Today's Ni-gun game against the Rakuten Eagles: Hideaki Wakui tossed three shutout innings while allowing four hits. ... Yasuyuki Kataoka started at second, played second, and went 0-for-3.  He was replaced on defense in the 6th inning.  This was Kataoka's first game since he had left shoulder surgery last year.

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The Lions decided to leave 1st round draft pick Ken Togame out of the starting rotation after two straight bad outings:

3/24 vs Yakult - 3 IP, 4 H, 0 SO, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 5 R, 3 ER
3/18 vs Hanshin - 4 IP, 8 H, 4 SO, 1 BB, 0 HBP, 6 R, 6 ER 

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The Lions announced today that, as part of their All-Time Baseball Project, they will be hosting Monday Pa-League on April 16.  Former Lion Yoshiaki Kanemura will be on hand as a guest and fans will have a chance to taking fielding practice with him after the game (he will hit one grounder to each fan that participates).

Shigenobu Shima worked out with the rest of the Ichi-gun players at Seibu Dome today for the first time since being traded to the team

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Esteban German has six stolen bases in six attempts over eight exhibition games.  With Yasuyuki Kataoka still not ready to rejoin the Ichi-gun team (working his way back from left shoulder surgery in October 2011), the Lions see German as a possible temporary fill-in at the top of the batting order.

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The Lions will be giving away free Lions Omiya Limited flags to fans that attend their game against the Orix Buffaloes on April 14 at Omiya Stadium.

Yasuyuki Kataoka may not make it back in time for opening day.  Kataoka suffered a dislocated shoulder in October 2011 and is currently rehabbing at Ni-gun.  He took light batting practice on Friday, but is still working out separately from the main group.

The Lions do not want to rush Kataoka back and will likely have him take as much time as he needs in order to get back to 100%.

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The Seibu Lions could not use Seibu Dome on Friday because preparations were being made for an AKB48 event on Saturday.

The Seibu Lions announced today that Yasuyuki Kataoka will undergo surgery on his left shoulder on 10/12.

UPDATE 10/13 @ 4:10pm - The Lions announced today that Kataoka had successful surgery on his left shoulder (dislocation complications) on Wednesday and will now begin working towards a full recovery for 2012 season.

Yasuyuki Kataoka was taken off the active roster today with left shoulder pain.

Kataoka injured the shoulder during the same game in which he suffered a cerebral concussion (6/28 vs Orix; banged his head on the ground while making a tough play).

UPDATE @ 6:44pm - Hisanobu Watanabe told reporters that Kataoka approached him and said he was hurting, was afraid of further injury, and that he felt he wouldn't be able to make the necessary plays in order to help the team win.  There is currently no timeline for his return.  Surgery is also being considered.

Yasuyuki Kataoka was taken off the active roster today with a right shoulder dislocation.

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.

Tatsuya Oishi threw 43 pitches in the bullpen on Tuesday (3/1) in preparation for his exhibition game start against the Yomiuri Giants on Wednesday (3/2).  He is expected to pitch 2 innings on Wednesday and will be allowed to mix in his off-speed pitches, like his curve and fork.

Yusei Kikuchi and Kazuhisa Makita are also scheduled to make appearances in the game on Wednesday.

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Yasuyuki Kataoka (right foot pain) worked out with the Ichi-gun roster at Seibu Dome on Tuesday.  He also took BP against Kazuyuki Hoashi.  Kataoka will likely be with the team for their exhibition games on 2/2 and 2/3 (both vs Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome), but whether or not he'll be able to play is still not yet known.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

===== 2/13 @ 10:17pm

Today marked the end of the third block of spring camp.  Hisanobu Watanabe announced the following player changes: Hidekazu Hoshi and Ryo Hayashizaki (5th round) will be demoted to Ni-gun camp; Masahiro Abe will be promoted to Ichi-gun camp.

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Hideaki Wakui faced 11 batters during situational BP today and gave up 2 hits and struck out 2.

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Chikara Onodera faced Shogo Saito and Shogo Akiyama (3rd round) during BP today and had a chance to check on his fastball.

Watanabe watched the session from behind the mound and later told reporters that while Onodera had a fair outing, he noticed that inflexibility in his hip region was causing Onodera to lose control of his pitches at times.

===== 2/13 @ 1:59pm

Owner Takashi Goto is visiting Ichi-gun camp in Nango, Okinawa today.

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Yasuyuki Kataoka (sprained right foot) workouts yesterday included general warm-ups and indoor BP in the cages.

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Shogo Akiyama (3rd round) may have won himself a few exhibition game opportunities in right with his 2-hit, 1 stolen base performance during situational BP yesterday.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

===== 2/10 @ 11:09pm

Fumiya Nishiguchi faced 12 batters during situational BP today and gave up 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4.  There was a lot of wind blowing during the session that Nishiguchi had to stop at one point to blow his nose.

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Shogo Akiyama (3rd round) took part in situational BP today and collected 3 hits and a stolen base.

===== 2/10 @ 3:14pm

Hideaki Wakui threw about 50 pitches in the bullpen today; he also threw some change-ups for the first time this spring.  Wakui is scheduled to make an appearance during situational BP tomorrow.

Takayuki Kishi also threw a bullpen session today: he had the catcher sit for the first time this spring and tossed over pitches.  Kishi has been taking things slow during spring camp since he's coming off a right shoulder injury.

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Yasuyuki Kataoka worked out under a different training menu today.  Kataoka is currently nursed a sprained right foot and told reporters he felt he might be ready to rejoin the team for regular practice beginning on the 15th (the next block).

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The Lions drew about 2,300 fans yesterday.

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A little more from Tatsuya Oishi's (1st round) outing as a BP pitcher yesterday: all 53 pitches were fastballs; 43 of 53 pitches made contact with a bat; 30 of the 43 pitches that made contact with a bat were either fouled off or hit into the air; Oishi gave himself a 70% and said that there were a lot of pitches he left high because they slipped out of his hand; he also said that batters were fouling off pitches that he was able to get strikeouts on when he pitched in college.

Oishi is scheduled to participate in situational BP on the 18th and could also pitch in an intra-squad game on the 20th (there's a chance he could be starting against Yusei Kikuchi).

And two scouts offered their opinions on Oishi's outing:

Yokohama Bay Stars - "His arms comes around late.  It seems like [batters] might have a tough time getting their timing down.  He looks like Kazuhiro Sasaki.  If he's on, he's going to be a tough pitcher."

Rakuten Eagles - "Being left-handed is a plus, he also has potential.  It all depends on the team, but I think he could make the active roster as a reliever."