Yomiuri Giants vs Rakuten Eagles @ Kleenex Stadium - 18:00
Starters: Houlton, Dennis (YOM) 4-1, 3.60 - Mima, Manabu (RAK) 4-2, 4.26

Nippon Ham Fighters

1st round draft pick Shohei Otani could make his debut as a pitcher/hitter either against Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome (June 5, 6) or Yakult at Jingu (June 8, 9).  If/when he does, he will most likely bat seventh in the line-up.

Source: Sports Hochi 5/22/2013

Otani threw twenty-four pitches in the bullpen today at Sapporo Dome.

Source: Sports Hochi 5/22/2013

Seibu Lions

According to Sponichi, the San Diego Padres may have an interest in Kazuhisa Makita.  Makita has said in the past that if given the opportunity, would like a shot to pitch in the Majors at some point in the future.

Source: Sponichi 5/22/2013

Softbank Hawks

Shota Takeda was taken off the active roster today to get extra work at Ni-gun.  Vicente Padilla will most likely get his start on the 26th against Yakult at Jingu.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/22/2013, Nikkan Sports 5/22/2013

Rakuten Eagles

In ten starts against pitchers born in 1988 (his birth year), Masahiro Tanaka is 9-0.

Source: Sanspo 5/22/2013

Orix Buffaloes

If 1st round draft pick Takahiro Matsuba continues to pitch well, the Buffaloes may release some merchandise with his name on it.

Source: Sanspo 5/22/2013

Yomiuri Giants vs Rakuten Eagles @ Kleenex Stadium - 18:00
Starters: Sawamura, Hirokazu (YOM) 2-2, 3.57 - Tanaka, Masahiro (RAK) 6-0, 2.08

Attendance: 21354 | Time: 2h54m | Rakuten leads series, 1-0-0

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Nippon Ham Fighters

Brian Wolfe threw thirty-five pitches in the bullpen on Tuesday.  He told reporters he was back to about eighty percent and would work on the remaining twenty percent by taking things day-by-day.

Source: Daily Sports 5/21/2013

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1st round draft pick Shohei Otani threw thirty-two pitches off the mound at Sapporo Dome on Monday before moving to the bullpen to throw another fifty-six pitches.  He is slated to make the first start of his Ichi-gun career on the 23rd against Yakult at Sapporo Dome.

Otani has not played in any Ichi-gun games since he started a Ni-gun game against Seibu on the 16th.

Source: Sanspo 5/21/2013

Sponichi adds that Otani threw twelve pitches to a standing catcher and twenty pitches to a squatting catcher when testing the mound at Sapporo Dome on Monday.

Source: Sponichi 5/21/2013

The media learned on Monday that the Fighters will not nominate Otani for the Fresh All-Star Game because they consider him an Ichi-gun player and as such, feel he should only focus on the Ichi-gun All-Star Game.

Source: Sponichi 5/21/2013

Seibu Lions

Ryoma Nogami threw thirty pitches in the bullpen on Tuesday (about ten fewer than usual).  He is scheduled to start a game against Hiroshima on the 23rd.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/21/2013

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At about forty pitches, Yusei Kikuchi threw about ten more pitches than usual during his pre-game bullpen session on Monday.

Source: Sanspo 5/21/2013

Softbank Hawks

The Hawks recorded ten or more runs in two consecutive games -- twelve runs on May 19 and ten runs on the 20.  The last time they managed a similar feat was in 2010 when they scored fourteen runs on July 31 and twelve runs on August 1.

Source: Sponichi 5/21/2013

Rakuten Eagles

Scouts from the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers are expected to attend Wednesday's game against Yomiuri at Kleenex Stadium.

Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to start for the Eagles, Hirokazu Sawamura for the Giants.

Source: Daily Sports 5/21/2013

Chiba Lotte Marines

Seth Greisinger was taken off the active roster on Tuesday with tightness in his right shoulder.  Kazunari Abe is scheduled to take Greisinger's next start on Wednesday against Hanshin.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/21/2013

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Yuji Nishino struck out twelve batters in 8.1 innings of work on Monday and became the first pitcher taken during the Ikusei draft to record ten or more strikeouts in a game.

Source: Sponichi 5/21/2013

Yakult Swallows vs Rakuten Eagles @ Kleenex Stadium - 18:00
Starters: Muranaka, Kyohei (YAK) 3-2, 2.81 - Tomura, Kenji (RAK)

Attendance: 15199 | Time: 2h59m | Rakuten leads series, 2-0-0

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Seibu Lions

Hideaki Wakui will reportedly head to the bullpen after another rough start on Sunday.

Source: Sanspo 5/19/2013

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A forty-one-year-old man was arrested after allegedly hitting a thirty-four-year-old man in the right side of the face in the bathroom on the first base side at Seibu Dome at around 3:00pm on Sunday.  A game was in progress.  Both men were reportedly Hanshin fans.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/19/2013

Softbank Hawks

Toru Hosokawa jammed his right thumb during Kazuhiro Wada's at bat in the top of the 5th inning of Sunday's game against Chunichi.  He was later replaced by a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 5th and taken to a hospital in Fukuoka for an examination.  No serious damage was found.

Hosokawa also jammed his right pinky in the 3rd inning.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/19/2013

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Hiroyuki Kawahara will be sent back down to Ni-gun for more work.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/19/2013

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Vicente Padilla joined the Ichi-gun team for workouts on Sunday.  He will start Monday's game against Chunichi at YafuOku Dome.

Kenji Otonari is scheduled to start Thursday's (May 23) game against Yokohama at YafuOku Dome.

Source: Sponichi 5/19/2013

Rakuten Eagles

Takashi Saito was examined at a hospital in Sendai on Sunday.  Tests came back negative for muscle damage or bleeding.

Source: Sponichi 5/19/2013

Yakult Swallows vs Rakuten Eagles @ Kleenex Stadium - 18:00
Starters: Yagi, Ryosuke (YAK) 1-2, 2.44 - Nagai, Satoshi (RAK) 0-0, 3.72

Attendance: 13171 | Time: 3h43m | Rakuten leads series, 1-0-0

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Nippon Ham Fighters

The Fighters announced a number of giveaways for 1st round draft pick Shohei Otani's debut starting pitcher game on the 23rd against the Yakult Swallows:

- An Otani clear folder to the first 30,000 fans
- Certificate of attendance to the first 35,000 fans
- Randomly selected fan club members could win ball autographed by Otani (two), or an Otani poster (390)
- Otani pin badge to fan club members

Source: official announcement

Softbank Hawks

Kenji Akashi was taken off the active roster on Saturday because of poor performance: 15 G, 3-for-29, 6 SO, .103/.161/.103

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/18/2013

Rakuten Eagles

Takashi Saito felt discomfort in his left hamstring during a bullpen session on the 17th and was removed from the active roster on Saturday. He will be examined at a hospital.

Source: Sponichi 5/18/2013

Rakuten Eagles vs Chunichi Dragons @ Nagoya Dome - 14:00
Starters: Norimoto, Takahiro (RAK) 3-2, 2.89 - Bradley Bergesen (CHU) 2-1, 4.28

Attendance: 26824 | Time: 2h57m | Chunichi leads series, 2-0-0

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Nippon Ham Fighters

If 1st round draft pick Shohei Otani makes it into one Ichi-gun game as both a pitcher and a position player this season, he will be the first to do so since Yozo Nagabuchi in 1968.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/17/2013

Otani worked out at Kamagaya today -- did some running, played some catch, weight training.  He told reporters he felt a little tightness in his right shoulder, but was otherwise ok.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/17/2013

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Brian Wolfe did some light workouts (played some catch, did some running) at the indoor training facilities in Sapporo on Thursday.  It was his first day back after spending the last ten days resting and recovering from sinusitis.

Wolfe will get checked out again on the 21st.  If he gets the green light, he will slowly begin to ramp up his training.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/17/2013

Seibu Lions

Thursday's Ni-gun game against Nippon Ham:

Fumikazu Kimura (former pitcher turned outfielder) started at short and batted first.  He went 2-for-3: HR8, K, HR7, BB, BB.  Both home runs came off Shohei Otani.  Source: Sanspo 5/17/2013

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Atsushi Okamoto is planning to file marriage papers with his fiance later this month on his birthday (May 20).

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

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Cerberus Capital Management has decided to extend their tender offer period until May 31 in the hopes of reaching their 44.7 percent target.

Source: Reuters 5/16/2013

Softbank Hawks

1st round draft pick Nao Higashihama wants to throw a harder fastball and is currently working on strengthening his trunk muscles and lower body.  He is scheduled to start a Ni-gun game against Orix on the 19th.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/17/2013

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Koji Akiyama took thirty swings during batting practice on Thursday.

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

Rakuten Eagles

Masahiro Tanaka has started one game on five days of rest, four games on six days of rest, and one game on seven days of rest so far this season.  Beginning with his last start on the 14th (vs Yokohama), all his starts through to June 1 (vs Yokohama at Kleenex) will likely be on five days of rest.  Depending on his level of fatigue, his next start after June 1 could come on four days of rest on June 6 (vs Yakult at Jingu).

Over his career, Tanaka has pitched in twenty-six games on five or fewer days of rest.  Of those twenty-six, twenty-four has been as a starting pitcher.  Of the twenty-six, twenty-five have been on five days of rest.  He is 12-5 with one save in those twenty-five games.

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

Chiba Lotte Marines

The Marines are 10-0 when they use five or more pitchers in a game and 13-15 when using four or less.

Of the ten games they have won when using five or more pitchers, eight have been come-from-behind victories.

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013