It seemed, on the surface at least, to be with a palpable sense of early-season panic that Shinnosuke Abe was back behind the plate for the Yomiuri Giants during their series against the Hanshin Tigers over the weekend.

He might have been sore on Monday, but Abe looked like the cure to the Giants' early-season ills for a couple of games. Pressed back into action with the team not playing well early, Abe played his part and it was enough to help lift the rest of the team around him just enough to make fans wonder if his return to catching will be brief, or permanent.

Abe might be the best catcher of his generation, certainly of the past eight to nine years, but he was supposed to be a first baseman now. That was the plan the Kyojin set in motion last season to save the 36-year old's body from the grind of catching. Abe spent the entire offseason and spring training preparing to be the everyday first baseman, while the Giants made room for him by cutting loose Jose Lopez, who led the team with 22 home runs last season.