Lots of stories off the field on Wednesday, so better to break today’s posts into news and games.
News
Yanagita returns
Almost a month after he was expected to return, SoftBank Hawks star Yuki Yanagita was activated and put into the starting lineup on Wednesday, when he batted second as the designated hitter. He injured the muscles in his left knee on April 7, in his ninth game of the season.
On Tuesday, “Gita” took BP at Yafuoku Dome, taking 77 swings with reporters doing what Japanese reporters do by reporting that he cleared the wall on 25 of those according to the Sankei Sports.
In six rehab games on the farm, Yanagita went 4-for-12.
“I want to do my best over the remaining 29 games,” he said Tuesday. “Everyone else has carried their weight for 100 games or more. I have so much respect for them.”
Yanagita is the only player in NPB history other than Hall of Famer Sadaharu Oh to lead his league in both on-base percentage and slugging average for four-straight seasons, a run that will end this year.
Carp rate Sasaki, Okugawa as top H.S. prospects
Hiroshima Carp scouts met on Wednesday and while discussing 27 different high school prospects rated a pair of hard-throwing high school pitchers as the top players in October’s NPB draft. The two are Yasunobu Okugawa of Ishikawa Prefecture’s Seiryo High School and Roki Sasaki of Iwate Prefecture’s Ofunato High School.
The head of the Carp’s scouting departing Toshihiko Sonoda, said, “If you put Okugawa into our rotation at this moment, he could win about 10 games. If you had one game to win, Sasaki could throw a shutout for you. He’s a different kind of animal.”
Both pitchers have been named to Japan’s team for the U-18 World Cup.
Mann diagnosed with elbow inflammation
Lotte Marines lefty Brandon Mann was diagnosed on Wednesday with inflammation in the flexor tendon of his pitching elbow. He felt pain in the joint while pitching against Orix in Osaka on Saturday and was deactivated.
Messenger pitches in rehab assignment
Veteran Hanshin Tigers right-hander Randy Messenger (3) pitched for the first time in over a month on Wednesday, when he allowed two runs over three innings for the Tigers’ farm team.
Messenger, who last pitched on July 10, returned to the United States on July 27 for treatment on his right shoulder. He said Wednesday, when his fastball touched 148 kilometers per hour, that he was able to pitch without pain.
Lions to make worthy offer to keep Akiyama
Although he declined to go into specifics, Seibu Lions general manager Hisanobu Watanabe said Tuesday that the club would talk with center fielder and offensive spark plug Shogo Akiyama after the season and try to persuade him to remain in Tokorozawa.
“Will make an offer that won’t be embarrassing,” Watanabe said.
The Lions have a poor record with the last two big free agents they hoped to keep, pitcher Takayuki Kishi and second baseman Hideto Asamura. When Kishi received an offer from Rakuten, the Lions chose not to negotiate further, saying, “He has our offer.”
