NPB 2020 AUG. 31

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

BayStarsP12Kousuke Sakaguchi
TigersOF9Shun Takayama
CarpOF37Takayoshi Noma
DragonsP41Akiyoshi Katsuno
SwallowsP69Ryuta Konno
SwallowsIF10Takahiro Araki
SwallowsOF65Shotaro Tashiro

Pacific League

Activated

None

Dectivated

EaglesIF6Kazuya Fujita
MarinesP86Jose Flores
FightersIF58Toshitake Yokoo
BuffaloesP27Andrew 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)

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