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Team owner Shinya Sakai observed practices at Ni-gun camp in Aki, Kochi today.

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Yuya Ando joined the rest of the players for practice today -- he was working out under a different training program since the start of spring camp because he was not feeling well.

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Masahiro Nakatani and Kenichi Tagami participated in early fielding practice (about 40 minutes) at Kin Stadium today.

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The Hanshin Tigers held a baseball clinic at Ginoza Stadium after practices today.  116 elementary school kids attended the clinic.

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Pitchers and position players swapped workouts during the morning session on Friday (about three hours).  During infield drills: Kyuji Fujikawa 1B and C, Ken Nishimura 2B, 4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito and Ryo Watanabe SS, Tomoyuki Kubota and Minoru Iwata 3B, Daiki Enokida C, and Takashi Toritani and Keiichi Hirano pitchers.  Randy Messenger got some time as SS while Jason Standridge worked out as 1B.

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Sanspo reports that it no longer seems like Kenji Jojima will have a shot at starting the regular season as a catcher.  A team rep told reporters on Friday that they were most likely going to go with Akihito Fujii for the start of the season.  And depending on how things go after the first few weeks of the seasons, the team will re-evaluate the situation.  Sanspo also notes that as of January, Jojima could not squat for even one minute.

Nikkan Sports adds that Jojima will not do any workouts as a catcher during spring camp (through to February 29) -- that means no catching in the bullpens.

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1st round draft Hayata Ito took fielding practice at Kin Stadium on Friday -- he spent about forty minutes fielding sixty-one baseballs launched from a machine that cost the team about 700,000 yen.  Partway through the session, he also switched glove hands.

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Shinta Hifumi would like to play the outfield, although he did order three type of gloves just in case: outfield, infield, and first base mitt.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto swung a training bat 115 times against a machine on Friday.

And Kanemoto on his shoulder after taking outdoor batting practice today: "My shoulder is around 60-70%.  All things considered, I think I swung the bat well.  I did not really pay attention to the batted balls since I was concerned about how well I was swinging the bat."

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Actor Ken Watanabe visited the team in Ginoza, Okinawa on Friday.

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The Tigers announced that Matt Murton's wife gave birth to the couple's third child, a boy weighing 3,454 grams, on February 1 (US time).  The Tigers are expecting Murton to arrive in Japan some time around February 7.

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Shunsuke and Ryota Arai participated in early morning fielding practice at Kin Stadium today.  The session lasted about 35 minutes.

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Position players worked out as pitchers as pitchers worked out as position players today.

During infield drills, position players like Takashi Toritani and Keiichi Hirano worked from the mound while Kyuji Fujikawa spent time at first.  Toritani and Yamato spent some time pitching in the bullpen while Fujikawa took BP and hit a ball over the fence.

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Yutaka Wada worked on simulated close plays at home with catchers Taichi Okazaki and Takashi Shimizu on Thursday -- Mayumi pretended to barrel into home thirty times; battery coach Yasuo Yoshida threw the ball in toward home from around second base.

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Atsushi Nomi has been keeping up with the headlines from other teams.

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2nd round draft pick Hiroaki Saiuchi tossed a bullpen session on Thursday and is scheduled to toss another on Saturday.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto could begin taking BP with the rest of the players beginning on Saturday (February 4).

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Shinjiro Hiyama's person trainer, Ken Nakata, told reporters on Friday he feels Hiyama will be ready for opening day.

"When [Hiyama] first got hurt, I thought opening day would be impossible," said Nakata.  "But at this point, he is making great progress.  I think he will be ok for opening day.  Mending bones need calcium, vitamin D, and UV rays.  He also needs to continue hitting with his one hand.  And all of that is going well right now."

Hiroki Uemoto, Yamato, and Haruki Kurose took extra fielding practice this morning (starting at around 9:30am) before the start of general practices.  INF/base-running coach Teruyoshi Kuji worked with the three players for about 45 minutes.  Yutaka Wada observed the session.

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Kazuhiro Sasaki acted as a special pitching instructor today -- he gave a ten minute speech on how to throw and use the fork.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto played catch at a max distance of about 60 meters on Wednesday.

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Kyuji Fujikawa decided to have the word "bonds" stitched onto his glove.  Fujikawa originally had Xanax (glove manufacturer) stitch the Japanese word (結束) but was not happy with the balance and went with the English word.

Phrases, words stitched in Fujikawa's glove over the years

2005 - 本塁打厳禁 (no home runs)
2006 - 細心而剛胆 (meticulous and bold)
2006 (WBC) - Ｗｏｒｌｄ　Ｎｏ１
2007 - 気力一瞬, Ｏｎｅ　ｆｏｒ　ａｌｌ　Ａｌｌ　ｆｏｒ　ｏｎｅ (instant willpower)
2010 - Ｐｌｕｃｋ　ｕｐ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｈｅａｒｔ
2011 - Ｎｏｔ　ｗｏｒｄｓ　ｂｕｔ　ｄｅｅｄｓ

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A number of different coaches apparently kept a close eye on 1st round draft pick Hayata Ito during the first day of spring camp.  OF/base-running coach Koichi Sekikawa reached out to Ito while he played catch and also after fielding and base-running practice.  Yutaka Wada and batting coach Atsushi Kataoka both gave him hitting tips after batting practice.

FWIW: Ito had some problems during fielding practice on Wednesday -- he misjudged a ball in center and could not glove an easy liner while at short.  He also had some difficulty planting his feet properly before throwing the ball from the outfield.

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Fifty-one Chicken Hayata Rice Bowls (500 yen) were prepared on the first day of spring camp and all fifty-one were sold.

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Sanspo notes three focuses of the first day of spring camp:

1. Lunchtime batting practice for pitchers - Pitchers like Kyuji Fujikawa, Randy Messenger, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Atsushi Nomi, and Jason Standridge, all spent time taking batting practice while the position players had their lunch breaks.  Pitching coach Keiichi Yabu would like starting pitchers to aim for a .200 or better batting average.
2. Bunt practices - Players, even veterans like Craig Brazell and Takahiro Arai, were required to work on their bunts.
3. Swing speed - The team's scouts recorded bat speeds for every player that took batting practice.

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A welcoming ceremony was held before practices at Ginoza Stadium this morning.  Yutaka Wada, team president Nobuo Minami, staff, and players all took part in the ceremony.

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A welcoming ceremony was also held before Ni-gun practices in Kochi.  After warmups, players were required to do a 2,000 meter run -- Hiroya Shimamoto recorded the best time for pitchers; Yusuke Kuroda got the best time for position players.

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Kenji Jojima worked out at first during situational fielding practice.

Jojima on playing first: "If I am not good [at first] then I need to practice and get better.  If there is a chance I might be playing here, then I need to do my best.  [After all] I am a professional [athlete]."

And Wada after watching Jojima workout at first: "I get the feeling he will be ok [at first]."

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Wada watched all 16 pitchers at Ginoza toss bullpen sessions (span of eight hours).

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Fielding/base-running coach Koji Yamawaki sat down with Tomoaki Kanemoto on Tuesday to work out fielding practice schedule.  They decided Kanemoto would begin taking outdoor fielding practice on the first day of spring camp and move on to taking situational fielding practice some time during the second block of spring camp.  Incidentally, it was apparently Kanemoto that approached Yamawaki about starting fielding practice early.

As for hitting outdoors, Kanemoto is thinking either the third or fourth day of the first block.

And Kanemoto on his first day of spring camp: "It was ok.  Playing catch was 80%, running was 80%, hitting was bad."

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1st round draft pick Hayata Ito met Kanemoto for the first time on Tuesday.

Ito checked into the stadium at 9:00am this morning and did not leave until 6:10pm.  His workouts included fielding practice, outdoor BP, and extra fielding practice.

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Yasutomo Kubo seems to be ok with a move to the bullpen as he said to reporters on Tuesday, "I do not decide on pitcher usage.  I want to be used in whatever way will help the team get closer to a championship."  When asked if that meant he would consider starting and relieving, he replied, "yes."

The team may have approached Kubo about the possibility of pitching out of the bullpen on Monday.

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Takumi Akiyama ran for about an hour during the team's day off on Tuesday.

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Wada gave Keiichi Hirano a Shachihata hanko after hearing he did not have one.

FYI: hanko are seals used in place of signatures in Japan.

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Kyuji Fujikawa, Takashi Toritani, Atsushi Nomi, and Kentaro Sekimoto modeled the 2012 uniforms during the unveiling ceremony on Tuesday.

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Batting practice:

Wednesday

Masahiro Nakatani hit seven over the fence during regular BP.  He also stayed back after general practices for extra BP and hit twenty-six over the fence.

Kenji Jojima caught Daiki Enokida's (1st round) bullpen session on Thursday.  He did not catch a bullpen session yesterday.

Regarding catching Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Jojima told reporters yesterday that he felt it wasn't an absolute necessity to catch one of his bullpen sessions before the season because of how good of pitcher he was.

On Friday, Jojima took 50 swings during BP and hit 4 over the fence.  During base-running practice, he ran from first to second twice, from second to third twice, and from first and third once.  Jojima also slid head-first back into first 4 times and worked on starting and stopping after over-running a base.

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Matt Murton has apparently given up on the tweaks he made to his swing (like the high leg kick) and will go back to the same style he used last season.  Seems some of the major changes he was making to his hitting mechanics just weren't working out for him.  And while most of the veterans were allowed to return to Osaka yesterday (like Takahiro Arai and Craig Brazell), Murton stayed back with the team in order to work on his swing.

As of yesterday, through 3 exhibition games, Murton was 1-for-7.

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The Tigers are hoping Tomoaki Kanemoto will be ok to start DH'ing on the 12th (vs Chunichi at Koshien).  After that,, the Tigers would like to see him play in all of the remaining exhibition games (save for one against the Yomiuri Giants that takes place in Gifu on the 14th) on the schedule.

On Friday, Kanemoto played catch at a max distance of about 30 meters (35 throws).  Batting coach Atsushi Kataoka then his 7 baseballs out to Kanemoto in left with a cutoff man about 30-40 meters away.  And during BP, he took 34 swings and hit 1 over the fence.

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Akihito Fujii told reporters yesterday he was looking forward to the next two exhibition games because they were against a Central League opponent (both vs Yokohama).

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As of yesterday, Keiichi Hirano was still hitless through 22 trips to the plate (practice, intra-squad, and exhibition games).

Daiki Enokida worked out at Koshien today (including catch and infield drills) in preparation for his next outing on the 6th (exhibition game vs Yokohama).

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Kenji Jojima played some catch yesterday.  Towards the end of the session, he moved things over to the field where he made 10 throws to second (from near home plate) and then made 12 throws to first.  Assuming he's physically ok,  Jojima might be able to start playing in games as a DH beginning on the 9th and move on up to catching on the 12th.

For practice today, Jojima did some base-running exercises with his cleats on -- including a some head-first slides back to first.

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Yuya Ando (coming back from right shoulder pain) threw 31 pitches in the bullpen yesterday (sitting catcher).  No word on when his next bullpen session will be at this point.

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Craig Brazell has hit safely in two straight exhibition games. ... Shunsuke Fujikawa has hit safely in four straight exhibition games. ... Matt Murton does not have a hit through 3 exhibition games. ... The pitching staff has tossed 32 consecutive exhibition game shutout innings.

Hanshin Tigers

Daiki Enokida (1st round) threw 66 pitches in the bullpen today with Kenji Jojima doing the catching.  It was the first time this spring the two were paired up together.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto took fielding practice outdoors (in left) yesterday for the first time this year.  Batting coach Atsushi Kataoka hit about 25 baseballs out to Kanemoto and a "cutoff man" was placed near the shortstop area so that Kanemoto could work on his throws (about 20-25 meters).  And during BP, he swung the bat 56 times.

The Tigers are hoping that Kanemoto will be able to play in a couple of their upcoming home exhibition games (4 games beginning on the 9th).

Yomiuri Giants

Ryosuke Miyaguni (2nd round) and Taichi Tanaka (3rd round) both re-joined the Ni-gun roster for practice today.  The two players left Ni-gun spring camp on 2/27 to return to their homes in order to attend their high school graduations.

Yakult Swallows

Shinya Miyamoto suffered a bruise on his right hand during Wednesday's exhibition game against the Nippon Ham Fighters.  An examination of the hand did not reveal any problems with the bones.  He did not take BP during pre-game practice today and will not be traveling with the team to Fukuoka for 2 games against the Softbank Hawks at Yahoo Dome.

Softbank Hawks

Brian Falkenborg was supposed to pitch tonight, but didn't because he apparently wasn't ready.

Rakuten Eagles

Hisashi Iwakuma is scheduled to start an exhibition game against the Seibu Lions on the 5th.

The Tigers pitching staff has not allowed a run to score in their last 23 consecutive exhibition game innings.

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Kyuji Fujikawa and Hiroyuki Kobayashi are both scheduled to pitch in tonight's exhibition game against the Softbank Hawks at Yahoo Dome.

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If Tomoaki Kanemoto isn't ready by opening day, Akinobu Mayumi may opt to drop Matt Murton down to the 5 spot (where Kanemoto would be hitting).  But that will only happen if Mayumi can find a replacement for Murton -- Shunsuke Fujikawa has done reasonably well so far (4-for-10 in 3 exhibition games).

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Shinjiro Hiyama worked out at Koshien yesterday and told reporters he figured he'd be ok to play in games at Koshien Stadium and would rather stay back on road trips so that he could continue with his preparations for the season.  That means he could play in his first exhibition game on the 9th (vs Rakuten).

Hanshin Tigers

Kenji Jojima took 51 swings during his first round of  outdoor BP today.

Chiba Lotte Marines

The could hold a press conference for Takuya Takahama as early as on the 4th in Hiroshima.  He'll probably join the Ichi-gun roster from there and might even play in his first exhibition game with the team on the 5th (vs Hiroshima at Mazda Stadium).

Orix Buffaloes

Yoshihisa Hirano threw 42 pitches to Mitsutaka Goto, Takahiro Okada, and Seung-Yeop Lee during BP today and gave up 6 could-be hits.

According to Sanspo, Keisuke Kaneko is only suspected of having gout.  In either case, he's taking medication and the team will wait to see how things turn out.  If his condition doesn't improve (he's have a hard time walking due to pain in his right big toe), he'll make another visit to the hospital.

The Tigers decided to build mound in their indoor training facility during the month of February.  Akinobu Mayumi suggested that if the Tigers were going to build a new mound, they may as well build a replica of the mound at Nagoya Dome (dirt, hardness, height, pretty much everything), where the team had a hard time winning last season.

FYI: before the new mound, pitchers threw BP off flat ground or off an elevated board.

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Daily Sports reports that Kenji Jojima could end up DH'ing on the 12th (exhibition game vs Chunichi) and get behind the plate for a few innings (maybe 3) on the 13th (exhibition game vs Yomiuri).  But before any of this can happen, Jojima will need to clear a number of other hurdles, like getting through sliding exercises and passing another medical check on his left knee (which will likely take place some time after the team returns to Koshien on the 9th).

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Takumi Akiyama started an Ikusei League game against Chunichi today and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks over 3 innings of work (sac fly to right in the 1st and a 2-run RBI single to left in the 3rd).  He also topped out at 137km/h.