Exec apologizes for foreign delays

DeNA Baystars top executive Kazuaki Mihara, the club’s official representative to Nippon Professional Baseball, apologized Monday for the front office’s inability to get any of its 10 imported players into action this season until this past week, Baseball King reported.

The BayStars, who dumped manager Alex Ramirez last autumn and replaced him with their minor league manager and former ace pitcher Daisuke Miura, have started the season 3-15 with three ties, an NPB-worst .167 winning percentage.

“We’ve kept battling under difficult circumstances, and are in the midst of a losing streak,” Mihara said. “The biggest reason for that is we were late getting our imported players into the country.”

“We are the people who are charged with creating the environment and talent needed, and we have failed to do our jobs.

Mihara didn’t explain what his team’s problem was. Most teams were able to get their returning imports back in a timely fashion even when non-residents were blocked from entering Japan. While a few players came to Japan a few weeks early and were able to enter and get to camp before a state of emergency tightened entry restrictions in January.

Starting pitchers

Pacific League

Marines vs Fighters: Zozo Marine Stadium 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Ayumu Ishikawa (1-0, 1.29) vs Takayuki Kato (1-0, 1.71)

Buffaloes vs Lions: Kyocera Dome (Osaka) 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Daiki Tajima (1-1, 2.79) vs Towa Uema (0-1, 6.75)

Hawks vs Eagles: Kitakyushu Municipal Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Shunsuke Kasaya (1-1, 2.87) vs Takayuki Kishi (2-1, 1.29)

Central League

Giants vs Tigers: Tokyo Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Angel Sanchez (1-1, 3.86) vs Yuki Nishi (2-1, 1.23)

BayStars vs Dragons: Yokohama Stadium 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Shinichi Onuki (1-1, 4.58) vs Yudai Ono (0-2, 4.05)

Carp vs Swallows: Mazda Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Masato Morishita (2-1, 1.80) vs Kazuto Taguchi (0-2, 4.11)

Active roster moves 4/19/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 4/29

Central League

Activated

None

Dectivated

Pacific League

Activated

None

Dectivated