Tag Archives: Masataka Yoshida

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NPB news July 21, 2022

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Here’s Thursday’s COVID scorecard.

Chunichi 2, DeNA 1, Lotte 1, Nippon Ham 1. Those are not runs but suspected cases of COVID-19 from their major league rosters. Among those were DeNA’s two-time home run champ, Neftali Soto, and Nippon Ham’s all-star third baseman Yuki James Nomura, who has been exhibiting symptoms but had yet to test positive.

They were dwarfed by the Yomiuri Giants’ toll in recent days. The team reported a total of 38 new infections, including coaches and staff, on Wednesday night, including a large chunk of their starting roster and ace pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano.

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On Thursday, the Giants announced they had suspended baseball activities after 41 players within the organization had tested positive in the past three days.

NPB also announced that it’s next commissioner will be 79-year-old Sadayuki Sakakibara, the former chairman of the Japan Business Federation and that he’ll replace the outgoing Atsushi Saito in November in one of Japan’s least important jobs.

Pacific League TV is again making things difficult, so no highlights tonight.

Thursday’s games

Buffaloes 4, Fighters 3: At Osaka Dome, Masataka Yoshida tied it with his second home run in two nights, a two-run sixth-inning shot off Cody Ponce (1-2). Yutaro Sugimoto singled, Joe McCarthy doubled and both scored on a ground ball to third, and an error by reserve infielder Takuya Kori, whose first career homer had put the Fighters up 2-0 in the fifth.

Marines 5, Lions 4: At Chiba Marine Stadium, Hiromi Oka singled in two runs in the ninth to tie it and Akito Takabe singled in the winning run as Kaima Taira (1-3), standing in for closer Taishi Masuda, blew a 4-2 lead.

Takashi Ogino and Shogo Nakamura reached in the first and scored off Seibu’s Tatsuya Imai with Toshiya Sato singling in one run to cap the rally. Seibu came back against Kota Futaki in the fourth on Hotaka Yamakawa’s 29th home run, and took the lead in the sixth, when Takeya Nakamura doubled in three.

Marines reliever Seiya Dohi, who pitched in just one game in the bigs last season, and hadn’t won since 2019, worked a scoreless ninth in his season debut to pick up the win.

Hawks 7, Eagles 0: At Fukuoka Dome, Kodai Senga (8-3) struck out eight over eight innings in a game that started as a tight pitchers’ duel against Rakuten veteran Takayuki Kishi (6-5).

Kenta Imamiya singled and scored the first of his three runs in the second, on a Takuya Kai double, and Yuki Yanagita opened the game u pwith a two-run fifth-inning triple.

Friday’s starting pitchers

Lions vs Eagles: Seibu Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Yutaro Watanabe (0-1, 7.56) vs Takahiro Norimoto (6-4, 3.08)

Buffaloes vs Hawks: Osaka Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Hiroya Miyagi (6-5, 3.53) vs Kazuki Sugiyama (1-3, 7.04)

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

Yasuhiro Ogawa (5-4, 2.51) vs Daichi Osera (7-5, 3.95)

Tigers vs BayStars: Koshien Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Koyo Aoyagi (10-1, 1.37) vs Yuya Sakamoto (0-2, 6.38)

Active roster moves 7/21/2022

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 7/31

Central League

Dectivated

SwallowsP47Keiji Takahashi
SwallowsIF7Seiichi Uchikawa
GiantsP11Ryuta Heinai
GiantsP18Tomoyuki Sugano
GiantsP31Yuji Akahoshi
GiantsP97Haruto Inoue
GiantsP99Matt Shoemaker
GiantsC24Takumi Oshiro
GiantsC27Yukinori Kishida
GiantsIF00Dai Yuasa
GiantsIF10Sho Nakata
GiantsIF25Kazuma Okamoto
GiantsIF52Takumi Kitamura
GiantsIF61Riku Masuda
GiantsOF8Yoshihiro Maru
DragonsP99Yohan Tavarez
DragonsOF52Shohei Kato

Pacific League

Activated

BuffaloesP21Daichi Takeyasu
MarinesIF55Adeiny Hechavarria
HawksP53Keisuke Izumi
FightersOF67Shoto Kataoka

Dectivated

BuffaloesP15Ren Mukunoki
HawksP60Ryota Nakamura
FightersP59Haruka Nemoto
FightersIF24Yuki Nomura

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Baseball, Free, News

NPB News: July 20, 2022

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We came oh so close to another no hitter on Wednesday, while coronavirus cases continue to surge in Japan, shining a light on Nippon Professional Baseball’s unexpected compassion.

There have been four no-hit shutouts in Japan this year, which ties 2022 with 1943 for second most in a season after the five thrown in 1940, when pitchers threw balls of mush.

We also hit a new record for coronavirus cases, crossing the 150,000 barrier just five days after we passed 110,000 for the first time. The positivity rate in Tokyo was down to 41.8 percent but that’s way above the norm so as testing increases, you know it’s going to soar a bit more before it calms down.

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And we thought they were the assholes

While Japanese pro baseball still prohibits vocal cheering at its games, full crowds are now a thing, and players have been let off the tight leash they were on in 2020 and 2021.

The one part of the NPB picture that has barely budged since the introduction of strict coronavirus measures when NPB re-opened for business in the pandemic on June 19, 2020, has been media access to players.

We are not allowed to enter clubhouses at any time, but we do have unlimited access to dugouts, the sidelines, and most stadium corridors players have to traverse. In those spaces, we are free to talk to anyone we like, although now and then some officious PR type will harass us when players chat a long time.

Since NPB restarted two years ago, reporters have been banned from areas where players are. Many parks require advance notice of reporters who intend to report on game.

Team media availability is strictly limited to online pressers, although this year, one member of the media, who has returned a negative test, is typically allowed into the room for each team participant, and they and they alone can ask one player or coach questions. Nobody else online is allowed to participate.

During the pandemic, teams’ social media presence has exploded to fill the gap. Between that and the relaxing of most other coronavirus restrictions on players and fans, it seemed like reporters were intentionally being shoved aside with teams using the coronavirus as an excuse to be rid of us.

But on Wednesday, it occurred to me that the teams, were not being draconian toward the media but instead have been trying to keep us safe from being infected by the droves of players who are contracting the virus.

So here’s to NPB. Thanks for looking out for us.

Giant trouble

The Yomiuri Giants jumped on the corona train big time on Wednesday. As if they were embarrassed to be outdone by the Yakult Swallows having 14 people with their major league club go into isolation for COVID-19, the Giants reported 20 positive test results. Fourteen infections were among players, six among the coaching staff according to Nikkan Sports.

Continue reading NPB News: July 20, 2022 →