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The team had the day off on Monday.

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1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi visited dolphins near the team hotel on his day off on Monday.

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Ichi-gun pitching coach Hiroshi Gondo visited Ni-gun spring camp today.

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Special instructor Tatsuro Hirooka spent about forty minutes working with Masahiro Araki and Masahiko Morino on their throwing movements before practices today.

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Morimichi Takagi spent about twenty minutes hitting seventy baseballs to Ryoji Nakata at third base from a distance of about fifteen meters on Thursday.  Takagi also had Victor Diaz swing a bat while sitting in a chair (to help correct a slight upper-cut in his swing).

=== UPDATE 2/4 @ 1:37am

Takagi attended a welcoming party hosted by Chunichi Dragons Chatan Organization after practices on Friday.  About 200 people attended the event.

Masahiro Yamamoto threw about 30 pitches in the bullpen at Nagoya Stadium today (half-bent catcher).

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Takeshi Yamasaki returned from his workouts in Hawaii today and told reporters that he did not take a single day off and did things like run 30 kilometers a day.

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Masahiko Morino has not felt any discomfort in his right shoulder and recently said to reporters, "It has been a while since I have been able to swing the bat at this time of year without any problems."

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Takuya Asao tossed 75 pitches to Atsushi Fujii, Keiji Oyama, and Kei Nomoto during BP on Thursday.

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Daiki Yoshikawa worked out side-by-side with 1st round draft pick Shuhei Takahashi at Nagoya Stadium today.  The two also stayed back after practices in order to take BP in the cages.

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Morimichi Takagi plans to take a close look at his players during the first block of spring camp and will then shuttle players between Ichi-gun and Ni-gun camps, depending on their performances, beginning in the second block of spring camp.  Takagi also hopes to narrow players at Ichi-gun camp down to about 30 by late February (from 41).

A group of Dragons visited Inuyama Naritasan in Aichi today and spent about 30 minutes praying for a successful season.  They also spent some time signing autographs after their prayers.

The group included team officials, Morimichi Takagi, Kazuki Yoshimi, Takehiro Donoue, and Naomichi Donoue.

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Masahiro Yamamoto worked out at World Wing (gym) in Tottori today.  Yamomoto, making his way back from right ankle surgery in September 2011, told reporters that his training was going well and that he had no problems throwing the ball.

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Yoshimi told reporters on Sunday that he is prepared to compete for the opening day start.

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Hitoki Iwase's career ERA is currently 2.02.  He told reporters on Sunday that he would like to try and drop that under 2.00 this season.  But more importantly, he wants to play out a full season (which also means remaining healthy and pitching well the entire season) and is beginning to wonder how much gas he has left in the tank.  Iwase is in the final year of a four year deal.

FYI: there are only four pitchers that have ERAs under 2.00 and 500 or more appearances: Kyuji Fujikawa (515 G, 644.2 IP, 1.80 ERA), Jiro Noguchi (517 G, 3447.1 IP, 1.96 ERA), Kazuhisa Inao (756 G, 3599.0 IP, 1.98 ERA), and Tadashi Wakabayashi (528 G, 3557.1 IP, 1.99 ERA).

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Takagi took the field during practices at Nagoya Stadium on Sunday in order to address the fans over the PA system.  He also had Hidenori address the crowd after practices.

Morimichi Takagi appeared on a TV program on Sunday and said he might consider naming Masahiro Yamamoto (46) as the opening day starter (dependent on his condition during spring camp).  Takagi has already informed Yamamoto of the possibility.

He also said that he could put Hirokazu Ibata back at short if Masahiro Araki is ok with returning to second (no need to force them into sticking with the position change); and he plans to have every player on the roster workout together on the first day of spring camp so that he can see what is available.

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Opening Day Starters in their 40's (via Sponichi)

1949, Hanshin, Tadashi Wakabayashi, 41 years and 1 month

1990, Lotte, Choji Murata, 40 years and 4 months

1995, Orix, Yoshinori Sato, 40 years and 6 months

1998, Hiroshima, Yutaka Ono, 42 years and 7 months

If Yamamoto gets the opening day start, he will become the oldest pitcher, at 46 years and 7 months, to get an opening day start.  If he gets the win, he will become just the second player in their 40s to record an opening day victory (the other is Murata).

The media learned on Friday that 46-year-old Masahiro Yamamoto will have surgery on his right ankle (peroneal tendon) on the 27th.  Yamamoto hurt his ankle during spring camp and never managed to recover properly.  While Yamamato has said he isn't sure about pitching next season, the fact that he's getting the surgery now would seem to indicate that he has at least some interest.

UPDATE 9/28 @ 2:36pm - Yamamoto had surgery on his right ankle in a Nagoya hospital on Tuesday.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

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The Dragons have the day off today.

===== 2/21 @ 10:51pm

Kenta Asakura worked out on his day off today (practice included 30 minutes of catch).  When the media tried to approach Asakura, he turned them away by suggesting that they also take the day off.

Asakura is currently scheduled to pitch against the Hanwha Eagles tomorrow.

===== 2/21 @ 9:08pm

Wei-Ying Chen worked out on his day off today -- he spent some time in the weight room.

Chen - "I really can't do any practicing right now.  I don't really want to think about it.  I just need to do whatever I can and get back to being able to throw as soon as possible."

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The Dragons announced today that actress Emi Takei will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Nagoya Dome on Opening Day (3/25).

===== 2/21 @ 2:33pm

Kazuki Yoshimi told reporters that he's still holding out on hope that he'll be ready for opening day.

Yoshimi - "I think it's only natural to shoot for opening day if you have even just 1% of a chance.  I'm planning on pitching in the bullpen during the next block of camp.  Once I do that, I'll have a better idea of what I need to work on.  I can't say things have gone according to plan, but I am making progress."

Yoshimi is making his way back from right elbow surgery.

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Masahiro Yamamoto played catch (about 30 tosses) at a max distance of about 50 meters yesterday.  Since the field was wet, he played catch in the parking lot.  He later told reporters that he wouldn't toss any bullpen sessions until he has had a chance to run some sprints and do some long tosses.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

===== 2/8 @ 11:25pm

Maximo Nelson faced 6 batters during situational BP today and struck out 4 batters (3 of which came in a row).  His fastball also topped out at 149km/h.

===== 2/8 @ 10:16pm

Wei-Ying Chen threw 173 pitches in the bullpen in the morning (primarily fastballs) and 30 pitches in the afternoon (standing catcher).  In between the two sessions, he did long some toss.

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Daiki Yoshikawa (2nd round) took part situational BP today and struck out looking in his first AB and walked in his second AB.

===== 2/8 @ 3:05pm

Hirokazu Ibata invited Yohei Oshima to work out with him on the team's day off yesterday.  They started things off with about 30 minutes of running and stretching.  Ibata then spent about 40 minutes in the batting cages.

Said Ibata, "I decided I would do this before the start of camp.  There are a couple of things I'm looking to change.  And I feel if I take the day off, my body will forget.  This year, I want to pull the ball.  I was too stiff last year.  I want to take an easier approach to hitting the year, keep things simple."

Ibata also asid that he planned to work out during the team's next day off as well.

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Masahiro Yamamoto played some catch (at a distance of about 20 meters) on the team's day off yesterday.

Said Yamamoto, "It's all better now.  I couldn't walk 4 days ago.  If you consider that, I've come a long way."

During practice today, he also started jogging a little (between the outfield poles, for about 40 minutes).

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A Curry House Coco Ichi-ban will be opening up at Nagoya Dome on 2/12.  During night games, the curry restaurant will open at noon and close when the game ends.

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Nikkan Sports has the following comments from Joel Guzman (taken yesterday):

The first block of spring camp in Japan is over, a tough 6 day work schedule.  Your thoughts?

It's just an amazing amount of practicing.  I heard about how tough practices were before coming to Japan, but it was even more than that.  Every player on this team, works really hard during practice in order to win.

During a game of situational BP, you managed to collect 2 hits.  They say you've got good bat speed.

Really?  I think Tony Blanco has better bat speed than me.  I have a bigger body, but I don't take big cuts.  If you swing too hard, you won't get good results.  It isn't about using all your power, it's about trying to relax your entire body while swing the bat.

You went to the US after signing a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers when you were 16.  People in the Dominican Republic talk about how great a player you are, why did you decide to come to Japan?

I actually knew that the level of play in Japan was pretty high from before.  When I played for Tampa I faced [Daisuke] Matsuzaka.  I ended up striking out swinging and grounding out to short.  I was surprised at how many off-speed pitches he had.  I've also faced [Kei] Igawa at triple-A.  And there's nothing more I can say about the way Ichiro plays.  It was because of him that I have such a good image of Japanese baseball.  The Dragons have been talking to me over the last 3-4 years.  But I had my contract and then I decided to try playing in Japan.

Why couldn't you make it in the US?

Because I was still a kid back then.  I didn't have any experience.  I had potential and confidence, but that wasn't enough.  Now, I have experience under my best.  I spent 10 years in the US and I learned discipline through playing baseball.  When I played for the Dodgers, Mariano Duncan said to me, "Keep things simple.  Stay true to yourself."  I still remember those words.

Discipline fits well with Japanese baseball and Hiromitsu Ochiai's style.

I suppose.  I'm 26, but there are players like 38-year-old [Kazuhiro] Wada and 40-year-old [Motonobu] Tanishige that practice really hard.  And watching them gets me going.  If I see them working hard, it makes me feel like I have to do more.

Has Ochiai said anything to you specifically?

Since the start of camp, Ochiai did tell me to be careful about getting hurt during camp.  He also asked that I prepare myself for the start of opening day.  Bottom line, I'm ready to play baseball in Japan for a long time.  I'll do my best to help win a championship.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

=== 9:11pm

Wei-Ying Chen made an appearance during BP today and tossed 53 pitches.

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Yudai Ono (1st round) continues to take things slow as he makes his way back from left shoulder problems.  Ono still has not been able to play catch at full strength and is still only throwing at a max distance of about 20 meters.

Ono has been working out Kazuki Yoshimi and Akifumi Takahashi at Ni-gun.

=== 4:04pm

Hitoki Iwase threw 47 pitches during BP today; he faced Motonobu Tanishige and Kazuhiro Wada.

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Masahiro Yamamoto worked out under a separate training menu (for about 1.5 hours) today.  He told reporters that he felt fine and that he felt no pain in his right ankle if he didn't apply to much pressure on it.

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Hiromitsu Ochiai made the pitchers run yesterday.

After borrowing a stopwatch from the training coach, Ochiai spoke to individual pitchers to set times for how it would take them to run an 800 meter.  If the pitchers failed to make it in in the time that was designated, they'd have to do it over.  Ochiai had each pitcher run three timed 800 meters.  Out of all the pitchers, Wei-Ying Chen was the only one that actually had to do a run over.

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Daiki Yoshikawa (2nd round) was placed into the same group as Hirokazu Ibata after being in the same group as Keiji Oyama and Akihiro Maeda.  The Dragons want Yoshikawa to watch and learn from Ibata.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

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Masahiro Yamamoto hurt his right ankle today and called it a day after morning practice -- it appears he tweaked his ankle while fielding bunts.  Yamamoto did not go to the hospital and will instead by observed by the team.  He told reporters it was nothing serious.

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Takuya Asao pitched BP today; he threw 56 pitches to Masahiko Morino and Atsushi Fujii and later told reporters that he was glad he was able throw the ball for strikes and that he focused on his control.  Moving forward, Asao said that he wanted to continue polishing his fastball (over the second and third block of spring camp).

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Maximo Nelson threw 44 pitches to Atsushi Fujii and Takehiro Donoue during BP and gave up 2 could-be hits while topping out at 147km/h yesterday.  It seems Nelson is the lone pitcher on the Dragons' roster that has tossed a bullpen session four straight days (he started working out in Okinawa on his own the 27th).  And it seems he also worked a lot with the new NPB baseball during the off-season (he took home 24 of them).

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Hiromitsu Ochiai gave Kazuhiro Wada some hitting tips during BP yesterday (Wada went from an open stance to a square stance).