The Hyogo Blue Sandars held a press conference for Eri Yoshida today (Ustream).

During the press conference, manager Yutaka Ikeuchi was asked about how he planned to use Yoshida and said he planned to ease her in by having her pitch out of the bullpen and slowly work her way up to starting.

According to Nikkan Sports, Eri Yoshida (20) will be playing for the Hyogo Blue Sandars this year.  A press conference is scheduled on February 3 at Sanda Sports Park Baseball Stadium in Hyogo.

Even though her contract will run through to the end of November, Hyogo plans to allow Yoshida to pursue playing opportunities in the US.

According to the Maui News' Robert Collias, Eri Yoshida is set to return to the Na Koa Ikaika Maui in 2012.  A snip:

Japanese female knuckleball pitcher Eri Yoshida, who ended up winning the last game Maui played, is set to be back on the roster in 2012.

Source: Maui News (via Gideon)

Eri Yoshida returned to Japan today.  Her comments to reporters:

"I'm not sure what to do, about the current season and next. ... I did win a game and I really wanted to pitch more.  I would like to pitch in games, but I also want to practice (in preparation for the next season). ... I need to work on building up my body.  In order to be successful with the knuckleball, I need to improve myself by practicing and experimenting."

UPDATE 8/25 @ 11:50am - Yoshida also told reporters yesterday that she will continue pursuing her dream of pitching in the Majors and will try once again to pitch in the US next season.

Giden Rubin sent me some Eri Yoshida photos he took from her last game with Samurai All Japan on July 30.  He originally shot them to go with the interview piece he wrote, but since they were never used, he passed them on to me to post.

If you have any comments on the images, or even on the interview he conducted with her, feel free to leave your comments down below -- I'll be pointing him to this post so he'll be able to see your comments directly.

In any cases, here they are:

According to Eri Yoshida's latest blog post, it seems the Na Koa Ikaika Maui team played an exhibition game against a team of firefights and police officers on Saturday (8/13).  Yoshida pitched in the game and tossed 3 shutout innings while allowing just 1 hit.

Her thoughts on the outing:

I was pitching on 3 days of rest, but I think my time with Samurai [All Japan] may have helped my conditioning because my pitches weren't that bad.

The only problem was my control wasn't as good as my last outing, so I wasn't really satisfied with my pitching.

I especially need to continue working on the mental and technical side of things.

Yoshida also mentions that she might take this opportunity to stick around in Maui for some sightseeing.

The Maui News reports that the Na Koa Ikaika Maui have canceled the final 23 games of the season and released all their players.  A snip:

Na Koa Ikaika Maui's final 23 games of the North American Baseball League season, all scheduled for the road, have been scrapped by the team and the players have been released, manager Garry Templeton confirmed Monday morning.

The cancellation of the last trip comes on the heels of the final home series not being played last week when the cash-strapped Lake County Fielders did not come to Maui for a four-game set that was scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday.

And that means Eri Yoshida is without a team again.  Nothing new posted at her blog as of yet.

And thanks to Gideon Rubin for the heads up on the Maui article.

Gideon Rubin dropped me a line to let me know that a more detailed interview he conducted with Eri Yoshida was recently posted by the Chico Enterprise-Record.  A snip:

Yoshida's playing status has been dismissed as a "gimmick" by cynics; something she acknowledges makes her "not feel very good."

But, "a professional athlete has to accept (the criticism)," she said.

It's something she'll have to overcome in trying to convince front offices in affiliated ball to give her a chance.

"She's not taken seriously," Templeton said. "Most people think of her as a novelty act, but you've got to look at her as if you're looking at one of these guys that are out here trying to make it right now.

"A lot of it depends on whether or not somebody likes you and is willing to give you a chance. I don't see anything different between her and the (male) players."

Eri Yoshida made her debut start for the Koa Ikaika Maui on the 9th against the Edmonton Capitals and allowed just 1 run over 5 innings of work.  Yoshida got the win as Maui beat Edmonton 4-1.

Final line: 5 IP, 19 BF, 81-43 NP-S, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO.

* about 80% of her pitches were knuckleballs

Inning-by-inning:

1st inning - 1 hit, 0 runs

walk, single, fielder's choice, caught stealing, walk, caught stealing

2nd inning - 2 hits, 0 runs

walk, single, fly out to first, single, double play

3rd inning - 0 hits, 0 runs

ground out to second, strikeout swinging, fly out to left

4th inning - 1 hit, 1 run

double, fly out to right, sac fly to left, fly out to short

5th inning - 0 hits, 0 runs

fly out to third, ground out to second, fly out to short.

Incidentally, former Rakuten Eagle Todd Linden went 0-for-3 with a walk and strikeout in the game for the Capitals.

Just a few Eri Yoshida notes...

Yoshida made 2 more outings for Samurai All Japan.

7/20 vs San Diego Stars - 2 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 0 SO, 4 R (0 ER), 53 NP

7/30 Charity Game - 3 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 0 SO, 0 R, 42 NP

So a recap of all 9 of her outings with Samurai All Japan:

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ESPN Page 2 is carrying  an article on Yoshida, written by Gideon Rubin.  A snip:

But despite the good vibes, sellout crowds and modest successes she was inconsistent in Chico, going 0-4 with a 12.28 ERA.

A retooled delivery has restored the diminutive teen's confidence. Yoshida has more command of her knuckler since going from a sidearm to a three-quarters delivery. It's an adjustment she made under the tutelage of former major league pitcher and fellow countryman Akinori Otsuka, her pitching coach on the Samurai All-Japan semi-pro team she played for this summer.

And the early returns suggest it works.

Yoshida collected her first win on U.S. soil, throwing four shutout innings of five-hit ball in a 3-0 victory over the San Diego Mavericks in a season-ending exhibition fundraiser for Japan earthquake relief.

===

And as BBMedia mentioned here, Yoshida is currently day-to-day with a sprained ankle.  From the Maui News:

The newest member of Na Koa, 19-year-old female knuckleball pitcher Eri Yoshida, was at the stadium, but is day-to-day with a sprained ankle that she suffered in a non-baseball situation on Sunday. Her introductory press conference was canceled on Tuesday, but she said she is happy to rejoin manager Garry Templeton. Both were with Chico last season.

The Maui News' Robert Collias also posted the press release cancelling Yoshida's press conference.

And for those wondering why Yoshida's didn't sign with Maui the first time around, it seems there was some miscommunication between Samurai All Japan and Maui.  From Maui News:

We reported on July 2 that Yoshida would be coming to Maui to make a pair of Saturday starts during the last homestand. Within 24 hours of that story running, denials started coming from Japan, including the website for her team at the time, Samurai All-Japan. It took until the fifth inning of the game before she was scheduled to start for official word from Na Koa's front-office folks that she would not be playing the next day — she wasn't on island — and even then they said "it's just a matter of working out a couple of things" and that she would be on Maui within a few days.

The update the Maui News report refers to, essentially says that reports of Yoshida signing with Maui were incorrect and that she was a member of the Samurai All Japan team through to the end of their season.