Meet infielder Kazuhiro Hatakeyama. The 26-year-old from Iwate prefecture is currently in his 8th season with the club, and through his first seven seasons he only managed 59 appearances for the top team. His career average at the beginning of this season was an even .200.

It seems as though all those years of patience may have finally paid off for the multi-talented Hatakeyama. He has played both of the corners to help make up for the disappearance of Adam Riggs and the inconsistency of Keizou Kawashima (who, to be fair, was an excellent snag from the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters).

But his greatest asset to the team is undoubtedly his patience at the plate. The guy knows how to get on base. He just reached the 35 game mark in terms of appearances, but he has already managed to get himself into second place on the team in terms of doubles and walks. Furthermore, he has 56 total bases which is good enough for sixth on the team, he’s tied for fifth in total hits and rbi’s, and his chest-puffing numbers stand at .348 (batting average), .434 (on-base percentage), and .514 (slugging). Those numbers aren’t bad (especially the second and third ones!).

His glove still needs a little extra practice, and we’re looking forward to the day when he is able to decrease the number of times that he strikes out, but if he keeps his spot in the lineup, then it should be interesting to see how he ends up at the conclusion of the season.

Wilson hails from the Dominican Republic, and has been on the books of both the Seattle Mariners and the L.A. Dodgers in a short and unspectacular stint in the MLB (111 games, .211, 1 HR, 20 RBI).  He hit an equally unspectacular .218 with 1 HR and 16 RBIs in 48 appearances with KIA (the car that cares….sorry).

He is believed to have been signed as cover for veteran Swallows shortstop Shinya Miyamoto, who will be away captaining the Japanese Olympic Baseball team in Beijing this summer.

The last time Miyamoto was away back in 2004, helping to win an Olympic bronze for Japan, he was covered back home at Jingu by Noriyuki Shiroishi.  The much-malligned infielder had a prolonged stint in the starting nine, with a chance to stake his claim as something other than a bit-part player.  But as it turned out, he didn’t do too well at all.  So much so that Jingu breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Olympics were done and Miyamoto returned home to resume shortstopping duties.

With his window of opportunity now passed, Shiroishi has never had much of a run in the team since, and with him currently wielding a mighty batting average of .0588 from his handful of appearances this year, who can blame the club for seeking an extra body to help us through the year.

Welcome to the Swallows, Wilson.