Relief pitcher Masahiro Yoshikawa (no. 62) was called up to the first team prior to yesterday’s rained out game.
Yoshikawa is a 31-year-old right-handed pitcher that was one of Tokyo’s main middle relievers back in 2005 when he had 61 appearances. His ERA that year was 3.72, and he pitched in another 43 games in 2007 when his ERA was 3.61.
Last year he made only 18 appearances and saw his ERA rise to 4.18.
Now in his seventh year with the team, Yoshikawa has been battling shoulder problems down on the farm team, and the current call-up marks his first inclusion in the 28-player top team roster this season.
So far this season on the farm, Yoshikawa has pitched in 12 games and is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA.
His personal blog can be found here.
Ryota Igarashi, one of the team’s best set-up pitchers, experienced some arm trouble during Saturday’s game, his 49th of the season, and was immediately deactivated. Igarashi was relieved from the game after facing two batters last night.
Here’s what the top team roster currently looks like:
Pitchers: Yoshinori, Lim, Tateyama, Ishikawa, Yuuki, Muranaka, Matsui, Takagi, Lee, Yoshikawa, Oshimoto
Catchers: Aikawa, Yoneno, Kawamoto
Infielders: Kawashima, Miyamoto, Yoshimoto, Tanaka, Hatakeyama, Noguchi, D’Antona
Outfielders: Fukuchi, Guiel, Takeuchi, Iihara, Aoki, Shida, Yuichi
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