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Kei Igawa may not able to ready to return to the active roster until some time in April.  He is currently hoping to pitch in his first game of the year in mid-March.

Igawa could toss another bullpen on the 11th.

Source: Sports Hochi 2/10/2013, Sponichi 2/10/2013

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6th round draft pick Ryo Toda is working out separately from the main Ni-gun team because of inflammation in his right elbow.

Source: Sponichi 2/10/2013

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Yoshio Itoi started feeling tightness in his left hamstring during fielding practice today and later cut his workouts short.

Source: Sports Hochi 2/5/2013, Daily Sports 2/5/2013

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Hiroshi Moriwaki worked directly with Keiichi Hirano around second base for about an hour and a half today.

Source: Sanspo 2/5/2013

Moriwaki has not been happy with Ryoichi Adachi's performance so far during spring camp and could swap him out with Mitsutaka Goto (once he is ready).

Source: Sponichi 2/5/2013

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Kei Igawa has been riding a bike to the stadium during spring camp (roughly ten kilometers at about thirty minutes one way).

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/5/2013

Igawa rented a standard bike from the team hotel on the 2nd.  He started borrowing a road bike from a local fan on the 3rd.

Igawa is planning to toss his first bullpen session (standing catcher) on the 7th.

Source: Sanspo 2/5/2013, Nikkan Sports 2/5/2013, Daily Sports 2/5/2013

The media learned today that Kei Igawa had left elbow cleaned out at a hospital in Osaka on Tuesday.  According to the team trainer, Igawa will require about three months until he is ready to pitch again and should be fine for spring camp next year.  Source: Nikkan Sports 10/31/2012

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UPDATE 11/1 @ 9:55am - Igawa was released from the hospital on Wednesday and will begin his rehab when his stitches are removed in about a week.  Source: Sponichi 11/1/2012

Kei Igawa spent about three hours working on his upper body today.  When he spoke to reporters, he hinted that the tightness that developed in his right hamstring during his start on Wednesday may have been because he forgot to bring a sports drink with him.

"I messed up yesterday.  I usually carry water and a sports drink with me, but I forgot the sports drink. ... When I make my next appearance, I want to do better than I did yesterday.  I do not feel any pain now.  It feels more like discomfort," said Igawa.

Pitching coach Motoyuki Akahori added, "I do not think [the injury] is serious.  We will monitor how he does over the next two to three days and go from there."

Via Daily Sports

UPDATE @ 8:24pm - A slightly different Igawa quote from Nikkan Sports: "I still feel a little discomfort, but there is no pain.  Now that I think of it, I usually have a sports drink and water, but yesterday, I just had water.  Maybe that was the problem."

Kei Igawa started tonight's game against the Softbank Hawks, his first in Japan since October 16, 2006, and left early after feeling pain/discomfort in his right hamstring.

Igawa gave up a run in the 3rd inning after retiring the first six batters he faced in a row.  He retired the first two batters he faced in the 4th inning before grabbing his right hamstring.  Igawa was removed from the game at that point and treated in the clubhouse.

UPDATE @ 11:19pm - Igawa will likely be sent down to Ni-gun to get in a little more work.  He told reporters he may have rushed things a bit.  At this point, it seems Igawa just developed some tightness, but the team will not know for sure until they re-evaluate him again on Thursday or Friday.

Nikkan Sports reports that Kei Igawa could make his first Ichi-gun start of the year during the upcoming Softbank Hawks series (May 8-10).

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Minor League Starts

Akinobu Okada told reporters after Friday's season opener that he was okay with Alfredo Figaro's performance (loss, three runs over five innings) and that it would have been far worse if the team lost with Chihiro Kaneko on the mound.

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Dae-Ho Lee flied out to third in foul territory in his first official NPB at bat.  He recorded a walk in his second at bat and picked up his first career NPB hit and RBI with an RBI single to center in the 6th inning.  Lee struck out swinging in his final at bat in the 9th.

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Kei Igawa will join and workout with a portion of the Ni-gun team on March 31 and join the main Ni-gun squad on April 3.  Okada told reporters that Igawa will likely have to pitch in at least one Ni-gun game before getting a call-up to the active roster.

Nikkan Sports posted the following Q&A taken during Kei Igawa's press conference on March 28:

Why did you pick Orix?

[Akinobu] Okada was the manager that saw me off when I left for the US.  A part of me wanted to continue my career in the US, but I thought it best to play under Okada, my mentor/coach.

It has been a while since you last pitched in Japan...

I have not watched any Japanese baseball games so I am a little worried, but the basics are the same.

What are your thoughts on the five years you spent in the US?

I did not have many chances to pitch at the top, but I did experience a lot of things in the [minors].  I feel I was able to improve [my game].

What specifically changed?

Over there, there were times when you are told to start games an hour before first pitch.  Being able to pitch well in those kinds of circumstances is big.

What about your feel for the game?

I have not faced any batters this year.  I think I can at least toss some batting practice at this stage.  The rest my take a little more time.

What about personal goals [for the season]?

I have not set any.  I just want to make it to the active roster as soon as possible and help the team win.

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Tuesday's Ni-gun game against the Hanshin Tigers (Buffaloes 5 - Tigers 0): Hayato Terahara started the game and did not allow a run or a hit over two innings of work.  He also topped out at 145km/h. [Sponichi]

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Akinobu Okada does not plan on having Kei Igawa pitch right away and will instead have him continue his workouts until he is ready.

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Chihiro Kaneko was left off the 2012 Opening Day Roster.  Alfredo Figaro and Hayato Terahara are possible candidates to start on opening day.

As mentioned by Carter in a comment posted earlier this morning, and now confirmed by multiple additional online sources (like Sanspo, Sponichi, Nikkan Sports, and Daily Sports), the Orix Buffaloes are expected to make an announcement later today that they managed to sign Kei Igawa.

The Sponichi report adds that Igawa's agent, Toru Mihara, arrived in Japan on March 23 and has been conducting negotiations with a team (or teams) in Japan.

UPDATE @ 2:36pm - Via Daily Sports, Igawa posted an update to his blog from Osaka that mentions how Akinobu Okada played a large part in his decision to sign with the Orix Buffaloes.

UPDATE @ 4:05pm - The Buffaloes held a press conference to announce the addition of Igawa.  He was also assigned the number 29.

UPDATE 3/29 @ 4:38am - Igawa got a two year deal worth a total 200M yen plus incentives.