Yuki Saito worked out at Kamagaya today with high socks.  He is scheduled to start Friday's game against the Yokohama Bay Stars.

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Tomohiro Nioka had a pinch-hit at bat during a Kyoiku League game on Tuesday and collected a single to left.  Assuming his right calf is ok, he could be called up to Ichi-gun as early as Friday.

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Tuesday's Kyoiku League game against Rakuten at Kamagaya: Atsunori Inaba started at first and batted third.  He went 0-for-1: HBP, fly out to right. [Sponichi]

====== UPDATE 3/15 @ 12:13am

Shota Ono returned to the starting line-up during Wednesday's game against the Chunichi Dragons.  It was his first game since injuring his left knee during a close play at home plate in a game against the Yakult Swallows on March 3.

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Today's Kyoiku League game against Rakuten at Kamagaya: Brian Wolfe started the game and allowed one run (unearned) on two hits over five innings of work. [Nikkan Sports]

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4th round draft pick Kensuke Kondo could make it into the starting line-up at catcher for some exhibition games during the team's road trip to the Kanto region (beginning on March 16).

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Tomohiro Nioka could play in Friday's (March 16) exhibition game against the Yokohama Bay Stars depending on how things go over the next couple of days.  Nioka has been practicing at Kamagaya since March 8 and is working his way back from right calf problems.

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Toshimasa Konta is working his way back from right shoulder surgery in December.  He has already logged some playing time as a DH and took fielding practice for the first time on Sunday.

"Rehab is moving quicker than originally planned," said Konta. "All that is left is throwing.  It is ultimately up to the manager and coaches to decide on how they want to use me.  I will continue to do my best so that I am prepared to go whenever they need me."

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7th round draft pick Takumi Oshima took batting practice on Monday by standing over home plate against a pitching machine that throws curves -- swinging and missing means getting hit by the baseball.

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Sapporo's Toho subway line will be running a Fighters subway for three years, beginning March 19, 2012.

Tomohiro Nioka injured his left hamstring during his at bat in the 4th inning of today's game against the Softbank Hawks.  The injury was bad enough that he'll be taken off the active roster tomorrow.

The Nippon Ham Fighters announced earlier today that Tomohiro Nioka had successful surgery on his right elbow.  Nioka will now be hospitalized for anywhere between a week to 10 days and will then require 2-3 months for a full recovery.

The Nippon Ham Fighters announced today that Tomohiro Nioka will have surgery on his right elbow on the 19th.  Assuming everything goes according to plan, Nioka will be hospitalized for about a week and will require 2-3 months for a full recovery.

See also:

Tomohiro Nioka to get his right elbow cleaned out

It seems Tomohiro Nioka (HAM) will be getting surgery (cleaning) on his right elbow some time soon.  He'll probably be hospitalized for about a week and will need 2-3 months of rehab.

The elbow has been bothering Nioka ever since when he used to play for the Yomiuri Giants.  This season, the elbow pains got worse and Nioka needed shots in order to play.

In addition to the elbow pain, Nioka had a number of other ailments this season, including calf and hamstring problems in both legs, a sprained left middle finger, and a contusion on his right ring finger.  But he still managed to play in 103 games and provide the Fighters with some offense (26 R, 7 HR, 47 RBI, .672 OPS).

Shinji Takahashi (HBP in the head), Tomohiro Nioka (sprained left middle finger and minor right ring finger laceration), and Makoto Kaneko (hamstring injury) have been working out with the Ichi-gun roster since the last day of the Ni-gun season.  Of the three, only Nioka has not been able to take part in BP practice.

The fate of the players will likely be decided during the intra-squad game the team is set to play on the 3rd.  At this point, it seems Takahashi could be used as a DH and Kaneko could return to the team depending on how he does between now and the start of the Climax Series.

Tomohiro Nioka (HAM) squared around to bunt in the 6th inning, but was instead hit by a pitch on his right ring finger as he tried to pull away from an inside pitch.  Nioka was removed from the game and taken to a hospital when they found that his finger was bleeding.

It was later revealed in another report that Nioka did not suffer any structural damage to his finger and was diagnosed with a contusion and a laceration.  Since Nioka won't be able to play with the injury, the Fighters are expected to take him off the active roster later today.

Sanspo: Kenshin Kawakami has officially declared that he will opt for free agency. On a post at his blog:

Free Agency - 11/14/2008
I've thought about this real hard over the last few days and have decided to opt for free agency.

I will be submitting the necessary paperwork to the team later tomorrow.

I will now begin consider all my new options moving forward. I'd like to start over from scratch and really think about which teams really want me and which team I really want to play for.

I'll publish another update when I have a better handle on things.

Sanspo: The Nioka-Micheal trade was officially announced at a press conference yesterday. The Giants will send infielder Tomohiro Nioka (32) and pitcher Masanori Hayashi (25) to the Ham Fighters for pitcher Micheal Nakamura (32) and outfielder Takahiko Kudo (27). I'm not really sure how this improves the Ham Fighters, but I suppose if Nioka can find his stroke again, he could give them some much needed pop in the lineup (getting away from the Tokyo media might be just what Nioka needs). From the Giants side of things, this is really a great trade. Nakamura will help shore up the bullpen and give the team perhaps one of the setup-closer combo's in the league. And it rids them of a player that caused some headaches earlier in the season when he (Nioka) was caught leaving a hotel with a high profile ex-news reporter (Mona Yamamoto).

Sanspo: The Hanshin Tigers have an interest in Daisuke Miura. The club is supposedly thinking about presenting a 3 year, 13-oku yen deal to the 34-year-old righty. The Yokohama Bay Stars have reportedly offered Miura a 3-year, 10-oku yen deal plus an 4th year player option. The Tigers were originally preparing an offer of 3-years and 8-oku 5,000-man yen with a 4th year player option but later changed course after realizing that Miura could still opt for free agency. The Bay Stars appear to be set on their offer to Miura. And for those wondering, Sponichi is reporting that Miura has opted for free agency.

Sanspo: Shinobu Fukuhara will most likely stick around with the Tigers for one more year.

Sanspo: Norihiro Nakamura has opted for free agency. Sponichi reports the Fighters as a possible final destination for Nakamura.

Sponichi: Koji Uehara announced his intentions to try out for the Majors during a press conference yesterday. He will officially become a free agent on the 19th and will be ready to start negotiating with teams on the 20th. "It has been my dream to play in the Majors since I was in college. I've held onto this dream for the past 10 years and now I'm finally at within reach of realizing that dream."

Sponichi: Shigeru Morikasa will not be exercising his FA option. Since Morikasa didn't get much playing time this season, his main concern was not knowing how many teams would be interested in his services. With the help of the Carp, he has decided to stick with the team in hopes that the Carp will be able to find a suitable destination for him via trade. The bottom line: Morikasa wants to play.

12:18PM UPDATES

Mainichi: The Giants and Lions have apparently agreed on a deal that will send Takayuki Shimuzu to the Lions for cash. Shimizu expressed a desire to be traded due to a decrease in playing time (he appeared in only 41 games this season).