Michihiro Ogasawara was taken off the active roster today with a left hamstring strain.

Ogasawara complained of discomfort in his left leg during practices on Wednesday and was later examined at a hospital where he was diagnosed with a minor hamstring strain.

John Bowker took grounders at first base on Friday.

"We expect Bowker to be able to play the outfield and first base.  We went over signs and he did a good job. ... That he can handle two positions is a big plus," said Tatsunori Hara.

Hara is also thinking about trying other players out at different players during exhibition play, like Yoshihito Ishii at second and Daisuke Fujimura at short.

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Michihiro Ogasawara and Yoshinobu Takahashi stayed back after general workouts on Friday for about fifty minutes of extra batting practice.

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Today was the end of the first block of spring camp for the Ichi-gun Giants.  The team has the day off tomorrow.

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The Giants attracted 18,000 fans on Saturday.

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Hirokazu Sawamura tossed batting practice today (only fastballs) and said his goal for the session was to throw at 50-60%.

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Shuichi Murata stayed back after general practices today and spent fifty minutes taking about 500 swings against a pitching machine.

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Yi-Hao Lin faced Yoshiyuki Kamei and Tetsuya Matsumoto during batting practice on Saturday and threw fifty-one pitches (all fastballs).  Kamei and Matsumoto combined to make solid contact just four times.

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Scott Mathieson is scheduled to pitch in an intra-squad game on February 16.

Giants Eye in Miyazaki: The Giants announced today that they will be setting up cameras in Sun Marine Stadium, Himuka Stadium, Konohana Dome, and in the bullpens at Miyazaki Sports Park during spring camp and will be feeding the footage to the big screens located in Ballpark G.

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The players closed out their early training camp in Miyazaki today.

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Team rep/GM Atsushi Harasawa observed players working out in Miyazaki today.

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Michihiro Ogasawara signed some autographs after staying back for extra batting practice today.

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Yoshinobu Takahashi was excused from practices today because he was still not feeling well.  Takahashi first missed practices on Saturday and managed to get through most of the workouts on Sunday.  Team officials are telling reporters it is not serious (no fever, but headaches and a sore throat).

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Levi Romero arrived in Japan on Sunday.

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When Shinnosuke Abe approached Shuichi Murata for advice on Taishi Ota's hitting mechanics on Sunday, Muarata replied, "[Ota] has a tendency to lunge forward so it might be better if he relaxes more when he starts his swing."

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Bullpen sessions:

Monday

Hirokazu Sawamura tossed 34 pitches, including his slider.  He later told reporters he was throwing at about 60-70%.

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Tetsuya Utsumi threw 49 pitches to a squatting catcher.

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Toshiya Suiguchi threw 28 pitches, including his slider, to a squatting catcher.  This was his third bullpen session in as many days (but the first time he threw to a squatting catcher).

Michihiro Ogasawara, Kazunari Sanematsu, Daijiro Tanaka, and bullpen catcher Jun Mochimatsu headed to Miyazaki out of Haneda Airport today.

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The Giants held a press conference for Takayuki Takaguchi today (compensation for losing Saburo Omatsu to the Chiba Lotte Mairnes).  He was assigned the number 53.

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Yoshinobu Takahashi has been working out at Okinawa Cellular Stadium Naha since Tuesday.  Takahashi had been using a facility in Onna, Okinawa since 2007, but decided to change locations this year.

Said Takahashi, "They have indoor training facilities so I can practice even if it rains.  They also have a pitching machine.  The facilities here are really good so it means there is more I can do."

Daisuke Nakai and Tomoya Inzen are also working out along with Takahashi.  The group will continue to use Cellular Stadium through to 1/20.

The three of them, plus BP pitcher Ryosuke Onuki, took the day off today and played some golf.

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1st round draft pick Ryuya Matsumoto and 3rd round draft pick Ryuji Ichioka visited Shinjuku on their day off on Wednesday.

Michihiro Ogasawara was taken off the active roster today he underwent a second examination on his left wrist today and was diagnosed with an avulsion fracture.  Ogasawara could end up missing over a month.

Michihiro Ogasawara was hit by a pitch on his left wrist in the 5th inning of tonight's game against the Hanshin Tigers (Minoru Iwata on the mound) and immediately removed from the game.  He was later taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a contusion.  The Giants will decide on what to do next after seeing how Ogasawara is feeling tomorrow.

Dicky Gonzalez injured his right calf while backing-up a play in the 6th inning -- Sekimoto hit a single to center and Chono made a bad throw back into the infield and Gonzalez was in the process of going after the ball when he apparently tweaked his calf.  Gonzalez was removed from the game after the play and received treatment in the clubhouse.  He is currently scheduled to get the leg check out at a hospital tomorrow.  UPDATE 8/24 @ 12:16am - It seems the Giants already know the injury isn't minor and could sideline him for a prolonged amount of time.  UPDATE 8/24 @ 6:58am - Gonzalez will probably be taken off the active roster today.

Michihiro Ogasawara was hit by a pitch on his left leg (above the calf) during his second at bat in the 3rd inning of tonight's game.  Ogasawara had to be helped off the field and was promptly removed from the game.  After getting some treatment for the leg (icing), Ogasawara was seen leaving the stadium (partway through the game) using crutches.

Said Tatsunori Hara, "While we need to wait a little before we know what's wrong, I'm concerned it might not be minor."

UPDATE 5/14 @ 2:09pm - Ogasawara was taken off the active roster today. The Giants also announced that Ogasawara might require around 2 weeks for a full recovery (no damage was found in the bones).

Michihiro Ogasawara recorded his 2,000 career hit in the 8th inning of today's game against the Hanshin Tigers.

With the bases empty and Hiroyuki Kobayashi on the mound for Hanshin, Ogasawara lined a single back up the box (almost hitting Kobayashi) for his 2,000th career hit.  Ogasawara had gone 0-for-3 (fly out to short, strikeout looking, DP) in his first three trips to the plate.

Ogasawara is the 38th player in NPB history to achieve the milestone and the fourth quickest player at 1,736 games.

1st hit: 5/10/1997 off Takehiro Ishii (SEI)

1,000th hit: 7/24/2004 off Dae-Sung Koo (ORI) in 862nd game

1,500th hit: 9/15/2007 off Michito Miyazaki (HIR) in 1,288th game

2,000th hit: 5/5/2011 off Hiroyuki Kobayashi (HAN) in 1,736th game

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Daily Sports has posted comments from Ogasawara:

You got your 2,000th hit...

I've been struggling lately so I'm really grateful to the manager for using me, my teammates, and the staff.

What were your thoughts after you got down to 1 hit?

It was on my mind.  It isn't often so many cameras show up, so it naturally took over my mind.

What were you think when you got up to bat in the 8th?

We were down by one, so I was thinking about a hit, but I just wanted to get on base.  I'm glad I was able to make good contact.

How did it feel when you made contact?

I felt I made good contact.  When I saw the ball go between the second baseman and the shortstop, I confirmed my thinking.

It seems you shouted out "Yes!" at that time.

It was just part of the situation.  I was glad to get on base.  I also heard a breath of relief from everyone in the stadium and all of that sort of snowballed into me shouting.

The crowd when wild when you got the milestone hit.

I made me happy that it wasn't just the Giants' fans, but also the Hanshin fans that were cheering and clapping.  That made me realize how big [2,000 hits] was.

You are the 4th quickest to achieve the milestone.

I'm sure it's fast, but things have been slow for me this year.  It isn't like they'll let me get hits easily since we're all competing to win, so to be the 4th quickest means I must have done things right up to now.

What were the most memorable hits?

I guess my first hit and my 2,000th hit.

You achieved it in your 15th year.

I didn't get to this number all by myself.  I'm very grateful to all my coaches / instructors, teammates, and staff.

Your also closing in on 400 [homers] as well.

I'll give it a shot, but I'm still a bit a ways from that.  I just want to hit as many home runs I can that helps lead the team to a victory.

Tatsunori Hara told reporters today that he decided to make Michihiro Ogasawara temporary team captain while Shinnosuke Abe recovers from his right calf injury.