Special hitting instructor Futoshi Nakanishi spent about an hour giving Kenta Imamiya advice on hitting today.

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Alex Cabrera arrived at Miyazaki Airport today and will join the team for spring camp on Friday.

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Sadaharu Oh spent about two hours working with Yuki Yanagita on his hitting on Wednesday.

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Tadashi Settsu has tweaked his pitching mechanics a little -- he increased his stride by about ten centimeters.

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Kazuyuki Hoashi did not toss a bullpen session on the first day of spring camp.

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Imamiya, Keisuke Kaneko, and 3rd round draft pick Masayoshi Tsukada are potential starting shortstop candidates.

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Softbank Hawks

Koji Akiyama does not want to go near the bullpen early on during spring camp because he does not want pitchers to push themselves too hard by trying to impress him.

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Special hitting instructor Futoshi Nakanishi was hired to help Ni-gun players but Ni-gun manager Kazuo Ogawa told reporters on Tuesday that he could also end up working with Wily Mo Pena.

Nippon Ham Fighters

Sho Nakata does not plan on taking any breaks during spring camp, even on days when the team has the day off.

"I plan to do a little work even on my days off.  When no one else is practicing, that is when I can begin closing the gap," said Nakata.

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The Fighters had an influenza "mini outbreak" back in 2009.  Shota Ono was diagnosed with it on 8/16.  Two days later, Naoki Miyanishi, Terrmel Sledge, and coach Junichi Fukura also had the flu.  On the following day, Tomoya Yagi, Kazumasa Kikuchi, Shinya Tsuruoka, Tomohiro Nioka, Eiichi Koyano, and Yoshio Itoi all showed symptoms.  Against the Rakuten Eagles on 8/20, the Fighters played with just nineteen players (seven pitchers, twelve position players).  Players slowly started coming back after that, but the Fighters lost six in a row between 8/18 and 8/25.

Seibu Lions

The Lions attended a tuna cutting performance on Tuesday at their team hotel -- a 50kg yellowfin tuna was cut and cleaned in front of the team and handed out to the players.

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Enrique Gonzalez wants a shot at starting.

Orix Buffaloes

Akinobu Okada thought Dae-Ho Lee lost 15kg from 130kg when it was actually from 142kg.  That was why he was concerned about Lee losing too much weight.

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Washlets were installed in the bathrooms at Miyakojima Stadium, but there were no electrical outlets in the individual stalls to power them.  Outlets were added in time for the start of spring camp.

Rakuten Eagles

There are about 25 volunteers assisting the Eagles at Kumejima.  Because of early morning practices and some players missing their breakfast meals, a handful have been assigned to deliver meals from the player hotel to the stadium.

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Bullpen sessions:

Wednesday

Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi (trying out for team) threw about 40 pitches (standing catcher) under the watchful eye of Senichi Hoshino.  Hoshino later said to reporters, "He looked good out there.  But one day is not enough."

Renyel Pinto arrived in Japan on Tuesday and told reporters he hoped to help the team as a starter.  The Hawks held a press conference for Pinto today.

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The Hawks have posted a video of their first day of spring camp at Ustream.

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The Hawks announced today that their San-gun team will be playing a total 32 games against teams from the Shikoku Island League plus (split into first and second half; four games per Island league team each half).

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Batting practice:

Wednesday

Wily Mo Pena took forty-one swings and hit fourteen over the fence.  One of his shots traveled an estimated 150 meters.

Softbank Hawks

The Hawks participated in a night parade in Miyazaki on Tuesday and celebrated their Nippon Series Championship.  About 42,000 fans showed up to watch the parade.

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The Hawks announced that Alex Cabrera will be arriving in Japan on February 2 and will join the team in Miyazaki on February 3.

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Pitching coach Ikuo Takayama thinks Takahiro Mahara might end up missing a good chunk of time because of right shoulder.

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The Hawks are thinking about taking out an insurance policy to cover any damages that Wily Mo Pena might cause if/when he hits the big screen.  Incidentally, if Pena can hit the Yodobashi Camera ad out in left, he will be rewarded with 10M points from Yodobashi Camera.  No one has managed to hit the sign.

Seibu Lions

The Lions arrived in Miyazaki on Tuesday and attended a welcoming ceremony at Miyazaki Airport.

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The Lions held a press conference for Enrique Gonzalez at Nango Prince Hotel on Tuesday.

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Hideto Asamura will play anywhere if it means he gets more playing time.  Last season, Asamura played five different positions: 1B, 2B, 3B, LF, and RF.  He could end up playing at seven different positions this season (addition of SS and CF).

FYI: Hisanobu Watanabe does not plan on giving Asamura one set position and will instead make changes based on what the team needs.

Asamura worked on his lower body this off-season and increased his weight to 87kg (up 5kg from last year).

Orix Buffaloes

Dae-Ho Lee arrived in Miyakojima, Okinawa on Tuesday and made it to the general team meeting.  He later told reporters that he was at about 60-70%.

Lee had a chance encounter with Ichiro Suzuki when he dropped by Hotto Motto Kobe on Monday for photos.

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Akinobu Okada told reporters on Monday that Chihiro Kaneko will be the opening day starter (though he has not yet informed him).

Okada visited Miyakojima Stadium on Monday and was pleased with the improvements they made since last spring -- the city spent about 30M yen on renovations.

Chiba Lotte Marines

Norifumi Nishimura named Toshiaki Imae team captain.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka was the team captain in 2010.  The Marines did not have a team captain last year.

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1st round draft pick Takahiro Fujioka would like to toss a bullpen session (squatting catcher) on the first day of spring camp.  Fujioka currently weighs 88kg and is hoping to tone his body and drop about 3kg during spring camp.

According to Sponichi, the Softbank Hawks are nearing a deal with Brad Penny.  They have also made uniform number 31 available for Penny.

"The deal has not been finalized yet, but I hear we are in the final stages.  We see him as a pitcher for our starting rotation," said team chairman Sadaharu Oh.

See also:

Jerry Crasnick: Brad Penny “weighing an opportunity” with Softbank Hawks

The Hawks released player assignments for spring camp today.

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The Hawks held a press conference for Wily Mo Pena at Yahoo Dome today.

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Softbank announced a uniform number and registered name change today:

Nakanishi, Kenta: from 31 to 58

Chikada, Reo: from Reo (怜王) to Chikada, Reo (近田 怜王)

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The Hawks visited Hakozakigu Shrine in Fukuoka today in order to pray for a success season.  About 3,000 fans showed up to watch.  The team is scheduled to travel to Miyazaki tomorrow.

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Nagisa Arakaki told reporters that he was thinking about throwing his big sweeping slider again because his shoulder is feeling much better (and because he needs to do well this year).  Arakaki decided to can the big slider last year because of problems with his right shoulder and instead turned to a slider with less break.

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Toru Hosokawa is thinking about spending some time at Ni-gun spring camp because he wants a shot at catching every pitcher in the organization.  He wanted to do the same thing last year, but could not.  Hosokawa is particularly interested in catching 1st round draft pick Shota Takeda.

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Seiichi Uchikawa made an appearance on FBS' Yume Kukan Sports on Sunday and said that he will begin using the color pink again (he went with the team color yellow last season but is reverting back to the pink he used when he played for Yokohama).

The media learned today that there is a possibility Takahiro Mahara (30) will not be on the opening day roster because the right shoulder he had problems with last year is not doing well right now.

Mahara was not included in the Group A (Ichi-gun) spring camp list.

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The Hawks announced today that 4th round draft pick Naoki Shirane requires surgery on his right elbow after a medical exam revealed an injury to his tibial collateral ligament, a bone spur, and ulnar neuropathy.

Shirane is scheduled to go under the knife on February 2.  After that, he will undergo two weeks of rehab before rejoining the team in Miyazaki for spring camp.

Wily Mo Pena and Brian Falkenborg were scheduled to arrive in Fukuoka today.  Their flight arrived at 8:30pm but only Falkenborg stepped off the plane.  Pena ended up arriving about two and a half hours later -- he missed his connecting flight to Fukuoka because his plane arrived at Narita (out of Chicago) about 50 minutes behind schedule.

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Training camp for the 2011 draft class at the Saitozaki training facilities ended today.

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Seiichi Uchikawa (29) made an appearance on FBS' Yumekukan Sports today and was asked if he wanted to play in the Majors.  His reply: "The moment I joined the Hawks, I decided I would finish things out here."

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Edison Barrios arrived at Fukuoka Airport today (Venezuela > Narita > Fukuoka) and told reporters that he has been tossing bullpen sessions on a regular basis after two months of winter ball in Venezuela.

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Rehab coach Kazumi Saito (34) will attend spring camp in Miyazaki for the first time in three years.

Saito extended his coaching contract with the team on Saturday.

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Nobuhiko Matsunaka (38) on his role with the team:

I used to think about winning a championship while batting clean-up, but my view of the game starting changing last year.  [Yuichi] Honda, [Nobuhiro] Matsuda, [Seiichi] Uchikawa.  I will let them take care of the team.  I just want to play well over the remaining time I have left [in my career].  I think that will help the team.  I will play [with the excitement] as if I were a kid.

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Bullpen sessions:

Sunday

Nagisa Arakaki threw about 40 pitches to a standing catcher.  He told reporters he plans to throw about 100 pitches a session during spring camp.

1st round draft pick Shota Takeda tossed a bullpen session with a squatting catcher.

Nobuhiko Matsunaka returned to Japan today from his training in Guam.  He also met the Hawks at Yahoo Dome and signed off on a deal worth 200M yen (no change).  Matsunaka is in the final year of a seven-year deal.

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1st round draft pick Shota Takeda tossed a bullpen session today (standing catcher), his third since moving into the player dorm.

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Ryuma Kidokoro and Kenji Akashi attended a fan event at Best Denki in Fukuoka today.

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There is a chance Alex Cabrera might not make it back to Japan in time for the start of spring camp because his winter ball team (Tiburones de La Guaira) is competing in the Venezuelan Winter League Championships.  The series is currently tied at two game a piece; if it goes to a game seven, the series will end on January 30.

Stats: 11 G, 18-for-39, 8 R, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 31 TB, 3 BB, 11 SO, .462/.500/.795

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The Hawks announced today that they extended their sponsorship deal with Show Construction -- a Showa patch will appear on the front right hip area of the team uniform (pant).

Seiichi Uchikawa also took part in a commercial shoot for Showa today.

ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick tweeted that Brad Penny was "weighing an opportunity" with the Softbank Hawks.

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Career Stats