Tadashi Settsu is slated to get the opening day start.

Source: Sponichi 3/27/2013

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Brian Falkenborg will be the closer.  Ryota Igarashi will pitch the 8th and Sho Iwasaki the 7th.

Source: Sponichi 3/27/2013

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6th round draft pick Hirofumi Yamanaka's Ni-gun start was rained out today.  He will pitch in Thursday's game.

Source: Nikkan Sports 3/27/2013

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The Hawks prayed for a successful season in front of the Taka Kanzenon Daibosatsu today.

Source: Sponichi 3/27/2013

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Masahiko Morifuku spent over thirty minutes signing autographs for the 100 or so fans that waited outside the stadium after Tuesday's Ni-gun game against Chunichi.

Source: Nikkan Sports 3/27/2013

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Mizuho Corporate Bank signed a naming rights agreement for the premium seat section behind home plate at YafuOku Dome.  The section has been named Mizuho Premium Seats.

Source: official announcement, Nikkan Sports 3/27/2013

The opening day starting rotation could be: Tadashi Settsu, Vicente Padilla, 1st round draft pick Nao Higashihama, Kenji Otonari, Shota Takeda, and 6th round draft pick Hirofumi Yamanaka.

Kazuyuki Hoashi is scheduled to pitch in a Ni-gun game against Hanshin at Naruohama on the 31st.  Yamanaka will pitch in a Ni-gun game on the 29th before his first Ichi-gun start on April 4 (vs Seibu at Seibu Dome).

Source: Nikkan Sports 3/25/2013

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Bryan LaHair could end up batting fourth on opening day with Wily Mo Pena in the five-hole.  Pena missed the last three exhibition games after taking an HBP off his left wrist.  LaHair was tested as a clean-up over the last six games of the exhibition game season and may have won the chance to bat fourth on opening day.

Seiichi Uchikawa will likely bat third and Nobuhiro Matsuda sixth.

Source: Nikkan Sports 3/25/2013

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The Kyushu Symphony Ochestra will perform the national anthem on opening day.  Golden Bomber's Kenji Darvish is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.  

Source: official announcement

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A new entrance sign at YafuOku Dome was misspelled fuOku Dome.  The error was apparently caught after the sign went up.  The mistake was temporarily hidden with a white cloth.  A corrected version will be reprinted.

Source: Nikkan Sports 3/25/2013

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Ever wanted to look like Wily Mo Pena?  Try the Be like Pena cap and beard.

Source: Nikkan Sports 3/25/2013

Hayato Terahara left today's exhibition game against Lotte early with tightness in his back.  The tightness began two days ago during a bullpen session and slowly got worse.

Source: Sanspo 3/15/2013

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Yao-Hsun Yang returned to the team for workouts on the 11th.  He pitched in an exhibition game against Lotte today and gave up three runs over 1.1 innings of work.

Source: Sponichi 3/15/2013

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If Tadashi Settsu is ok to pitch on opening day, he will most likely have to do it without pitching in any pre-season NPB games after his return to Japan.  He might have a chance to toss some situational batting practice.

Source: Sponichi 3/15/2013

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Yuya Hasegawa is scheduled to play in his first rehab game on Saturday (Kyoiku League vs Hiroshima).

Source: Daily Sports 3/15/2013

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The Hawks may go with a three closer committee -- Brian Falkenborg, Sho Iwasaki, and Ryota Igarashi.

Source: Nikkan Sports 3/15/2013

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1st round draft pick Nao Higashihama and 3rd round draft pick Tomoki Takata attended their graduation ceremony at Asia University today.

Source: Nikkan Sports 3/15/2013

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Yao-Hsun Yang joined the team for workouts today.

Source: Sanspo 2/3/2013

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Of the forty-eight pitches Tadashi Settsu threw during his bullpen session on Saturday, thirty-nine went where Toru Hosokawa set his mitt.

Source: Sponichi 2/3/2013

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Pitching coach Tsuyoshi Yoda visited Hawks' camp in Miyazaki today.

Samurai Japan candidates: Masahiko Morifuku, Kenji Otonari, Tadashi Settsu, Nobuhiro Matsuda, Yuichi Honda, Seiichi Uchikawa

Source: Sanspo 2/3/2013

Tadashi Settsu has reportedly agreed to a 2013 salary worth an estimated 290 million yen (up 100 million yen from this past season).  An additional 30 million yen in bonuses will also be added to push the total to 320 million yen.

The base value of the contract, 290 million yen, breaks the NPB's previous high of 270 million yen, set by Yu Darvish in 2009, for players in their fifth year.

Source: Asahi Shimbun 12/25/2012, Nikkan Sports 12/25/2012, Sports Hochi 12/25/2012, Daily Sports 12/25/2012, Sponichi 12/25/2012

The NPB selection committee met in Tokyo today and selected Tadashi Settsu as this year's Sawamura Award winner.

The committee also considered Hiroshima's Kenta Maeda and going without a winner this year, but four of the five members voted for Settsu.

In order to be eligible for the Sawamura Award, pitchers need to attain as many of the following as possible:

• Games - 25 or more
• Complete Games - 10 or more
• Win - 15 or more
• Winning Percentage - .600 or better
• Innings Pitchers - 200.0 or more
• Strikeouts - 150 or more
• ERA - 2.50 or better

Settsu fulfilled five of the seven categories (games, wins, winning percentage, strikeouts, and ERA), as did Maeda (games, winning percentage, innings, strikeouts, ERA).  The committee placed more emphasis on wins and chose Settsu because the Hawks may not have been able to finish in third place without his seventeen victories.

Settus is the first Softbank player to win the award since Kazumi Saito in 2006.

Source: Sports Hochi 10/29/2012

See also:

Past Sawamura Award Winners / 歴代受賞者

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Candidates

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UPDATE @ 6:31pm -

Sports Hochi posted a portion of Settsu's press conference:

Your thoughts on winning the award.

I honestly did not think I would be selected.  This is the ultimate pitching award so I am really happy.

You fulfilled five of the categories.

I just found out about making the five categories.  But award aside, I am disappointed I could not record more complete games and accumulate at least 200 innings.

This is the first time a Top Reliever Award winner also won a Sawamura Award.

I started off as a reliever and used that experience to help me [as a starter].  It allowed me to learn everything about how to overcome tough innings.

On being a candidate for the WBC.

I do not know if I will be selected, but if I am, I will do my absolute best.

Source: Sports Hochi 10/29/2012

UPDATE 10/30/2012 @ 6:23pm -

The Sawamura Award selection committee: Manabu Kitabeppu, Choji Murata, Tsuneo Horiuchi, Masaji Hiramatsu, and Masayuki Dobashi.

There were some that felt no one should be selected for the award because pitchers were lacking in complete games and innings pitched.

Said Dobashi, "It may have become more difficult to clear all seven categories with the way things have become specialized, but the level was low in general.  I hope next season there will be a pitcher that manages to get all seven categories."

Source: Nikkan Sports 10/30/2012

UPDATE 10/30/2012 @ 10:30pm -

Kitabeppu originally did not think a pitcher should be selected, but later changed his mind and went with Settsu.  Murata did not think a player should be selected until the very end.  Source: Sports Hochi Osaka 10/30/2012

Tadashi Settsu and Yuichi Honda left tonight's game early with injuries.

Settsu hurt his right leg when covering first base in the 1st inning.  He actually returned to the game after getting some treatment, but left after giving up a single to the first batter he faced, Eiichi Koyano.

UPDATE @ 10:19pm - Settsu was taken to the hospital for x-rays.  He was diagnosed with a right ankle sprain.  Source: Nikkan Sports 10/19/2012

Honda slammed into the fence and hurt his neck while making a running grab in the 4th inning (Micah Hoffpauir hit a pop fly in foul territory).  Honda had to be taken off the field on a stretcher.

UPDATE 10/20 @ 2:35pm - Honda was diagnosed with a sprain in his cervical vertebrae.  Source: Jiji Press 10/19/2012

Source: Daily Sports 10/19/2012, Daily Sports 10/19/2012

Tadashi Settsu was taken off the active roster today since he is not scheduled to pitch for at least ten days.  The Hawks also want to give Settsu a chance to rest before his next start.  Source: Sponichi 6/17/2012

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Nobuhiko Matsunaka did not take part in pre-game practice and was held out of today's game because he hurt his left wrist when sliding head first into first during Saturday's game against Yokohama.  Source: Sponichi 6/17/2012

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The Hawks held a press conference at Yahoo Dome for Terry Doyle today.  The Hawks have uploaded footage of the press conference at Ustream.  Source: Daily Sports 6/17/2012

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Hiroki Kokubo worked out at Yahoo Dome today.  He will begin taking live batting practice on Tuesday and will play in a Ni-gun game next weekend.  If everything is ok, he might be able to return to the active roster as early as June 26.

Kokubo may also undergo another evaluation on Monday.

Source: Nikkan Sports 6/17/2012

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The Hawks held a kick-off party at a restaurant on Wednesday.

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Alex Cabrera and Hitoshi Tamura were left off the 2012 Opening Day Roster because Cabrera is nursing a bad right hamstring and Tamura is having problems with his back.

Cabrera has started taking batting, but it still unable to run.

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The Hawks announced on Wednesday that the San-gun team will play eighteen games against Ni-gun KBO teams in April, May, and July.

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Images of ten players appeared on four boarding bridges at Fukuoka Airport on Wednesday.  The images will remain up for about two weeks.

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Tadashi Settsu (lower back stiffness) worked out at Yahoo Dome on Monday and told reporters that his job was to pitch where ever/when ever he is told to.  When asked how his right arm was feeling, he said it felt fine.