is the first Bay Star to reach the milestone during spring camp so far.

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According to Nikkan Sports, possible candidates for the starting rotation include: Giancarlo Alvarado, Brandon Mann, Kentaro Takasaki, Miura, and Yuki Kuniyoshi lead the pack, followed by Hiroshi Kobayashi, Futoshi Kobayashi, and Shugo Fujii.

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GM Shigeru Takada spoke to reporters on Tuesday and echoed Kiyoshi Nakahata's words about wanting Hideki Matsui to join the Bay Stars.

====== UPDATE 2/23 @ 1:28am

Alex Ramirez is scheduled to get a couple of at bats during Thursday's practice game against the KIA Tigers.  He is also expected to be the starting DH and bat fourth against the Yomiuri Giants of February 25.

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Kuniyoshi's next could come during an exhibition game against the Nippon Ham Fighters on February 26.

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Today was the last day of the second block of camp for the Ichi-gun roster.  The team has the day off tomorrow.

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The Bay Stars drew about 3,000 fans on Saturday.

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As of the end of practices today, Daisuke Miura has thrown over 1,0000 pitches since the start of spring camp.

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Kiyoshi Nakahata threw 103 pitches to Yuta Naito during morning batting practice today.  It took about fifteen minutes to throw all 103 pitches.

The media learned on Saturday that Nakahata will be appearing in a TV commercial for Mobage's pro yakyu card game.  Shooting for the commercial will take place on Monday and will begin airing on opening day (March 30).

Nakahata watched Saturday's game from the dugouts on both sides of the field, from left field, and from the camera well in foul territory.

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Talento Monta Mino visited Ginowan camp today.

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Shun Yamamguchi was warned by umpire Kota Kawaguchi about a possible two-step pitching motion on Saturday (he was dangling his left foot during his delivery).

====== UPDATE 2/13 @ 1:46am

Norihiro Nakamura will be called up to Ichi-gun camp on Tuesday.  Masanori Hayashi and I-Cheng Wang will be sent down to Ni-gun camp.

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The Bay Stars announced today that Taketoshi Goto was diagnosed with influenza A earlier today.

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Kimiyasu Kudo visited spring camp in Ginowan today and observed practices.  He also had a chance to meet with Kiyoshi Nakahata, but not GM Shigeru Takada, who was also at Ginowan today.

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Nakahata had to walk to the stadium on Thursday because the battery in the team car died.  So the trip to the stadium that usually takes two minutes by car, took about twenty-two minutes by foot.  And along the way, he was surrounded by fans seeking photos and autographs.

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Otsuka Tea Manufacturing Company in Kakegawa, Shizuoka sent the team some "Kiyoshi" tea on Thursday.

====== 2/11 @ 2:02am

The Bay Stars stole just thirty-one bases last year.  Nakahata would like the team to aim for at least 100 this year.

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The team has been placing nets along the base paths so players can work on running the bases in somewhat realistic conditions without any worries about getting hit by baseballs.

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The Ichi-gun players had the day off on Monday.

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Head coach Takagi Yutaka observed Ni-gun workouts in Kadena, Okinawa on Monday.

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Daisuke Miura, Takayuki Shinohara, and Shintaro Ejiri will be called up to Ichi-gun camp on Tuesday.

Takehiro Ishikawa was excused from extra fielding practice on Monday afternoon because of a sore left foot.

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Pitching coach Yui Tomori had to stop Yuki Kuniyoshi from throwing too much on Sunday out of fear he might re-injure his right shoulder.

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Kentaro Takasaki faced Taketoshi Goto and Kazuya Fujita during batting practice on Sunday and allowed two could-be hits on forty-four pitches.  Takasaki threw a total 473 pitches during the first block of spring camp.

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Teammates were concerned with Yuki Yoshimura on Sunday because he was coughing during practices.

"It is not like I kissed Rami-chan so I should be ok.  I never really had strong bronchial tubes," said Yoshimura.

Yoshimura does not have a fever and is otherwise feeling ok.

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Kiyoshi Nakahata is still scheduled to return to the field on Tuesday.

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Alex Ramirez apparently got a flu shot in mid-January before returning to Japan.

Kiyoshi Nakahata told reporters on Tuesday that other than Alex Ramirez, everyone else on the team had to compete for a spot.

Nakahata showed up on the field at 9:07am and showed the media his Yokohama uniform and the number 70.

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Daisuke Miura and Yuki Kuniyoshi left the team hotel at around 6:10 for an early morning walk (lasted about thirty minutes).

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Yoshitomo Tsutsugo took part in a fielding practice session that lasted about forty minutes.  It was originally supposed to last twenty minutes but the time was doubled by Nakahata.  Yuta Naito, attempting a possible position change to the infield, was also part of the group.

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Alex Ramirez spent some time giving Yuki Yoshimura pointers on hitting.

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Team owner Makoto Haruta plans to stick around in Okinawa until Sunday (February 5).

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Bullpen sessions:

Wednesday

Every pitcher at Ginowan tossed a bullpen session with squatting catcher.

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Shun Yamaguchi threw 73 pitches.

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Kentaro Takasaki threw 58 pitches to a squatting catcher.

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Masanori Hayashi threw 50 pitches.

Taketoshi Goto worked out at the Yokosuka training facilities today for the first time since being traded to the Bay Stars.  His workouts lasted about five hours.

Goto worked out with Kazuhiro Wada (CHU) this winter and was told that players should not prepare themselves for the season during spring camp, but to be prepared to play from the first day of spring camp.

Goto dropped about nine kilograms since last year.

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Yuki Kuniyoshi threw 20 pitches (including curves) in the bullpen on Wednesday (squatting catcher).  He told reporters that he was close to throwing at 100% and that he was feeling good.

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When reporters asked Daisuke Miura what he thought of Kiyoshi Nakahata's plan to improve communication by leaving his door at the team hotel open during spring camp he replied, "I am worried about crime prevention."  He then said, in a more serious tone, "Communication is important and it would be good to have a chance to talk about all kinds of things."

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Nakahata is thinking about holding karaoke contests with players at the team hotel during spring camp.

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The team is planning on increasing the number of seats for the media at both Ginowan Stadium and the team hotel.  WiFi will also be available.

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Curfew during spring camp: 11pm on nights when there are practices the following day and midnight on nights where there are no practices the next day.  Nakahata does not plan to enforce these with an iron fist.

Alex Ramirez arrived at Narita Airport today.

"I have spent a lot of time working out at the gym.  My arms are much bigger than they were last year," said Ramirez.

He continued, "This is one of my goals.  I would like to try and record my 2,000th hit on my birthday on October 3."

Ramirez has also prepared a first baseman's mitt.

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Kiyoshi Nakahata worked out in Yokosuka, Kanagawa today.  He also spent about 20 minutes climbing up a small mountain at Tsukayama Park (133 meters) near the Ni-gun training facilities.

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Daisuke Miura does not want players to lose out to Nakahata's popularity.

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1st round draft pick Yujo Kitagata wants to play well enough for a chance to meet Yui Yokoyama (AKB48).  With his left knee better, he is also scheduled to toss a bullpen session soon.