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Ryota Wakiya worked out with the Ichi-gun team today for the first time since November 2011.

Source: Sanspo 2/7/2013

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Scott Mathieson hurt his left side during workouts today.  He was later taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a strain in his left abdominal internal oblique muscle.  He will head to Ni-gun camp for rehab on Friday.

Source: Sanspo 2/7/2013

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Hayato Sakamoto had to ease up on his workouts today because he felt some discomfort in his right knee during warm-ups.

Source: Daily Sports 2/7/2013

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There is a chance Tetsuya Utsumi and Toshiya Sugiuchi will face off against each other as starters during an intra-squad game on the 11th.  Shinnosuke Abe, Shuichi Murata, Hisayoshi Chono, Hayato Sakamoto, Tetsuya Yamaguchi, and Hirokazu Sawamura are also slated to play.  They will not be bunched together on one team.

Shigeo Nagashima and Koji Yamamoto are scheduled to at the game.

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/7/2013

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1st round draft pick Tomoyuki Sugano could start an exhibition game against Hanshin at Koshien on March 10.

Source: Daily Sports 2/7/2013

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The Giants asked players to stay away from the ocean on Wednesday because of the tsunami warnings.

Source: Daily Sports 2/7/2013

Scott Mathieson was taken off the active roster on July 27 because of discomfort in his right elbow.  He was evaluated at a hospital in Tokyo on Saturday and was told he would miss about a month and a half.  Unsatisfied with the diagnosis, he told team officials he wanted another evaluation.

The Giants announced today that Mathieson left Japan for the US in order to get a second opinion.  He is also slated to return on August 12.

Source: Nikkan Sports 8/7/2012, Sponichi 8/7/2012

Yakult Swallows

Tony Barnette did not participate in pre-game practices today and he is not available to pitch tonight -- his lower back is barking and it seems it might be a while before he is ready to pitch again.  The Swallows will most likely take Barnette off the active roster on Saturday.  Source: Nikkan Sports 7/27/2012, Sponichi 7/27/2012

Yomiuri Giants

Scott Mathieson was taken off the active roster today because of discomfort in his right elbow (not for extra work at Ni-gun as earlier mentioned).  The Giants will monitor Mathieson over the next ten days before deciding what steps to take.  Source: Sponichi 7/27/2012

Pitching coach Kazuhisa Kawaguchi guessed Mathieson could miss about a month (wait for the pain to go away, re-evaluation, and rehab/re-strengthening).  Source: Daily Sports 7/27/2012

Hiroshima Carp

The Carp took Yoshiyuki Ishihara off the active roster today with a right hamstring injury -- he suffered it during Thursday's game against the Yakult Swallows.  Source: Sponichi 7/27/2012

Scott Mathieson tossed batting practice at Giants Stadium today and did not allow any could-be hits to the nine batters he faced.  Before leaving the stadium, Mathieson told reporters he was going to the airport to pick-up his wife.

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Takao Zaizen was released from the hospital today and visited the Giants' Ni-gun facilities to give the team an update on his condition.  Zaizen showed up with his neck in a brace and said to reporters, "I can walk alright, but I still can not eat very well.  Right now the most important thing is getting my daily life back to normal."

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The Giants suffered their second shutout loss in their fourth game of the season on Tuesday.  The last, and only, time that happened: 1948 (before the two league format).

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The Giants decided to demote Daisuke Fujimura and Tetsuya Matsumoto due to their struggles at the plate.

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Yuya Kubo tossed a bullpen session at Giants Stadium today and could pitch in a Challenge Match game on March 20.

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Shun Tono tossed a bullpen session today for the first time since he felt some tightness in his right shoulder during his last start against the Hiroshima Carp on March 6.  Tono told reporters he felt a little tightness after the session, but no pain.

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Yoshihito Ishii is currently working his way back from lower back pains at Ni-gun.  He kept his workouts light at Giants Stadium today and told reporters that he was feeling much better and a little more rested.

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Scott Mathieson worked out for about two hours at Giants Stadium today (running, bullpen).  Mathieson will most likely 

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D.J. Houlton's next start will likely be against the Seibu Lions at Seibu Dome on March 17.

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The Giants would ideally like to go with a five-man rotation pitching on five days of rest up until the start of Inter-league play instead of a six-man rotation pitching on six days of rest.  In other words, have their best pitchers start as many games as possible to put their team as many games above 500 as possible before the start of Inter-league play.

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Veteran players took part in extra batting practice at Kyocera Dome before tonight's game the Orix Buffaloes.

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D.J. Houlton tossed some live batting practice today and appears to be closer to being ready to pitch again after taking a batted ball off his right hand during an exhibition game against the Seibu Lions on March 4.

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Shun Tono was scratched for an exhibition game start against Chunichi on March 15.  Ryosuke Miyaguni was supposed to start a Kyoiku League game against Seibu today but will instead take Tono's start on the the 15th.  The Giants will test Miyaguni's stamina by having his toss about eighty pitches.  Depending on how the start goes, he could win himself a chance to pitch in the season opener against the Yakult Swallows (at Tokyo Dome).

Scott Mathieson is also a candidate for the starting rotation.

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Tono told reporters that he was not too concerned about the tightness in his right shoulder and that he was going to be ready for the start of the season.  He worked out at Giants Stadium with Tetsuya Utsumi, Toshiya Sugiuchi, and Hirokazu Sawamura on Monday.

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Shuichi Murata and Kazunari Sanematsu watched some sumo on Monday.

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The Giants will be hosting Mosugu Orange Day Nighter on April 12.

What is Orange Day?  Ehime Prefecture is trying to set up a new day like Valentine's Day where people give each other something orange.

====== UPDATE 3/14 @ 12:47am

Hirokazu Sawamura is apparently having a hard time adjusting to his bigger frame -- he added seven kilograms during the off-season.

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The Giants sent Satoshi Fukuda down to Ni-gun because of lower back pains and called up 4th round draft pick Kyosuke Takagi to take his place.

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D.J. Houlton started playing catch today for the first time since he took a batted ball off the back of his right hand during a game on March 4.

"I did not feel any discomfort will playing catch or running.  I may be able to toss a bullpen session depending on how I am feeling tomorrow," said Houlton.

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Shigeyuki Furuki had a laundry mix-up and was wearing Satoshi Fukuda's uniform when he was called up to pinch-hit for Daisuke Fujimura in the 9th inning of Tuesday's game against the Hiroshima Carp.

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Takayuki Terauchi spoke to reporters today and said that he has fully recovered from his left flank injury and is ready to play.

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Scott Mathieson could get an exhibition game start against the Softbank Hawks on March 10.  D.J. Houlton was originally slated to start the game but was scratched after he took a batted ball of his right hand during his last outing on March 4.

Regarding Houlton: he told reporters he might be able to start throwing again some time later next week.

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Ryosuke Miyaguni attended this year's NPB Rookie Seminar after missing it last year because of his high school graduation.

Miyaguni is slated to start Wednesday's game against the Hiroshima Carp.

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The Giants are planning to invite Arata Fujiwara (marathon runner) to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day.  An official announcement will likely be made within the next few days.

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Sponichi notes that the Giants finished within the top three in the standings in each of the last fifteen Summer Olympic years: eight first place finishes (including four Nippon Series), three second place finishes, and four third place finishes.

D.J. Houlton was hit on the right hand by a come-backer to the mound in the 3rd inning of today's game against the Hiroshima Carp.  He was taken to the hospital for an examination and was diagnosed with a contusion on the back of his right hand.  There was no damage to the bones.

The injury does not appear to be serious but he will most likely skip his next outing.

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Scott Mathieson started a Kyoiku League game against the Rakuten Eagles today and did not allow a run or a hit over three innings of work.  He did walk two, hit one, and strikeout one.  His also topped out at 150km/h.

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The 2011 draft class greeted fans at the entrance gates at Tokyo Dome before today's game.

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The Giants announced today that AKB48 will sing the National Anthem on Opening Day.

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According to Sanspo, Tetsuya Utsumi will be the opening day starter; Toshiya Sugiuchi will start the second game of the season.

Nikkan Sports and Sponichi also point to Utsumi as the opening day starter, but make no mention of Sugiuchi as being the number two starter.

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Sugiuchi became the first Giants' pitcher to take the mound at Tokyo Dome while wearing the number eighteen since Masumi Kuwata on April 13, 2006.

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Tatsunori Hara will likely try batting Hisayoshi Chono first, Tetsuya Matsumoto second, John Bowker third, Shuichi Murata fourth, Shinnosuke Abe fifth, and Hayato Sakamoto sixth for their exhibition game against the Seibu Lions on Saturday.

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Toshiya Sugiuchi and Hirokazu Sawamura are scheduled to pitch in an exhibition game against Seibu on Saturday.  Tetsuya Utsumi is slated to pitch against Seibu on Sunday.

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Takahiko Nomaguchi will be called up on Saturday; Norihito Kaneto will be sent down.

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According to Daily Sports, there are three candidates for the opening day start: Utsumi, Sugiuchi, and Sawamura.  Of the three, Utsumi is the front-runner.

Nikkan Sports notes that Tatsunori Hara already has a basic idea of how he will set his starting rotation.

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Sugiuchi plans to use Koji Kikkawa's Speed for his intro music (the same music he used last year).

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While a possible early (or on time) return by Yuya Kubo is part of the reason why the Giants are thinking about using Scott Mathieson as a starter, that he has struggled with his control is another: he has eight walks/HBPs in five innings of work (four games).  He also appears to be having a hard time pitching from the set position, likely because he is worried about getting called on a balk.