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Takeru Imamura is scheduled to pitch in Saturday's intra-squad game.

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/8/2013

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Kenta Kurihara spent about two hours taking batting practice against pitching machines after general workouts today.

Source: Sports Hochi 2/8/2013

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Yuya Fukui turned twenty-five today.

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4th round draft pick Ko Shimozuru has apparently won the right to stick around at Ichi-gun camp for a bit longer.

Source: Sanspo 2/8/2013

Wednesday night game, Hanshin Tigers vs Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium.

Top of the 5th inning, runners on first and second and two out.

Craig Brazell up to bat.  Yuya Fukui on the mound for Hiroshima.

With the count 1-1, Fukui threw a pitch inside that brushed Brazell back.

After two bench-clearing moments, Brazell gets ejected for provoking Hiroshima.

Sun TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJFYoifP3SY

JSports 1

Incidentally, this was Brazell's second ejection of his NPB career.  The other came in a game against the Chunichi Dragons on September 9, 2010.

UPDATE 4/12 @ 11:29am - Sports Hochi Osaka is carrying the following quote from the home plate umpire:

"I did say that [Brazell] was eject for provoking Hiroshima, but I was specifically referring to him starting the second bench-clearing incident.  Things settled down after the first time and then they started back up again.  [I am not sure about Hiroshima heckling Brazell,] Hanshin did mention something, but I was trying to get the game moving.  I was looking at the pitcher so I can not confirm.  If you were to say I was not looking, that would be the case, but there was really nothing I could do."

Brazell is also quoted as saying, "I know [Fukui] was not throwing at me.  But he glared at me a little."

Another Sports Hochi Osaka report includes this quote from Hiroshima GM Kiyoaki Suzuki: "I would like to hear [what the ump was thinking].  Perhaps he thought it was not such a big deal that [Brazell] went toward the mound.  But then it becomes a question of whether he thinks it is ok that young pitchers can be intimidated.  The ump needs to make the right call."

UPDATE 4/12 @ 12:14pm - Sponichi has a slightly different quote from Brazell: "[Fukui] glared at me a bit.  The second time a Hiroshima coach was saying something to me."

And a quote from Fukui: "I did not say anything to anyone, I did not do anything.  I just looked [at Brazell]."

UPDATE 4/12 @ 5:10pm - Brazell was given a stern warning and fined 100,000 yen by the commissioner's office today.

UPDATE 4/13 @ 1:50pm - According to Sanspo, the Tigers sat down with Brazell to get his side of the story and filed a report with the commissioner's office (not a protest).

Wednesday's Ni-gun game against Chunichi (Dragons 10 - Carp 3): Yuya Fukui started the game and allowed right runs on ten hits and three wild pitches over a five innings of work.  He also gave up a three-run homer to Kei Nomoto in the 3rd inning. [Sponichi, Sports Hochi Osaka]

Tuesday's Ni-gun game against Chunichi (Carp 2 - Dragons 1): Kan Otake started the game and allowed one run on six hits over six innings of work.  He also threw seventy-four pitches and topped out at 144km/h. [Nikkan Sports]

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The Carp announced on Thursday that they will loan Ikusei pitcher Kyosuke Yamano to the Kagawa Olive Guyners (Island League) between April 4 and the end of October.  Kagawa's announcement.

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Kan Otake will likely make his first regular season start on April 3 against the Yomiuri Giants at Mazda Stadium.  Yuya Fukui could follow with a start on April 4.

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Yuya Fukui will likely start and throw fifty to sixty pitches during Wednesday's exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants.

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Nick Stavinoha, who had been taken things slow due to an inguinal hernia, returned to working out with the rest of the team today.

"I am making good progress.  I still do not know when I will be able to play in games though." said Stavinoha.

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Kenta Maeda complained of some tightness in his left buttock after losing his footing on the mound during his outing against the Chunichi Dragons on Sunday.  It apparently was not serious as he told reporters on Monday that he was feeling fine.

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Batting coach Kojiro Machida had a number of players swing around a bat with a wide flat fin during practice today.

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Yoshihiro Maru rejoined the Ichi-gun Carp for full practices today.  Maru was sent down to Ni-gun on February 12 after he was diagnosed with pharyngitis.

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According to Daily Sports, assuming no injuries during spring camp, the first five spots in the starting rotation could go Kenta Maeda, Bryan Bullington, Yuya Fukui, Kan Otake, and 1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura.

Jumpei Shinoda, Yuki Saito, Kyohei Nakamura, Keisuke Imai, and Shota Nakazaki could all end up competing for the last spot in the rotation.

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Shinoda is trying to shorten his delivery because he tends to think too much when he includes short pauses.  He is also planning to throw more curveballs this year.

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Today was the last day of the second block of spring camp.  The team has the day off tomorrow.

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Kenta Maeda jokingly told reporters today that he wants to be the opening day starter because one of his favorite actresses, Emi Takei, will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch that day.

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1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura is scheduled to toss another bullpen session on February 11.

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Koji Yamamoto visited Ichi-gun camp in Okinawa on Wednesday.  He also spent about thirty minutes working with Shota Dobayashi on his swing.

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Shota Nakazaki will get the practice game start against the Nippon Ham Fighters on February 11.

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Saho Narushima told reporters that her husband, Maeda, calls her every day.

Training camp for the 2011 draft class started at the Ono training facilities today.  Workouts lasted about four hours and included running and playing catch.

The players also had a chance to meet veteran Tomonori Maeda.

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Yuya Fukui's workouts this month have started at 10am and ended at 4pm.  He has also already tossed BP (while mixing in off-speed pitches) to Yasuyuki Kataoka (SEI).  Fukui will continue his practices at the Tokyo Gas training facilities until 1/21 before heading to Okinawa on 1/24.

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Tomonori Maeda worked out for about five hours at the Ono training facilities in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima on Wednesday.  His workouts included playing catch, soft toss BP, and fielding practice.

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Kenta Maeda's new wife has a license as a Dietary Life Advisor and has been giving Maeda tips on what kinds of foods to eat.

Hanshin Tigers

Kenji Jojima did some throwing during practice today, including long distance throws (at about 80 meters) and throwing the ball between third and first while sitting.  Jojima told reporters he felt confident about being ready and catch an exhibition game as earlya s the 16th (vs Lotte).

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Sanspo notes that Atsushi Nomi has never suffered a broken nail and hates using the rosin bag.

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Matt Murton went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts yesterday.  After the game, he stayed back for about 2 hours (game ended at 3:47pm and he left the stadium at 5:43pm) and apparently spent some time talking to batting coaches Yutaka Wada and Atsushi Kataoka.  Seems Murton was trying to see if the coaches noticed anything wrong -- he wanted to make sure he was doing what he wanted and not falling into any bad habits.

FYI: Murton went 0-for-3 today (strikeout, fly out to center, GIDP).

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Craig Brazell was 5-for-12 in 5 exhibition games, heading into today.  He also picked up another hit today (he went 1-for-2) and has now hit safely in 5 straight games.

Yomiuri Giants

Shugo Fujii will be starting tomorrow's Ikusei League game against Seibu (at Seibu).

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Jonathan Albaladejo threw 38 pitches in the bullpen yesterday.  No word on when he'll be pitching, but he will be joining the Ichi-gun roster on the 11th (vs Hiroshima at Mazda Stadium).

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Hayato Sakamoto started wearing new cleats on the 8th.  In terms of size and shape, they're basically the same as last year, but their about 10 grams lighters (from 310 to under 300).

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From yesterday's Ikusei League game today vs Yokohama:

Micheal Nakamura entered the game in the 6th and tossed a shutout inning in relief; he also gave up 1 hit.

Takayuki Terauchi started at short and batted 2nd.  He collected a hit in all 4 of his trips to the plate.

Yakult Swallows

Kentaro Kyuko (5th round) wore contact lens during his outing yesterday after he had trouble reading the signs from the catcher during his first outing on the 6th.

Hiroshima Carp

Yuya Fukui (1st round) started an Ikusei League game today (his first "pro" start) against Softbank and gave up 2 runs on 6 hits over 3 innings of work.  He also topped out at 139km/h and was charged with a balk.

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Kenta Maeda's got his new insoles (2 pairs for his cleats and 2 pairs for his training sneakers) yesterday.  Maeda started using the insoles last summer and found them to be beneficial in relieving the strain from his legs.

Maeda was first introduced Matsumoto Gishi Seisakusho (the company that makes the insoles) in late May 2010.  When he visited them for a fitting, they took a mold of his feet and also videotaped him (hi-speed camera) while walking and running.

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Tomohiro Umetsu threw 111 pitches in the bullpen yesterday.

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.

Hanshin Tigers

Kenji Jojima caught about 80 pitches in the bullpen yesterday (Minoru Iwata and Kosuke Kato).

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Matt Murton on his hitting:

I'm making an outs, so I'm not too happy about the results, but I think things are improving.  Right now, it's not only about getting ready for the start of the season, but also about trying new things out.    The next 2 weeks are going to be very important.  I felt pretty good during my last two at bats (referring to yesterday's game) so if I can keep that up...

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Ryuji Wakatake's next outing will likely come during an Ikusei League game against Softbank on either the 8th or 9th.

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As of last night: Wei-Chu Lin was 8-for-24 with 3 RBI over 11 spring games (intra-squad, practice, and exhibition). ... Daiki Enokida (1st round) has 7 strikeouts in 5 exhibition game innings.

Yomiuri Giants

Hirokazu Sawamura (1st round) is working on pitching out of the wind, after spending most of his time pitching out of the set position.  Seems pitching coach Kazuhisa Kawaguchi would like to see Sawamura use more of his body when pitching.

Hiroshima Carp

Yuya Fukui (1st round) topped out at 145km/h during his outing yesterday against the Chiba Lotte Marines.  That's 1km/h faster than the highs throw by Yuki Saito (1st round; HAM) and Tasuya Oishi (1st round; SEI) so far this year.