An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Middle reliever Jun Hagiwara (no. 48), an 18 year veteran who played for Orix and Hokkaido before coming to Tokyo last year, was recalled to the first team after being sent down just a week and a half ago. During his time on the farm, the right-handed Tokyo native appeared in four games and picked [...]
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 [...]
Infielder Jamie D’Antona (no. 4) was brought back up to the top team after two weeks of rehab on a pulled hamstring. D’Antona had just been named the July player of the month for the Central League when the leg injury occurred, and his run-production has been sorely missed during the two weeks without him. [...]
Outfielder Yuichi Matsumoto (no. 31), the 29-year-old veteran who originally hails from Brazil, was recalled to the first team after being dropped a little over three weeks ago. Prior to being dropped he hit .233 in 33 appearances for the top club. On the farm this season, Yuichi has hit .333 in 17 games with [...]
Starting pitcher Kyouhei Muranaka (no. 15) rejoined the first team after a very brief stay (about 10 days) down on the farm. He was utterly ineffective in his five starts prior to last night’s game. His record was 0-4 and he averaged nearly a run per inning as indicated by his 8.06 ERA. Takada waited [...]
This post contains player movements from two separate days. A couple of days ago, Shinya Miyamoto (no. 6), Tokyo’s veteran infielder, was brought back up to the first team after some rehabilitation of his left leg. Miyamoto played an important role in Tuesday’s series-opening win against the Hiroshima Carp, and his return to the team [...]
Outfielder Tsuyoshi Ueda (no. 50) has received a call-up to the 28-man first team roster as of yesterday afternoon. This is his second call-up of 2009, the first being for a couple of games back in late July. The third year 20-year-old from Okayama prefecture spent his entire first two years with the team on [...]
Pitcher Masao Kida (no. 42) and outfielder Munehiro Shida (no. 0) were brought up to the first team before yesterday’s game. Kida, a veteran right-handed pitcher who has played in the majors for the Dodgers and Mariners, spent most of the season on the top team before being demoted a little over a week ago. [...]
Pitcher Shouhei Tateyama (no. 25) has returned to the top team after a brief spell on the farm. The right-handed ace was sent down after a shelling at the hands of the Giants, and his absence has been clearly evident as the replacement contingent hasn’t done a very good job of filling in for him. [...]
Pitcher Hiromitsu Takagi (no.58) and infielder Ryo Yoshimoto (no. 40) have been called up to the first team to replace Ricky Barrett (P) and Shinya Miyamoto (IF). Takagi is a right-handed pitcher in his fourth year with the birds, and this is his first call-up of the season. In 17 appearances with the farm team [...]
