5/19/2004
5/19/2004
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Team Reports
| Hanshin | |
| The Tigers front office is reportedly looking at signing a foreign
starting pitcher. Among the names mentioned as possible additions are Philadelphia's
Amaury Telemaco, Pittsburgh's Mark Corey, and the Cubs' Glendon Rusch.
But what they will do with their other three foreign hurlers at this point is unknown. There is a four foreign player limit for the top team roster at any given time. They have two other non-Japanese players, George Arias and Mike Kinkade. Somebody could perhaps be moved in a trade, though. |
Speaking of Arias, he didn't pull his hamstring, but does have an
inflammation of the muscle and will be unable to start at least until the
25th. However, he willbe available for pinch hit duty, though he will have
to be removed for a pinch runner if he reaches base.
To compensate for Arias being on the bench, Manager Akinobu Okada will resort to a two platoon system. Against righthanders, rookie Takashi Toritani will play third and Ikuro Katsuragi will be stationed at first. Against southpaws. Yoshinori Okihara will fill in at third and Kentaro Sekimoto will be penciled in at first. |
| Chunichi | |
| Rookie Koji Nakamura reportedly may be promoted from the farm and inserted into the four hole in the lineup while rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome is away at the Athens Olympics. Nakamura, a fifth round draft choice, is hitting .313 with four homers and 17 RBIs | in the Western League.
Pitcher Shigeki Noguchi needs seven strikeouts for 1000. He will start ont he 20th against Hiroshima. |
| Yomiuri | |||
Bryan Corey arrived in Japan Wednesday and had his introductory
press conference. He will see his first action in Japan in the minors as
a tune up for his eventual promotion to the big club later down the line.
His outpitch is reportedly a circle change that he learned from Greg Maddux.
He also said that he hopes to be as good a closer as Kazuhiro Sasaki has
been and hopes to finish his career in Japan. One interesting biographical
note: he was originally drafted by Detroit as a shortstop.
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As an interesing sidelight to the Corey addition, Sankei Sports
says that Yomiuri is still interested in Juan Acevedo.
Hisanori Takahashi threw 30 pitches in the bullpen Wednesday. It
was his first throwing session since injuring his ankle April 23rd. He
pronounced himself at about 70%.
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| Yakult | |
| Shugo Fujii made a minor league rehab start Tuesday and went six
innings while allowing a run on two hits and being clocked at 90mph.
This has lead to a plan now to bring him up to the big club by the |
29th. He will be put in a setup role. For now, though, he has another
minor league start scheduled on the 25th.
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| Hiroshima | |
| Manager Koji Yamamoto says he has no intention of moving shortstop Andy Sheets out ot the cleanup slot, at least for now. | Sheets, a former Devil Ray, is batting .247.
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| Yokohama | |
| The team's front office is reportedly looking at a couple of Korean pitchers, one with Doosan and a submariner with Samsung. They | only gave the kanji equivalents and I don't know how those transliterate to Korean, so sorry I haven't given the names here. |
| Miscellaneous | ||
| New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui broke skid Wednesday
that had seen him go hitless in 13 straight plate appearances at Angels Stadium against the Angels, cracking a single in three at bats and scoring a run. He also walked twice in a 4-2 Bronx Bombers victory.
Shingo Takatsu made an appearance Wednesday against Cleveland for the Chicago White Sox and walked two in his one inning of work, but neither of them scored to continue a string of ten appearances in which he himself was not charged with a run. The Sox won 15-3. Shortstop Kazuo Matsui was hitless in four at bats Wednesday against St. Louis in a 1-0 loss by the New York Mets. He was also charged with his eight error on a throw to first. So Taguchi played in that game, too, but only as a defensive replacement. |
Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki's 16 game hitting streak
ended Wednesday when he went 0-3 with two walks against Baltimore
in another defeat by the bottom feeding ballclub. San Diego reliever Akinori Otsuka pitched in both ends of a double header against Pittsburgh Wednesday. In the first game, he tossed a perfect eighth inning. In the nightcap, he went 0.2 innings, surrendering a hit and a walk and striking out one as his team swept both ends. Hideo Nomo started for L.A. against Philadelphia and left in the second with a fingernail problem. He was charged with a run on two hits and was hung with the defeat in an eventual 9-4 loss. Tickets for the Fresh All Star Game, which sees the cream of the
minor league crop as well as rookies playing with their respective top
clubs face off in an East-West battle, go on sale on the 23rd. It will
be held July 9th at Osaka Dome. You can get tickets at Ticket Pia outlets
and Lawson's convenience stores.
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