John Bowker will likely be given a shot to see if he can handle hitting in the middle of the order (from the third to fifth spot) during games in early March.  Bowker could get his first chance during an exhibition game against the Seibu Lions on March 3.

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The Giants are toying with the idea of using Scott Mathieson as a starter and are planning to have him pitch two or more innings an outing from here on out.

Much could also depend Yuya Kubo's status -- as of now, he is making good progress and might be ready by opening day.

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Ikusei pitcher Kyohei Odachi will likely remain with the Ichi-gun team at least until mid-March.

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Toshiya Sugiuchi is slated to start an exhibition game against the Seibu Lions on March 3.

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Hirokazu Sawamura suggested to Ryosuke Miyaguni that long distance throwing might be better for building up the arm than bullpen sessions.

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Shuichi Murata could get opportunities to bat clean-up this year in order to take some of the pressure/workload off Shinnosuke Abe.

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Some batting stats through Tuesday:

• Bowker is 7-for-18 with three homers over seven games.
• Murata is 7-for-16 with two homers and six RBI.

The Giants closed out spring camp in Miyazaki today.

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Through Monday, Ryosuke Miyaguni has not allowed a run over seven innings of work (three games).

Miyaguni's parents visited camp on Sunday and were apparently a little concerned at how worn out their son looked looked during practices.

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Tatsunori Hara was upset about two plays Daisuke Fujimura and Taishi Ota were involved in during Monday's practice game against the SK Wyverns:

• Fujimura failed to make a strong/accurate cut-off throw to home plate in the 1st inning, allowing one (possibly two) runs to score.
• Ota did not charge a fly ball in the 2nd inning.

====== UPDATE 2/29 @ 1:11am

A libel case involving Hayato Sakamoto and a Shukan Asahi Geino article from June 16, 2011 ended peacefully with a formal written apology by the editor-in-chief in exchange for dropping the damage claims against Tokuma Shoten (publisher).

Through Monday, Ikusei pitcher Kyohei Odachi has struck out seven of the twelve batters he has faced over 3.2 innings of work (three games).

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Head coach Kaoru Okazaki told reporters on Sunday that they will probably tinker with the line-up when they return to Tokyo.  One possibility: Hisayoshi Chono batting lead-off and John Bowker batting third.

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Hirokazu Sawamura wants to throw his fastball, on average, at 150km/h.

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Sponichi mentions that Ryosuke Miyaguni, Kentaro Nishimura, and Dicky Gonzalez are competing for the sixth spot in the starting rotation.  Miyaguni could get two more starts: March 4 vs Seibu and March 11 vs Hanshin.

The first five spots will likely go to Tetsuya Utsumi, Toshiya Sugiuchi, Hirokazu Sawamura, D.J. Houlton, and Shun Tono.

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General pitching coach Kazuhisa Kawaguchi figures starters will begin throwing 100 pitches during their exhibition game starts beginning with one of their games at Kyocera Dome, which means sometime around March 13.

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Tatsunori Hara spent about an hour working with Taishi Ota on his hitting today.  He also personally threw him ninety-three pitches.

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With the exhibition game against the Chiba Lotte Marines canceled due to the rain, Takayuki Takaguchi ran onto the field, introduced himself as a player that arrived from the Chiba Lotte Marines, and proceeded to run and slide across the tarp on the field.  Kenji Yano and Chiba Lotte Marine Shota Ishimine also joined in.

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Hirokazu Sawamura was scheduled to start Sunday's exhibition game against the Chiba Lotte Marines but the rain out pushed his outing to Monday (practice game vs SK Wyverns).

Ryosuke Miyaguni is also scheduled to pitch on Monday.

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General pitching coach Kazuhisa Kawaguchi told reporters on Saturday that at this point, Shun Tono will likely make the starting rotation.

Shun Tono, Dicky Gonzalez, and Yasunari Takagi all worked out at Okinawa Cellular Stadium Naha on their day off today.

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Yoshinobu Takahashi worked out on his day off today.  Takahashi has been taking things slow ever since he started feeling discomfort in his right leg during a game against the Rakuten Eagles on February 21 (he fouled a ball off his right shin).  Workouts today included running and playing catch.  Said Takahashi, "I just wanted to check on things and I am ready to return [to regular practices]."

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Hisayoshi Chono and Tetsuya Yamaguchi visited DFS Galleria Okinawa for a talk session with fans on their day off today.

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Toshiya Sugiuchi's next outing will likely come in an exhibition game against the Seibu Lions on March 3.

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Through Thursday, Scott Mathieson has not allowed a hit or a run over four innings of work (three games) but has walked/hit eight batters.

The Ichi-gun Giants have the day off tomorrow.

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The Yomiuri Giants donated baseball memorabilia (autographed bats, caps, ten boxes of baseballs) to the Okinawa Victim Support Center on Thursday.

The practice game against the Yakult Swallows was canceled today because of the rain.

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Pro wrestler Tiger Mask visited Okinawa Cellular Stadium Naha today and met with Tatsunori Hara.

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Tetsuya Utsumi could start Thursday's game against the LG Twins.

Hirokazu Sawamura could start an exhibition game against Lotte on February 26.

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John Bowker is trying to improve his English by watching NHK News in Japanese.

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Through Tuesday, Shuichi Murata was 5-for-10 with one homer and five RBI over three games.

====== UPDATE 2/23 @ 1:27am

Hara, GM Atsushi Harasawa, and players visited Okinogu Shrine in Ono Yama Koen before Tuesday's practice game.  The team was originally planning to visit the shrine on Monday but their plans were derailed when they experienced delays with their flight.

Strategy coach Hideki Hashigami will personally make rounds at other spring camp locations, beginning with the Hanshin Tigers (Ginoza) on Wednesday, followed by the Chunichi Dragons (Chatan) on Thursday.  He also held a meeting with the team's advance scouts on Monday.

Hashigami is planning to something similar in March when teams begin playing more exhibition games.

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Michihiro Ogasawara, Kazunari Sanematsu, Yoshiyuki Kamei, and Taishi Ota worked out on their day off on Monday.  Of the four, only Ogaswara did not taking any batting practice.  Scott Mathieson and John Bowker spent some time working with weights.

The Giants had the day off today.

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Tetsuya Utsumi and GM Atsushi Harasawa visited the Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum today.

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A number players, including Kentaro Nishimura, Satoshi Fukuda, Hirokazu Sawamura, Scott Mathieson, Michihiro Ogasawara, Yoshiyuki Kamei, John Bowker, Kazunari Sanematsu, and Taishi Ota, spent their day off working out at Cellular Stadium Naha today.

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Tatsunori Hara worked directly with Ota on his hitting after his abysmal 0-for-3 performance on Sunday that included a strikeout and a GIDP.

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About 100 people with connections to Itoman High School showed their support for Ryosuke Miyaguni by attending Sunday's game against the Hanshin Tigers.  His parents and sister were also in the stands.

Miyaguni's next outing will come on either February 25 (vs DeNA) or February 26 (vs Lotte).

Today was the last day of the fourth block of spring camp for the Ichi-gun Giants and the end of the third block of spring camp for the Ni-gun Giants.  The team has the day off tomorrow.

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Shun Tono may be fighting to secure a five or six spot in the starting rotation, since Tetsuya Utsumi, Toshiya Sugiuchi, Hirokazu Sawamura, and D.J. Houlton will most likely take the first four spots.

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Shigeo Nagashima can see Shuichi Murata batting three, four, or five in the line-up.