Ichi-gun Carp closed out spring camp in Nichinan today.  The team has the day off Friday and will get back to work on Saturday in Okinawa.

Source: Sponichi 2/21/2013

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Miguel Socolovich felt tightness in his left calf during practices on Wednesday and was sent down to San-gun today for rehab.

Kam Mickolio is also working out separately from the main group -- he felt tightness in his lower back on Wednesday.

Source: Sports Hochi 2/21/2013

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Hideo Nomo visited Nichinan camp on Wednesday.

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/21/2013

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The following players will head to Okinawa for five games:

Pitchers (13)
Yuya Fukui, Katsuhiro Nagakawa, Kyohei Nakamura, Yuki Iwami, Hirotaka Egusa, Masaya Kanemaru, Ren Nakata, Tomohiro Umetsu, Bryan Bullington, Takaya Toda, Shota Nakazaki, Keisuke Imai, Yuichi Hisamoto

Catchers (2)
Yuta Shirahama, Yoshitaka Isomura

Infielders (7)
Kenta Kurihara, Shota Dobayashi, Ryosuke Kikuchi, Takaaki Matsumoto, Brad Eldred, Tomohiro Abe, Shogo Kimura

Outfielders (9)
Naoki Nakahigashi, Takahiro Iwamoto, 4th round draft pick Ko Shimozuru, Ryuhei Matsuyama, Masato Akamatsu, Fred Lewis, Yuichiro Mukae, Masamitsu Suzuki, Yoshihiro Maru

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/21/2013

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Kam Mickolio ended workouts early today after he felt tightness in his lower back during warm-ups.

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/20/2013

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Eishin Soyogi was called up to Ichi-gun camp on Tuesday.  He spent about an hour swinging the bat 213 swings during extra batting practice on Tuesday.  He also stood in the batter's box during Shota Nakazaki's bullpen session and took fielding practice at both short and second.

Soyogi has been taking things slow since he had right knee surgery in October 2012.

Source: Sponichi 2/20/2013

The Hiroshima Carp announced today that they signed Kam Mickolio (28) and Brad Eldred (32) to contracts for the 2013 season.  Mickolio's deal is worth an estimated 75.6 million yen; Eldred's 68.5 million yen.

The following statements were provided by the Carp:

Mickolio:

I am excited that I will be able to play for Hiroshima again.

I want to thank all the fans for their wonderful cheers during the 2012 season.  I am very lucky to play at a stadium where I can play in front of a large group of supportive Carp fans.  My family and I are looking forward to living in Hiroshima, meeting wonderful fans, and experiencing Japanese culture.

I felt a potential for the team in 2012.  If we can keep it up, I think we might end up having a good season.

My goal is to improve every day.

I am looking forward to meeting everyone again.

Eldred:

My family and I are grateful for another opportunity to play for the Carp next season.  I am very excited.

I look forward to returning to Japan.

Together with the manager, coaches, and players, I will prepare for a good season in 2013. I will do my best.

Source: official announcement (Eldred), official announcement (Mickolio), Daily Sports 12/6/2012

Dennis Sarfate finished out the second year of a two-year deal today.  The media learned on Wednesday that Hiroshima is not planning to offer the thirty-one-year an extension for the 2013 season.

Sarfate struggled a little this season, perhaps due to an inguinal hernia surgery he had last winter, and may have also been worried about his wife's health (he returned to the US in June to be with her).  In either case, it seems Hiroshima felt he lost a little something on his fastball and may have felt he would be a risk for the 2013 season.

Kam Mickolio, Nick Stavinoha, and Brad Eldred will likely return next year.  The Carp are talking things over with Bryan Bullington (he finished out a two-year deal).  They are also talking to Fred Lewis.

Source: Sponichi 11/8/2012, Sports Hochi Osaka 11/8/2012, Chugoku Shimbun 11/8/2012, Nikkan Sports 11/8/2012

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According to Sanspo, the Yokohama Bay Stars have added Sarfate to their list of players to look into.  Signing him would allow the team to move Shun Yamaguchi to the starting rotation.  Source: Sanspo 11/8/2012

The Hiroshima Carp are looking to bring back Bryan Bullington, Kam Mickolio, and Brad Eldred next season.  Bullington has expressed an interest to return.  Mickolio and Eldred signed two-years deals where the second year is a club option.

The Carp are still undecided on Dennis Sarfate.  The club may be leaning towards cutting ties with Nick Stavinoha and Brian Barden.

The Carp reportedly have a list of thirty foreign player candidates for the 2013 season and would ultimately like to carry a total of six foreign players next season (three pitchers, three position players).

Source: Nikkan Sports 9/25/2012, Sports Hochi Osaka 9/25/2012

The Hiroshima front office is interested in bringing Bryan Bullington, Dennis Sarfate, and Kam Mickolio back for the 2013 season.

All three players are on one-year deals with team options for the 2013 season.

Source: Sports Hochi Osaka 7/23/2012

Kam Mickolio did not travel with the team to Fukuoka because he was not feeling well.  He is expected to be ready by opening day.

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Kenjiro Nomura is thinking about starting Ryuhei Matsuyama at third on opening day -- offense over defense.  Other possibilities included Shota Dobayashi and Tetsuya Kokubo, but neither really impressed Nomura.

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The Hiroshima Toyo Carp Nichinan Support Group held a welcoming ceremony for the team at Tenpuku Stadium before practices today.  About 300 fans were in attendance.

They also celebrated fifty years of spring camp in Nichinan.

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In addition to Tomonori Maeda, a number of other veteran players that were working out at Ni-gun camp, including Takahiro Iwamoto, Takaaki Matsumoto, and Yuki Iwami, joined Ichi-gun camp today.

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Player/coach Takuro Ishii has been keeping an eye on Shota Dobayashi and Hayato Shoji because like him, they were converted to full-time position players after being pitchers in high school.

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Baseball analyst Mitsuo Tatsukawa caught three of 1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura's pitches in the bullpen today.

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NPB Commissioner Ryozo Kato, 1st round draft pick Nomura's parents, and Meiji University manager Tatsuya Yoshinami visited Okinawa camp today.

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Kenta Maeda told reporters on Sunday that he threw his bullpen at 80-90%.

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Team owner Hajime Matsuda gave Tomohiro Abe three kendamas on Sunday to help relax his knees when fielding and hitting.

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Takahiro Aoki was sent down to Ni-gun spring camp today.  Aoki injured his left knee and requires a week of rest.

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A number of people from the Carp, including Kenjiro Nomura, chief pitching coach Yutaka Ono, chief position players coach Shinji Ko, and GM Kiyoaki Suzuki, checked out the Gushikawa Stadium facilities in Uruma, Okinawa today.  The team has a number of concerns with the facilities, like no player locker rooms and poor field conditions, and will talk things over with the city to see what can be done.

The Carp are currently looking for an alternative location for spring camp in 2013 since the facilities they are using right now will be rebuilt and unusable until 2014.

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The Carp are looking for three home run girls between the ages 18 and 29.  The girls will be employed during the 2012 season and will be required to attend home games at Mazda Stadium.