An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Is it just me, or was that not a phenomenally long off-season? I guess technically it was shorter than normal, but whatever. We’ve spent the last couple of days dreaming and prognosticating, and now we finally get to see what the team can do! Today is opening day, and the Swallows will kick off their [...]
Happy Coming-of-Age Day to all of the 20-year-olds out there who are celebrating today. Be sure to post a photo of yourself in the comments all decked out in your old-enough-to-vote garb. And don’t drink too much tonight. This website has been very preoccupied with Norichika Aoki news as of late, and Lastings Milledge has [...]
As posted on the team’s official website, Hirotoshi Ishii was removed from the active roster after his retirement game on the 25th. Therefore, the 26 guys that are currently on the top team are as follows: Pitchers Lim, Matsuoka, Masubuchi, Tateyama, Barnette, Matsui, Hidaka, Akagawa, Watanabe, Oshimoto Catchers Aikawa, Kawamoto, Fukukawa Infielders Miyamoto, Tanaka, Takeuchi, [...]
On the 25th of September, outfielder Yuichi (no. 31) returned to the top team. Yuichi has played first base ever since reappearing at Jingu, and he was in the starting lineup for Tokyo’s game versus the Bay Stars on the 27th. Now wearing Manaka’s old number, Yuichi is in his 11th season of professional baseball. [...]
Pitchers Kyouhei Muranaka (no. 15) and Mikinori Katoh (no. 16), the alleged future of the pitching staff, were brought up to the top team on the 18th of September. Muranaka, a fourth year lefty from Kanagawa, has been one of 2009′s bigger letdowns as far as the rotation is concerned. He resurfaces on the parent [...]
Pitcher Chang-yong Lim (no. 12) made his return to the top team after a brief rest due to fatigue/back stiffness. He was on the first team roster yesterday, but he didn’t make an appearance in the Swallows’ most recent collapse. Lim’s record before being deactivated from the first team earlier this month was five wins [...]
Back on September 8th, infielder Ryousuke Morioka (no. 68) resurfaced on the pro team. He appeared in 25 games and batted .150 during his first stint on the top team earlier this season. He has been impressive on the farm, however, hitting .307 in 43 games. And in this, his second, foray on the top [...]
Pitcher Katsuki Akagawa (no. 47), a rookie southpaw from Miyazaki, is now on the top team. His numbers at the farm level aren’t exactly stellar, 2-3 with a 5.98 ERA, but he has apparently shown flashes of brilliance of late. On August 14th against the Lions, Akagawa carried a no hitter into the eighth inning. [...]
Catcher Atsushi Kinugawa (no. 38) was called up before yesterday’s game to join the Swallows top team. This is the first call-up of the season for the 28-year-old. With Yoneno recently sent down to the farm, the team was briefly playing with only two catchers on the 28-man roster (which is acceptable in my view), [...]
Pitchers Yuya Kamada (no. 20) and Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi (no. 22) were called up to the top team before yesterday’s game. This is the second time in recent weeks that Kamada has been called up, the first time was detailed in this Roster Update. Kamada has a 4.50 in eight innings of work for the top [...]
