Team owner Hajime Matsuda wants Kenta Maeda to watch over 1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura.

"Mae-Ken has resolve.  I think things will go well if he can keep an eye on things.  Nomura is quiet, but he changes when he faces hitters.  [It would be help] if [Mae-Ken] can watch over [Nomura] when he goed off by himself," said Matsuda.

Incidentally, Maeda and Nomura are the only two pitchers that have yet to toss bullpen sessions since the start of spring camp.

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Reporter Asami Konno visited the team in Okinawa today.

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Don Wakamtasu observed spring camp at Okinawa Stadium today (he is friends with Kenjiro Nomura).

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1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura is planning to toss his first spring camp bullpen session sometime during the second block.

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Takeru Imamura's new delivery did not impress pitching coach Yutaka Ono.

Via Sanspo: "I told him not to rush the throws...  He has not stability.  He is all over the place.  His currently delivery is no good.  It is a problem," said Ono.

Via Sponichi: "There is a problem with the delivery I saw today.  He is the type of pitcher that paces himself by raising his leg slowly and he was throwing too quickly.  [Rushing the delivery] messes with the release point and creates instability."

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The Hiroshima Carp play a practice game against the Nippon Ham Fighters on February 11.  Likely starters at this point: Yuki Saito (HAM) vs Yuki Saito (HIR).

Fielding/base-running coach Shinji Ko was hospitalized today after he was diagnosed with acute enterocolitis.  When he will be allowed to return to the field will be decided when he is discharged from the hospital (likely within a couple days).

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Nick Stavinoha on his batting practice outing on Wednesday: "More than swinging the bat hard, I think I just managed to hit the ball on the sweet part of the bat.  I was not aiming to hit homers nor was I thinking about them.  It was all the result of hitting the ball square.  When I hit the ball I try to put some backspin on it by hitting it hard.  And there is nothing wrong with getting good hang time."

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Yakult Swallows

Head / pitching coach Daisuke Araki is thinking about three lefties (Masanori Ishikawa, Kyohei Muranaka, and Katsuki Akagawa) during their opening series against the Yomiuri Giants.

Yomiuri Giants

Toshiya Sugiuchi did not intend to throw 70 pitches in the bullpen on Wednesday but apparently did because Tetsuya Utsumi threw 80 pitches.

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Shuichi Murata on his hitting: "First I focus on driving the ball the other way and once I get a hang of that, I turn to hitting the big ones. .. My style will be the same anywhere I go."

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Pitchers could have a chance to begin tossing BP as early as February 4.

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Bullpen sessions:

Wednesday

Ryosuke Miyaguni threw 54 pitches and struggled with his control.

Hiroshima Carp

Kenta Maeda twisted his left ankle during early training camp in Okinawa on January 27.  Even though the injury was not serious, Maeda kept his workouts light through to January 30 as a precaution.

Yokohama Bay Stars

Alex Ramirez took BP on the first day of spring camp, something he has not done over the last few years.

A ceremony was held before the start of practices this morning.  FC Ryuku (soccer) mascot Gushiken-kun also made an appearance.

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Kenta Maeda and 1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura opted not toss bullpen sessions.

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Kenjiro Nomura would like to start using BP pitchers during the last two days of the first block of spring camp.

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Batting practice:

Wednesday

Nick Stavinoha took fifty-five swings during lunchtime BP and hit seventeen over the fence.

Bullpen sessions:

Wednesday

Kam Mickolio threw four pitches to a standing catcher and fifteen pitches to a squatting catcher.

Takuro Ishii donated 1,082,212 yen to relief efforts in northern Japan (specifically, to help schools and children) via Hearts of Gold, date January 30.

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Akihiro Higashide spent about an hour and thirty minutes giving Yuta Shirahama advice on his swing after general practices on Monday.  The two were also seen taking swings in the cages this morning.

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1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura arrived in Okinawa today -- he was in Tokyo taking final exams at his university.  Nomura bumped in Yuki Saito (HAM) before boarding his flight at Haneda Airport.

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4th round draft pick Shohei Habu had five teeth capped with gold -- he was initially planning to get his cavities fixed using silver crowns but was told gold was the better option for athletes.

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Kenta Kurihara spent about 30 minutes giving Shota Dobayashi advice on his swing on Monday.

"I wanted to go home early today, but Dobayashi was just swinging the bat really badly.  And I could not allow him to head into camp in such bad shape," said Kurihara.

He added, "There are things you can also learn by teaching."

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The Carp coaches will have a much easier time keeping track of player workouts this year.  With the help of NTT Docomo, live feeds of the bullpen and indoor practice area in Okinawa (Ichi-gun) and the bullpen in Nichinan (Ni-gun) will be sent to five smartphones.

Yakult Swallows

Junji Ogawa arrived in Okinawa on Monday and said to reporters, "We scheduled a lot of practice games to give everyone a chance to play.  The only every day players we have right now are Shinya Miyamoto and Ryoji Aikawa."

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Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi, Tsuyoshi Ueda, and Hitoshi Yamamoto did two thirty-minute zazen meditation sessions at Seiryuji Fudoin in Wako, Saitama on Sunday.

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A new clubhouse was built at Saitobaru Sports Park and will be ready for the Ni-gun players to use during spring camp.

The one-story building, complete with three meeting rooms, lockers, and shower facilities, cost about 70M yen.  The city of Saito in Miyazaki paid for the construction out of money they received from the government through a military base grant.

Up until this year, the Swallows spent about 3M yen each spring to build a temporary clubhouse.

Hiroshima Carp

The Carp announced on Monday that Nick Stavinoha's registered name will be "Nick" and "Stavinoha" will appear on his uniform.  Kam Mickolio's registered name will be "Mickolio."

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Dennis Sarfate told reporters on Sunday that he was excited about the current arms in the bullpen:

There is [Takahiro] Aoki from the left and [Takeru] Imamura from the right.  I heard [Katsuhiro] Nagakawa is also throwing.  If [Ryuji] Yokoyama returns we will have a strong bullpen. ...  I do not plan to give up the closer role, but Imamura has what it takes to become a closer in the future.

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Bullpen session:

Sunday

Takeru Imamura threw 15 pitches to a standing catcher.  It was his first session of the year.  Imamura worked on his mechanics during the off-season and is reportedly looking a lot like Takuya Asao (CHU).

Said Imamura, "I am not thinking about [Asao].  I have not even watched any of his footage.  I just looked at my own and thought about [what I need to do].  I made my back motion smaller and I throw the ball further out in front.  Doing that allows me to put my weight behind my pitches.  It also makes it difficult for the batter to time my pitches."

Yokohama Bay Stars

The Bay Stars held a press conference for Giancarlo Alvarado on Monday.

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Kiyoshi Nakahata appeared on NHK's Sunday Sports on Sunday night and said that he wanted to play Yoshitomo Tsutsugo every day and that he imagined him as a number three hitter.

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The new Bay Stars' online store opened on Sunday.  The Bay Stars also sold about 40 new items during their uniform unveiling ceremony.

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84 members of the media from 38 different companies covered Sunday's uniform unveiling ceremony.

Chunichi Dragons

Morimichi Takagi observed players working out at Chatan on Sunday and told reporters he was not very impressed with what he saw.

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The sixteen members of the coaching staff arrived in Okinawa on Saturday.  Pitching coach Hiroshi Gondo told reporters he saw Kenshin Kawakami as a possible replacement for Wei-Ying Chen.

Chen could get the heads up to start at Ichi-gun spring camp.

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Takagi spent about 30 minutes watching Victor Diaz working out on Saturday and said, "[Diaz] has a nice easy swing and he has that strong upper body.  Not bad.  There is a chance he could end up being a bargain."

Takagi was also impressed with 1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi's bat speed.

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Jorge Sosa told reporters on Saturday that Sammy Sosa is one of his relatives.

Yakult Swallows

Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi, Tsuyoshi Ueda, and Hitoshi Yamamoto did zazen meditation at Seiryuji Fudoin in Wako, Saitama on Sunday.

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Orlando Roman worked out at Jingu Gaien on Saturday.  Workouts included playing catch and lifting weights.  He also had a chance to meet Ryoji Aikawa.

Roman plans to toss a bullpen session on the first day of spring camp.

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Via Sanspo, Wladimir Balentien's advice to Lastings Milledge on what is necessary in order to succeed in Japan:

- Learn how to speak Japanese -- try to communicate without the use of an interpreter
- Be open and friendly with teammates and coaches
- Get used to eating Japanese food since fast food will not cut it

Sports Hochi and Sponichi mentions a slightly different list:

- Be open and be prepared to listen
- Develop good relationships with your teammates and other personnel
- Learn Japanese

Hanshin Tigers

1st round draft pick Hayata Ito hit a ball that traveled an estimated 115 meters (off a right-handed pitcher, toward right) during outdoor BP at Ginoza on Sunday.

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Keiichi Hirano spent about an hour and a half visiting kids at Koniya Junior High School in Kagoshima on Sunday.

Hiroshima Carp

Bryan Bullington, Dennis Sarfate, Brian Barden, Kam Mickolio, and Nick Stavinoha spent some time speaking to the media at a hotel in Hiroshima on Sunday.

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1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura threw his 30-pitch bullpen session on Saturday at about 50%.

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Bullpen sessions:

Sunday

Yuya Fukui threw 22 pitches (11 from the wind and 11 from the stretch) in the bullpen (standing catcher).  It was his first session of the year.

Saturday

Ryosuke Ikenouchi threw 30 pitches (mostly fastballs) to a squatting catcher.

Yokohama Bay Stars

In addition to unveiling their uniforms for 2012, the Bay Stars also formally introduced their 2011 draft class on Sunday.  About 5,000 fans showed up.

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Kiyoshi Nakahata tried to recruit Hideki Matsui again during a wedding party on Saturday and was told that he would have to wait five more years.

1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura threw 30 pitches in the bullpen (standing catcher) at the Ono training facilities today.

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Kenta Maeda twisted his left leg while running on Friday -- he did not go to the hospital and just had the leg taped and iced.

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Kenjiro Nomura does not mind if Nick Stavinoha hits for a low average so long as he also hits for power.  For now, it seems he could bat fifth.  As for Kam Mickolio, he will probably be used as a set-up man.

Regarding their registered names, the team is thinking about "Nick" and "Kam" to make it easier for fans to remember.

Yakult Swallows

Orlando Roman arrived in Japan on Friday.  Roman played winter ball in Puerto Rico through to December 26 and has tossed bullpen session once every two days since then.

Wladimir Balentien also arrived in Japan on Friday.

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2nd round draft pick Ryohei Kiya, 4th round draft pick Yuya Ota, and 6th round draft pick Masato Furuno all tossed bullpen sessions on Thursday (squatting catchers).

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Nikkan Sports provides the following quotes from Lastings Milledge:

My friends know what kind of person I am.  My image will change if I put up good numbers. ... It usually takes me about twenty minutes to get to the airport, but there was an accident that caused a traffic jam and it took me an hour and twenty minutes.  It is not as if I did not want to come, or got scared about coming.

Milledge could end up batting fifth in the line-up while playing left field.

Hiroshima Carp

Kam Mickolio and Nick Stavinoha arrived in Japan on Thursday.  The Carp held a press conference for both players at Mazda Stadium today.

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1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura plans to proactively introduce himself to each and every player on the team beginning on January 31.

Yokohama Bay Stars

Alex Ramirez visited the DeNA offices in Shibuya on Friday and met about 100 or so of the company employees.  Incidentally, it was Ramirez that pushed for the visit.

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Takehiro Ishikawa managed to gain three kilograms without any change in his fat content (7.8%).

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Taketoshi Goto is ready to play anywhere he is needed: outfield (left), third, first.  He also dropped his weight from 94kg to 85kg.

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Kiyoshi Nakahata plans to have players work on the base-running skills during spring camp.