Yamagishi was drafted by Seibu in the 4th round of the 2004 draft out of Aoyama Gakuin University. Yamagishi had served as Aoyama’s ace for 2 years after Swallows’ veteran Masanori Ishikawa. He has been used almost exclusively as a reliever as a pro, with a high of 31 appearances in 2006. That year, Yamagishi managed to get 45 strikeouts in only 39 and 1/3 innings. Since then, Yamagishi’s chances with the main team decreased gradually and he only made 4 appearances each in the last 2 seasons. Yamagishi hasn’t made any appearances with the Lions this year, but he has made 9 starts with the farm team. In 36 innings of work Yamagishi has compiled a 2-5 record with 21 strikeouts, 21 walks, 51 hits allowed, and an ERA of 5.75. No word yet on how the Swallows intend to used Yamagishi.

Going to the Lions is the man once thought to be the heir apparent to the great Atsuya Furuta. Yoneno was drafted straight out of high school in 1999. After spending time at the farm and slowly getting more first team playing time, Yoneno became the main catcher for the Swallows in 2006 during Furuta’s first year as manager. In 2006, Yoneno played in 116 games and hit .235 (.285 OBP) with 7 home runs. In 2007, Yoneno was expected to be the Swallows’ starting catcher but struggles at the plate lead him to share playing time with Masakazu Fukukawa. Yoneno’s continued struggles, and the emergence of Ryohei Kawamoto, lead to Yoneno’s demotion to the farm team in July of 2007. Since then, Yoneno has been given limited opportunities with the Swallows, playing in only 27 games over the last 2 seasons. This year, Yoneno has only managed to appear in 5 games with the Swallows’ farm team.

Yet another trade for minor players, but hopefully both players will be able to capitalize on the opportunities afforded to them by their new clubs.

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 team thus far, and he threw one scoreless inning last night.

Masubuchi is one of several young pitchers on the farm blessed with potential but battling injuries brought on by overuse (and baseballs to the face in this young man’s case). Masubuchi, a 21-year-old in his third year with the team, will hopefully begin making a contribution to the team within the next season or two.

In 10 appearances with the farm team this season, Masubuchi has a record of 3-1 and a 4.19 ERA. It could be argued that he is being elevated to the first team a bit too late in the season, but he does need top team starts, and several of them, before the end of the season.

Masubuchi had a very rough outing last night. He walked six batters, threw two wild pitches, and gave up seven earned runs in five innings. The only reason why he lasted five innings was because he was let out of a couple of jams by clutch double plays.

Headed down (again) are relief pitcher Jun Hagiwara and catcher Tomohito Yoneno.

Anyway, here’s what the top team looks like as of game-time yesterday:

Pitchers: Yoshinori, Lim, Tateyama, Ishikawa, Yuuki,  Matsui, Takagi, Lee, Yoshikawa, Oshimoto, Masubuchi, Kamada

Catchers: Aikawa, Kawamoto

Infielders: Kawashima, Miyamoto, Yoshimoto, Tanaka, Hatakeyama, Noguchi, D’Antona

Outfielders: Fukuchi, Guiel, Takeuchi, Iihara, Aoki, Yuichi