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Kazuya Fujita tweaked the left side of his abdomen during fielding practice today.  He was evaluated at a hospital in Kumejima today, but there was no word on how much time he might miss.  He is scheduled to visit another hospital in Naha tomorrow for a more detailed examination.

Source: Sanspo 2/5/2013

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Kazuo Matsui has been taking grounders at both short and second in preparation for the WBC.

Source: Sanspo 2/5/2013

Kazuo Matsui was taken off the active roster today with unexplained dizziness.  Matsui first experienced the dizziness after waking up on Sunday.

Said Matsui, "I have never experienced anything like this before.  I still feel a little weird when I look up."

Batting coach Koichi Tabuchi told reporters he thought it might be something similar to what women's soccer player Homare Sawa experienced earlier this year year.

Matsui is scheduled to undergo an evaluation on Tuesday.

Source: Daily Sports 7/16/2012, Sponichi 7/16/2012

Kazuo Matsui will start the year at Ni-gun because of his nagging lower back.  He could make it back to the active roster either during the Orix Buffaloes' series at Kyocera Dome (April 6-8), or the Nippon Ham Fighters' series at Sapporo Dome (April 13-15).

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Luis Garcia left Friday's game after feeling tightness in his left hamstring while running out a grounder in the 1st inning.  Garcia was not in the starting line-up today.

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Nikkkan Sports mentions that the Eagles are currently carrying three catchers: Motohiro Shima, Tadashi Ishimine, and Keiji Oyama.  As of now, there does not appear to be a clear-cut number two catcher.

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The Eagles are taking it easy with Kazuo Matsui and may decide to leave him off the opening day roster if he lower back is still giving him problems.

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Masahiro Tanaka could end up pitching against the Chunichi Dragons on Saturday.

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Today's practice game against the Orix Buffaloes (at Shizuoka Kusanagi Baseball Stadium): Masahiro Tanaka started the game and left after tossing just one shutout inning because of tightness in his back. [Sanspo] ... 1st round draft pick Yoshitaka Muto relieved Tanaka and gave up a run on two hits over two innings of work. [Nikkan Sports]

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Tanaka's back tightness does not appear to be serious (the team wanted to play it safe and took him out early) but it did prompt Senichi Hoshino to tell reporters that it would ultimately be up to Tanaka to decide if he was ok to pitch on opening day (he does not want to force the start on him if his back is going to be a problem).

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Kazuo Matsui took the day off from practices on Saturday to get treatment for back pain.

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Fourteen of twenty-one position players showed up for early morning (7:30am) practices on Saturday.

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The Eagles have the fewest number of exhibition games on the schedule (thirteen games) and two of them have been canceled due to weather.

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The Eagles took part in a welcoming ceremony at Kin Stadium today.  The facilities at the stadium are still incomplete (no indoor training area or secondary field) and will likely require another two to three years before completion.

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Batting coach Hiromoto Okubo told reporters that they are planning to put together their best possible line-ups using the players they currently have on hand, for their upcoming practice games.

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Kazuo Matsui did not play in any of the team's three intra-squad games.  He will, however, most likely be in the starting line-up (at short, batting third) when the team plays the Yokohama Bay Stars on February 18.

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Katsuya Nomura visited Okinawa camp today.  He told reporters he was a little worried about the team with Hisashi Iwakuma gone.

Kazuyoshi Tatsunami also visited Okinawa camp today.

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Motohiro Shima stayed back after general workouts for extra batting practice in the cages (against a pitching machine) today.

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Upcoming starting pitchers:

• February 18 vs Yokohama - Ryohei Isaka
• February 21 vs Yomiuri - Kohei Hasebe
• February 22 vs Hanshin - Keiji Uezono
• February 24 vs Samsung (KBO) - 1st round draft pick Yoshitaka Muto
• February 25 vs Nippon Ham - Takahiro Shiomi
• February 26 vs Yakult - Masahiro Tanaka (4+ innings)

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If it is raining in Okinawa and there is no where else to practice (since Kin Stadium has no indoor facilities), batting coach Hiromoto Okubo will check to see if the banquet hall at the player hotel are available.  While they will not be allowed to use baseballs, players will still be able to work on their swings.  And it seems the team has prepared about 1,000 sponge balls.

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If batting coach Hiromoto Okubo could have his way, he would most likely bat Kazuo Matsui forth this year.

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Matsui will be testing a new bat based on the model he used in 2001: 33.5 inches long and around 890 grams.

He was named captain of the team during a team meeting today.

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Keiji Uezono is a candidate for the starting rotation.

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Senichi Hoshino hit a total 223 baseballs during fielding practice for pitchers on Thursday.  Masahiro Tanaka, Takahiro Shiomi, and 1st round draft pick Yoshitaka Muto were part of the group (a total seven pitchers were in the group).

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Norihiro Akahoshi visited Hoshino today.  When reporters asked if he would be interested in hiring Akahoshi as a special instructor, he jokingly replied, "I want to give him a tryout!"  Akahoshi responded, "I am still working out so I am ready to be called up at any time."

Senichi Hoshino was present during early morning practices again today (7am start time).  He also did some jogging along the outfield wall.

Hoshino spent about 20 minutes hitting grounders to pitchers today.

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4th round pick Takero Okajima stayed back and spent sixteen consecutive minutes in the batting cages hitting off-speed pitches (no rest) during his workouts today.

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The Eagles were presented with a number of local items today, including a 20kg yellowfin tuna.

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Keiji Oyama caught Masahiro Tanaka's bullpen session on Wednesday.

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Tanaka has been focusing on weight placement on his back leg during his bullpen sessions -- on Wednesday it took an average 1.87 seconds for his front foot to land after he picked it up during his delivery.  FYI: Yu Darvish taught Tanaka how to use his back leg more efficiently this past winter.

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Kazuo Matsui told reporters after practice on Wednesday that he woke up at 5:20am and was completely beat.  The first day of practices began at 7am and ended at around 4pm.

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Before leaving for Kumejima, Okinawa, around 80 players and staff members attended a send-off party at Sendai Station.  About 1,500 fans attended the event.

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The Eagles held a press conference for Jose Fernandez and Luis Terrero today in Kumejima, Okinawa.

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The Eagles announced today that Hitoshi Taneda (40) stepped down as Ni-gun infield / base-running coach due to personal reasons.

They also announced the following personnel updates:

Makoto Kosaka - from Ikusei coach to Ni-gun infield / base-running coach

Yoshinori Okihara - hired as farm director

Tomoki Sano (? 佐野 朋生) - hired as an interpreter

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Senichi Hoshino strongly denied reports that the team was going after Hideki Matsui.

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Kazuo Matsui could become the next team captain.  He also plans to take part in early morning practices.

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1st round draft pick Yoshitaka Muto found out on Monday that he will be starting at Ichi-gun spring camp, not Ni-gun spring camp.

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The Eagles may decide not to sign Ken Kadokura because Hoshino is concerned about his conditioning/stamina.

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Seven members of the 2011 draft class spent time introducing themselves to about 50 fans (they handed out business cards) at Sendai NAVIC in Aoba-ku, Sendai on Monday.

The first block of training camp for the 2011 draft class ended on Saturday.  Workouts lasted about five hours and included warmups, fielding practice, playing catch, BP, and lower body strengthening exercises.  2nd round draft pick Yoshinao Kamata told reporters that he planned to stretch his arm out a little more during the next block by increasing the distance when he plays catch.

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Ikusei pitcher Kengo Kimura worked out at Kleenex Stadium on Friday.  His workouts included running, stretching, playing catch, and fielding practice.  Kimura has been working out at Kleenex Stadium since 1/10.

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Manabu Mima is currently working out with Daiki Enokida (HAN) at the Tokyo Gas training facilities.

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Kazuo Matsui is using an iPad 2 to check on his batting mechanics (the team handed them out in May last year).