Fujikawa to call it quits
Hanshin Tigers reliever and former Chicago Cub and Texas Ranger Kyuji Fujikawa announced Monday he would retire at the end of the 2020 season. Fujikawa had been relegated to middle relief after returning from the States in 2016, but was called on to close in 2019 and saved all 16 of his regular season opportunities.
See his Kyodo News’ interview from last year.
Old business
Here are some notes that did not make it into blog posts the past week or so.
Omine, Watanabe added to 70-man rosters
The Lotte Marines re-signed pitcher Yuta Omine on Aug. 24. The right-hander had Tommy John surgery in January, 2019, and at the end of last season was released and signed to a non-roster developmental contract.
On Monday, the SoftBank Hawks signed lefty Yuta Watanabe, who will turn 29 this month from their developmental roster. Watanabe was taken in the sixth round of the 2017 developmental draft.
In three Western League seasons, Watanabe has pitched 38 innings. He has allowed 31 hits, one home run and 10 walks, while striking out 54, so this could be interesting.
Tigers, Buffaloes swap pitchers
On Friday, Aug. 28, the Hanshin Tigers dealt lefty Yuya Iida to the Orix Buffaloes for right-hander Keisuke Kobayashi. Iida, had arrived in a summer 2017 trade from the SoftBank Hawks.
Active roster moves 8/31/2020
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 9/10
Central League
Activated
None
Dectivated
| BayStars | P | 12 | Kousuke Sakaguchi |
| Tigers | OF | 9 | Shun Takayama |
| Carp | OF | 37 | Takayoshi Noma |
| Dragons | P | 41 | Akiyoshi Katsuno |
| Swallows | P | 69 | Ryuta Konno |
| Swallows | IF | 10 | Takahiro Araki |
| Swallows | OF | 65 | Shotaro Tashiro |
Pacific League
Activated
None
Dectivated
| Eagles | IF | 6 | Kazuya Fujita |
| Marines | P | 86 | Jose Flores |
| Fighters | IF | 58 | Toshitake Yokoo |
| Buffaloes | P | 27 | Andrew Albers |
Starting pitchers for Sept. 1, 2020
Pacific League
Fighters vs Eagles: Sapporo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Naoyuki Uwasawa (4-2, 3.02) vs Wataru Karashima (0-1, 6.52)
Marines vs Lions: Zozo Marine Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yuta Omine (-) vs Kona Takahashi (3-6, 5.57)
Buffaloes vs Hawks: Kyocera Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-2, 3.38) vs Kodai Senga (5-2, 3.67)
Central League
Giants vs BayStars: Tokyo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Tomoyuki Sugano (9-0, 1.61) vs Taiga Kamichatani (0-1, 5.40)
Dragons vs Carp: Nagoya Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yudai Ono (4-3, 2.64) vs Allen Kuri (2-3, 4.59)
Tigers vs Swallows: Koshien Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Haruto Takahashi (2-1, 0.82) vs Masanori Ishikawa (0-2, 5.55)
