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Good evening all. It’s Monday, so no games, but we do have Tuesday’s starting pitchers, Monday’s roster moves, and a link to this week’s Japan Baseball Weekly Podcast, which includes my chat with former Lotte Marines pitcher and Astros cheating litigant, Mike Bolsinger.

I wrote a paid-content piece about why the DeNA BayStars have forced themselves into a position where they have to blame their current struggles on the manager they fired in November.

Due to Japan’s fourth coronavirus wave, a state of emergency was declared for Tokyo and the western prefectures of Kyoto, Osaka, and Hyogo until May 11 — not because the government thinks things will be better then, but because it wants to discourage travel during the Golden Week holidays.

This means Tuesday will see the first games held behind closed doors since July 9, three weeks after the 2020 season began three months late and with no fans. This will directly affect games at Tokyo Dome, Jingu Stadium, Koshien Stadium, and Kyocera Dome.

Starting pitchers

Pacific League

Lions vs Marines: MetLife Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Towa Uema (0-1, 6.75) vs Ayumu Ishikawa (1-0, 3.46)

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

Daiki Tajima (1-1, 3.47) vs Takayuki Kishi (2-2, 3.08)

Hawks vs Fighters: PayPay Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Shunsuke Kasaya (1-1, 3.60) vs Takayuki Kato (1-0, 2.77)

Central League

Swallows vs Giants: Jingu Stadium 5:30 pm, 4:30 am EDT

Kazuto Taguchi (1-2, 3.38) vs Seishu Hatake (2-1, 3.00)

Dragons vs Tigers: Vantelin Dome (Nagoya) 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Yudai Ono (0-2, 2.89) vs Yuki Nishi (3-1, 2.33)

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

Masato Morishita (2-2, 2.00) vs Shinichi Onuki (1-1, 3.28)

Active roster moves 4/26/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/6

Central League

Activated

None

Dectivated

Pacific League

Activated

None

Dectivated