The team had the day off today.

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Kazuhisa Makita took a 3.6km walk around the player hotel earlier today.  Makita was diagnosed with the flu on Friday and was given permission to go outdoors after his fever dropped.  He should be able to start working out again tomorrow.

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1st round draft pick Ken Togame and 2nd round draft pick Hirotaka Koishi went sightseeing on their day off today.  Their day included a tuna cut and clean demonstration and picking dekopons (citrus fruit) and kumquats.

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Fumikazu Kimura faced two batters during batting practice on Friday and allowed three could-be hits on 46 pitches.

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Tatsuya Oishi and Yusei Kikuchi will be starters for an intra-squad game on February 12.

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Today was the end of the first block of spring camp for the Lions. The team has the day off tomorrow.

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The Lions received 150 food items, like lunch boxes, rice balls, and bread, from Minami Kyushu Family Mart before practice today.

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The media presented Takeya Nakamura, Shogo Akiyama, and Takumi Kuriyama with a giant 50cm long eho-maki that weighed seven kilograms.

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Hiroyuki Nakajima and Takeya Nakamura took extra fielding practice with fielding/base-running coach Hiroshi Narahara today.

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Tatsuya Oishi, Yusei Kikuchi, and Fumikazu Kimura tossed batting practice today:

Oishi threw thirty-nine pitches and faced Yuji Onizaki and Mitsugu Ishikawa and gave up three could-be hits.

Kikuchi threw 41 pitches and faced Shogo Akiyama and Ryo Hayashizaki and gave up three could-be hits.

Kimura broke two of Hideto Asamura's bats.

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Hisanobu Watanabe was surprised at how big Kikuchi's lower body (particularly the thighs and buttocks) got during the off-season.  Kikuchi has also modified his delivery and is throwing over the top, instead of at around three-quarters.

=== UPDATE 2/4 @ 1:34am

Nakajima and Nakamura also took fielding practice under a net about one meter off the ground during their extra session with fielding/base-running coach Narahara.

The first day of camp began at 9am with an welcoming ceremony at Nango Stadium.

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Fumiya Nishiguchi had to borrow Hideaki Wakui's uniform after forgetting that he was scheduled to toss a bullpen session.

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Kazuhisa Makita has the flu and missed the first day of spring camp.  Makita was not feeling well on Tuesday and was examined at a hospital.  He was diagnosed with the influenza A virus.

Makita has been isolated away from the rest of the players and will most likely miss a few days of practice.

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Hisanobu Watanabe is excited about both Yusei Kikuchi and Tatsuya Oishi, which could be especially significant for the two young pitchers since no one has a guaranteed spot in the starting rotation right now.

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Bullpen sessions:

Wednesday

Oishi threw 113 pitches while receiving advice from pitching coach Tadashi Sugimoto.

The Lions released their roster assignments for spring camp today.

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The Lions announced the following position changes for the player register today: Tomohito Yoneno (catcher to outfielder) and 3rd round draft pick Hitoto Komazuki (catcher to outfielder).

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Tatsuya Oishi threw about 50 pitches in the bullpen today (standing and half-standing catcher).  This was his second bullpen session in as many days.

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Takeya Nakamura took 130 swings over about 40 minutes during his BP session with Yataro Sakamoto on Monday.

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Sanspo's list of possible candidates for the starting rotation: Hideaki Wakui, Takayuki Kishi, Fumiya Nishiguchi, Kazuhisa Ishii, Kazuhisa Makita, Yusei Kikuchi, Oishi, and Enrique Gonzalez.

Hisanobu Watanabe also told reporters that 1st round draft pick Ken Togame and 2nd round draft pick Hirotaka Koishi will begin their pro careers as starters (that could change based on how they perform).

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Former Lion Kimiyasu Kudo will be a commentator for Bunka Hoso's Lions' Nighter this year.

The Seibu Lions decided to take Tatsuya Oishi (1st round) off the active roster after the righty complained of right shoulder discomfort before today's game against the Softbank Hawks (Yahoo Dome).  The move will be announced tomorrow and Brian Sikorski will be called up in his place.

Oishi is scheduled to return to Tokyo tomorrow so that he can get the shoulder checked out.

Seibu Lions

Today's Ikusei League game against Yomiuri:

Tatsuya Oishi (1st round) started the game and allowed a run (unearned) on 5 hits over 5 innings of work (3 SO, 1 BB, 1 balk).  The run he surrendered scored on a sac fly in the first inning.  Oishi also topped out at 138km/h and three base-runners stole bases on him.

Kazuhisa Makita (2nd round) tossed 2 shutout innings while giving up 2 hits.  He also threw a curve in the 90km/h range; a sinker in the 100km/h; a slider in the 110km/h; and a fastball in the 120km/h range.

Nippon Ham Fighters

Shinya Tsuruoka was the starting catcher and batted 2nd during an Ikusei League game yesterday.  Tsuruoka threw out his back and has been working his way back into playing shape and yesterday's game was his first this spring.  He also got a painkiller shot on the 4th.

Orix Buffaloes

Aarom Baldiris did not play in today's game against the Rakuten Eagles due to a left ankle sprain he suffered during yesterday's game against Lotte (as a precaution).  And Shunta Goto (1st round) missed his second straight game because of a cold.

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Hirotoshi Kitagawa took BP at Kyocera Dome for the first time after fracturing his left fibula.  He later told reporters that he didn't feel any pain while swinging the bat and was still quite a bit away from swinging the bat the way he wanted to.

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The Buffaloes held a press conference at Kyocera Dome to announce their working agreement with Setsunan University.  A press release (in Japanese) is also available.

Softbank Hawks

Hiroki Kokubo is currently 8-for-20 during exhibition play.  Kokubo has been working on being more aggressive earlier on in the count.

Seibu Lions

Tatsuya Oishi (1st round) is expected to toss about 5 innings during his Ikusei League game on the 10th against the Yomiuri Giants.

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The media learned yesterday that Kazuhiro Kiyohara will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch for the home opener at Seibu Dome on the 29th (vs Lotte).  The last time Kiyohara was involved in a home opener ceremonial first pitch was back in 2006 when he stood in the batter's box while Shizuka Arakawa threw out the first pitch.  This will be the first time he's ever thrown the first pitch.

After the pitch, Kiyohara will take his seat as a radio commentator for Bunka Hoso.

Nippon Ham Fighters

The first three pitchers in the starting rotation will probably be Yu Darvish, Masaru Takeda, and Bobby Keppel.  The remaining three spots are still up for grabs and will probably come down to pitchers like Brian Wolfe, Yuki Saito (1st round), Tomoya Yagi, and Keisaku Itokazu.

Orix Buffaloes

Shunta Goto (1st round) wasn't feeling well after yesterday's game and was taken to a hospital for treatment.  Seems he had a high fever (over 38 degrees Celsius).  He had the day off today because his fever was still up around 37 degrees Celsius.  Goto is expected to return to the team tomorrow (assuming his fever is gone).

FWIW: Goto has also hit a bit of a dry patch at the plate -- he does not have a hit in 10 consecutive trips to the plate.

Rakuten Eagles

Senichi Hoshino returned to Koshien today for the first time (as an active manager) since 10/24/2003 (a span of 2,692 days).

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Shintaro Masuda is currently 14-for-34 over 9 spring games (includes more than just exhibition games). ... Akinori Iwamura was 0-for-7 with 4 strikeouts before yesterday's game.  He then went 2-for-3 with a double an RBI yesterday before going 0-for-2 with another strikeout today.  He's now 2-for-12 with 5 strikeouts.

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Kensuke Uchimura was held out of yesterday's game after he started feeling some pain in his right shoulder during pre-game practice.  He is essentially day-to-day.

This post will be updated with information as it becomes available so keep checking back if you have any interest in Yuki Saito, Tatsuya Oishi, and Hirokazu Sawamura, and / or Yuya Fukui.

===== 3/8 @ 3:44pm

Oishi's next start will in an Ikusei League game against Yomiuri on the 10th.

===== 3/8 @ 2:24pm

Saito worked out for about 2 hours at Kamagaya today (catch, trunk muscle exercises).  He also spent some time talking to Yu Darvish about his training methods.

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Saito is expected to toss 2-3 bullpens at Kamagaya before his start against the Yokohama Bay Stars on the 13th.

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Because Oishi's start was canceled today due to poor field conditions due to snowfall, he threw about 50 pitches in the bullpen.

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According to Nikkan Sports, Sawamura told reporters that he wants to continue working on his fastball and forgo working on any new pitches, like the cutter.  Sanspo mentions that Sawamura also wants to polish his curve after seeing how Masahiro Tanaka used it so well during his outing against the Seibu Lions on the 6th.

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Candidates for the Carp starting rotation has been narrowed down to 8 pitchers, of which Fukui is one them.

Fukui's next appearance will be a start on the 10th during an Ikusei League game against Softbank (3 innings).  How he pitches during this game will likely go a long way towards determining whether or not he'll make the starting rotation.

On Monday, Fukui threw over 60 pitches in the bullpen.

Softbank Hawks

The Hawks introduced their newest additions to fans before today's exhibition game against the Yakult Swallows.

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Sadaharu Oh told reporters that he plans on actively attending amateur games again this year.

Oh - "I'm thinking about [going to games] this year as well.  It's still in the early stages, so nothing has been decided yet.  I'll need to talk to the scouts and if they need me, I'll go.  Nothing has changed in this regard from last season."

Seibu Lions

Yasuyuki Kataoka played in an Ikusei League game today (vs Lotte, started at second and batter first) in order to make sure he was ready to play in an exhibition game on the 5th (vs Hanshin).  Seems he was a little worried about his mobility (working his way back from right foot pain) and wanted to check on his movement around second base.

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Hisanobu Watanabe, pitching coach Kazuyoshi Ono, and battery coach Hidekazu Mitsuyama all worked with Tatsuya Oishi (1st round) yesterday.  He also tossed about 30 pitches in the bullpen (a light session) and told reporters that he felt he was throwing better after making the adjustments the coaches suggested, better than when he pitched at Tokyo Dome on the 2nd against the Yomiuri Giants.

Chiba Lotte Marines

Takuya Takahama joined the team before today's game against the Hiroshima Carp and took part in pre-game practices (warm-ups, fielding practice, BP).

Nippon Ham Fighters

Sho Nakata worked out at third base during fielding practice yesterday.  Nakata later told reporters he wanted to be ready in case the team needed him to play some third since Eiichi Koyano is out with a fracture in his right wrist.  But it seems that won't be happening any time soon as Masataka Nashida said he wasn't planning on having Nakata take on another position, especially since he's been playing well at first.

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The media is playing up the Yuki Saito (1st round) vs Hayato Sakamoto (YOM) angle (Daily Sports, Sanspo).  The last time the two met (11/22/2009), Sakamoto hit a single to left off Saito.

Saito exchanged greetings with Tatsunori Hara before today's game between the Fighters and Yomiuri Giants.

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800 people (by invitation) showed up for a Fighters' pep rally at a hotel in Sapporo yesterday.

Orix Buffaloes

There's a good chance that Chan Ho Park will get the opening day start at this point.  And because of the way the schedule is set up, he'll not only starter the season opener (3/25 vs Softbank Hawks at Yahoo Dome), but also the home opener (4/1 vs Rakuten Eagles at Kyocera Dome).

A plan is currently developing that involves the Buffaloes inviting the Korean pop group Shojo Jidai (少女時代) to sing the Korean National Anthem and to throw out a ceremonial first pitch some time during a series against the Seibu Lions (4/22 - 4/24).  The Buffaloes are also thinking about setting up a Korean Day at some point around that time as well.

Rakuten Eagles

Masahiro Tanaka will be starting tomorrow's exhibition game against the Seibu Lions.

Softbank Hawks

Tadashi Settsu will be starting tomorrow's exhibition game against the Yakult Swallows.  He is expected to pitch 4 innings.

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Brian Falkenborg went to the hospital today to get his left knee checked out.  No word on the results, but it seems the team will monitor Falkenborg to make sure he's ok.  If he is, he'll likely pitch on the 6th (vs Yakult at Yahoo Dome).  If he's not, then it could mean that Falkenborg won't be ready for the start of the regular season.

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Hiroki Kokubo's broken bats turned chopsticks will go on sale sometime in April (Kokubo managed to get 400 chopsticks out of 40 broken bats he saved since 2009).

Seibu Lions

Tatsuya Oishi (1st round) received some pointers on pitching from a number of coaches during practice at Big N Stadium -- adjustments were made to the direction his left shoulder was pointing (from toward third base to toward first base) and the use of his lower body).  Oishi's next outing will be during an Ikusei League game on the 8th.

While Osihi is not scheduled to pitch over the weekend, he will be the in the dugout and will have a chance to see both Hisashi Iwakuma and Masahiro Tanaka start games for the Rakuten Eagles.

Chiba Lotte Marines

Yoshihisa Naruse is scheduled to pitch in tomorrow's exhibition game against the Hiroshima Carp.

Norifumi Nishimura hit grounders for about 30 minutes during fielding practice today.

Nippon Ham Fighters

The Fighters held two seminars for players and coaches at a hotel in Sapporo today.  The topics: Drug Abuse Prevention and Organized Crime Awareness.

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Yuki Saito (1st round) threw about 50 pitches in the bullpen today.  He is expected to pitch 3 innings during a relief outing on the 6th (vs Yomiuri Giants @ Sapporo Dome).

Orix Buffaloes

Shunta Goto (1st round) re-joined the Ichi-gun roster today after attending his high school graduation on 3/1 and returning to Kobe on the evening of 3/2.

Rakuten Eagles

Beginning tomorrow, the Eagles will play 13 games over the next 17 days.