=== 3/26/2010 1:16am JST

...Shigeru Takada told reporters that the team's success lies in the hands of the young starters like Yoshinori Sato and Kyohei Muranaka.  He also added that Aaron Guiel and Jamie D'Antona need to have strong seasons in order for the line-up to score runs.

...The Swallows held night practice at Tokyo Dome on Thursday.

Shohei Tateyama was supposed to pitch at Ni-gun, but with the rain washing out the game, he ended up pitching in a simulated game at Tokyo Dome.  He threw 64 pitches and faced 21 batters.  Tateyama gave up only one hit, a home run to Shinichi Takeuchi.

Tateyama's first start will likely be against the Chunichi Dragons on the 30th.

=== 3:35pm JST

...The Swallows have one rookie on their opening day roster: Takahiro Araki.  With lefty Tetsuya Utsumi starting the opening day game at Tokyo Dome on Friday, the right-handed hitting Araki might find himself in the starting line-up.

...The Swallows may only be carrying two catchers on the opening day roster, but that might have something to do with the fact that Jamie D'Antona can also catch in emergencies.  And to that end, it seems D'Antona began incorporating drills from behind the plate on Wednesday so that he won't be entirely rusty if he's ever needed to catch.

...The Swallows will start Masanori Ishikawa, Yoshinori Sato, and Kyohei Muranaka against the Yomiuri Giants for the opening series at Tokyo Dome.

...Norichika Aoki got in some extra BP after general practice on Wednesday.  Against the Yomiuri Giants last year, Aoki went 23-for-86 with 1 home run and 7 RBI (the lowest overall offensive totals against CL teams).

...The Swallows held a meeting for pitchers and catchers on Wednesday.

...Hiroyasu Tanaka's official website has opened.  The Tanaka Seats are also back again this year, as are a new set of seats called the Wazabito Seats.

...Masanori Ishikawa is 3-1 on opening day.  If he wins on opening day this year, he'll take the lead in franchise opening day victories.  Ishikawa is currently stuck in a four-way tie with Masaichi Kaneda, Hiromu Matsuoka, and Kazuhisa Ishii.

Ishikawa will take on the Yomiuri Giants on opening day.

...The Swallows only have two catchers on the their opening day rosters.

...Norichika Aoki's appearance on Nippon TV's News Zero has been bumped up a day to Wednesday (3/24).

=== 3/24/2010 12:20am JST

...The Swallows announced an event called 2010 Spring Day Game on Tuesday.  The first 2,000 fans that show up to games against the Yokohama Bay Stars on 4/4 and 4/4  wearing something that looks like Spring will be treated to some sake (soup for those that can't drink sake).  Winners of a raffle to be held after the game will also get a chance to step on the field and interact with the players.  For more information, check out the official Swallows' website.

...Norichika Aoki will be making an appearance on Nippon TV's News Zero on Thursday.

...Premium fan club members (15 groups of two) could have a chance to watch the Swallows' pre-game practice from the dugout on 4/3 and 4/4.

=== 3/23/2010 4:16pm JST

...Norichika Aoki showed off his new cleats designed by Hitoshi Mimura (三村仁司).  Aoki feels the new cleats will allow him win the stolen base crown in the CL this year.  He has already had a chance to test them out during exhibition play.

Aoki wore cleats by ASICS last season and switched over to Adidas this year.

...Takahiro Araki could make the starting line-up on opening day due to lefty-righty match-ups.  The Yomiuri Giants will be throwing Tetsuya Utsumi on opening day and the Swallows may decide to go with Araki.

If Araki does make the starting line-up, it'll be the first time a rookie has done so since 1970 when Kuniaki Nakamura got the opening day start (third base batting 7th).

...Kyohei Muranaka's first regular season start could be against the Yomiuri Giants on the 28th.

Muranaka's exhibition game outings:

4/21 vs Chunichi Dragons: 6 IP, 26 BF, 89 NP, 6 H, 5 SO, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 ER

4/14 vs Nippon Ham Fighters: 4 IP, 19 BF, 64 NP, 6 H, 3 SO, BB, 4 R, 4 ER

2/27 vs Yokohama Bay Stars: 4 IP, 14 BF, 67 NP, 3 H, 2 SO, 0 BB, 0 R, 0 ER

2/20 vs Chunichi Dragons: 4 IP, 17 BF, 62 NP, 5 H, 3 SO, 0 BB, 2 R, 2 ER

...The Swallows first three starters in the rotation will likely be: Masanori Ishikawa, Yoshinori Sato, and Muranaka.

...Tsubakuro fans: Tsubakuro will be featured in the anan that goes on sale on the 24th.

...The Swallows are teaming up with H.I.S. Shinjuku to bring three special deals to fans:

1. Fans that attend opening home games (a total 17 dates over the season, not including Inter-league play) can enter their names into a drawing (via a quiz on their mobile phones) for an overseas vacation package.
2. Fans can get 1,000 yen knocked off overseas tour packages they purchase at H.I.S. Shinjuku if they submit a Swallows ticket stub.
3. Sallows' fan club members can also get 1,000 yen discount on overseas tour packages just by showing their member cards.

...The Swallows played in their final exhibition game of the pre-season on Sunday.  They finished with a team batting average of .219, the lowest amongst all 12 NPB clubs.

...It seems Yoshinori Sato's solid pitching performance on Saturday earned him a regular season start against the Yomiuri Giants on the 27th.  Yoshinori relied primarily on his slider and fastball and topped out at 151km/h on the radar gun.

Yoshinori's final line: 7 IP, 25 BF, 94 NP, 2 H, 8 SO, 3 BB, 1 R, 1 ER.

...The Swallows announced on Saturday that Tetsuya Yamamoto had successful surgery on his right elbow and will be out for a year (TJ surgery?).

...Masanori Ishikawa had a solid start on Friday against the Chunichi Dragons (he kept most of his pitches down in the zone and induced 7 ground outs).  His only real blemish was a home run to Tony Blanco in the second.  His final line:

6 IP, 22 BF, 84 NP, 5 H, 4 SO, 0 BB, 1 R, 1 ER

The run was also the first he had given up during exhibition play.

...Ryohei Kawamoto rejoined the Ichi-gun team on Friday after being demoted to Ni-gun in order to recover from a left flank injury.

...Shohei Tateyama's first regular season start could come against the Chunichi Dragons on the 30th.  Incidentally, he also happened to top out at 150km/h during his outing on Thursday against the Hiroshima Carp.

=== 3/19/2010 12:28am JST

...Shohei Tateyama's exhibition game outings:

3/18 vs Hiroshima Carp: 5 IP, 18 BF, 65 NP, 2 H, 1 SO,1 BB, 1 R, 1 ER

3/11 vs Seibu Lions: 2 IP, 14 BF, 53 NP, 7 H, 3 SO, 1 B, 6 R, 6 ER

Tateyama told reporters after his start on Thursday that he was able to make the necessary adjustments to his cutter, shuto, and slider during the game, unlike in his last start.

...Yakult held a stockholders meeting and a board of directors meeting on Thursday.  Board members Katsutoshi Ohki and Junsei Atarashi (新純生 ?) were promoted to executive directors.  Kesanori Kurashima stepped down as managing director and was re-hired as a consultant.

=== 4:11pm JST

...Kenichi Matsuoka showed off the bone chip that was removed during his elbow cleaning in November 2009.

...With Ryo Kawashima giving up 7 runs over 6 innings on Wednesday, Tony Barnette might actually be closer to landing a starting rotation job despite what Takada Shigeru told reporters after Barnette's start on Tuesday.

=== 9:55pm JST

...Aaron Guiel went yard in his first at bat against the Orix Buffaloes on Tuesday.  He doubled that that total against the Hanshin Tigers on Wednesday and hit consecutive homers in his first two at bats of the game.  His final line: 3-for-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.  Guiel now has 5 home runs during exhibition play.

=== 5:55pm JST

...Shigeru Takada apparently isn't convinced that Tony Barnette is ready for the opening day starting rotation and told reporters after Tuesday's game against the Orix Buffaloes that he'll be keeping his eyes open for other possible candidates.

...At this point, the rotation will likely include Masanori Ishikawa, Yoshinori Sato, and Kyohei Muranaka.  Shohei Tateyama, Ryo Kawashima, Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi, Masato Nakazawa, and Barnette will all be competing for the final spots.  (Sanspo includes Tateyama in their rotation projection.)

Both Kawashima and Masubuchi were scheduled to start games on Wednesday -- Kawashima against the Hanshin Tigers and Masubuchi in an Ikusei League game against Seibu.  Kawashima didn't do too well.  His final line: 6 IP, 29 BF, 96 NP, 11 NP, 4 SO, 1 BB, 7 R, 7 ER.

...Aaron Guiel held a mini-meeting with Norichika Aoki after Tuesday's game against the Orix Buffaloes.  The reason?  The two had some trouble with communication in the outfield during the 4th inning: Alex Cabrera hit a ball into the gap and it seems Aoki and Guiel both paused, thinking the other was going after the ball; the hit ultimately ended up a double.

=== 11:50pm JST

...The Swallows held an event for its fan club members on Tuesday.  Shigeru Takada, Masanori Ishikawa, Shohei Tateyama, Yoshinori, Ryoji Aikawa, Hiroyasu Tanaka, Atsushi Fujimoto, Norichika Aoki,  Kazuki  Fukuchi, and Iihara Yasushi made appearances at the event (raffles, taking pictures with players, and a Q&A session with players).

=== 10:10pm JST

...Ryo Kawashima will be starting Wednesday's game against the Hanshin Tigers.

...Tony Barnette started Tuesday's game against the Orix Buffaloes and turned in better numbers than his first out.

First outing vs Chiba Lotte Marines on 3/10: 5 IP, 26 BF, 99 NP, 7 H, 2 SO, 2 BB, HBP, 6  R, 5 ER

Second outing vs Orix Buffaloes on 3/17: 7 IP, 28 BF, 110 NP, 7 H, 3 SO, 2 BB, R, ER

This was likely Bartnette's last outing prior to the start of the regular season.  He'll now spend most of his time working in the bullpen in game-like situations (like having a batter stand in the batter's box).

...Kenichi Matsuoka joined the Ichi-gun roster on Tuesday.  Matsuoka has working his way back from having his right elbow cleaned out in November 2009.  He has already made two appearances during Ikusei League games and even managed to hit 144km/h+ on the radar gun on the 13th against Shonan.  Matsuoka is hoping he'll be ready for the start of the season.

Last season it was the trio of Matsuoka, Ryota Igarashi, and Chang-Yong Lim.  This year it will likely be the trio of Takehiko Oshimoto, Matsuoka, and Lim.

...The Swallows official twitter account: swallowspr.  It seems they will also broadcast some games via Ustream.  Here's their official account page.