OSAKA -- Hanshin Tigers infielder Atsushi Kataoka was diagnosed with fractured bones in his left hand Friday after being hit by a pitch in a game with the Yomiuri Giants last Sunday.

Doctors said the injury will take three weeks to heal and the Central League club removed Kataoka from its active roster.

Kataoka underwent medical checks of his left hand at a Tokyo hospital after the game Sunday, but X-rays revealed nothing unusual. Doctors said the hand was just bruised.

"There's nothing we can do about a broken bone. We want him to relax and recover completely," manager Senichi Hoshino said.

Kataoka, who signed with the Tigers as a free agent during the off-season, is the third member of the Tigers to be sidelined with a major injury this season, even as Hoshino has taken the perennial cellar-dwellers to the top of the Central League standings.

Last month, catcher Akihiro Yano suffered a dislocated shoulder in a collision at home plate April 13, and outfielder Norihiro Akahoshi, the CL rookie of the year last season, broke a bone in his right leg when it was hit by his own batted ball five days later.

Matsuzaka to miss out

Seibu Lions ace Daisuke Matsuzaka will miss Sunday's scheduled start against the Daiei Hawks because of concerns over an ache in his right elbow, officials of the Pacific League club said Friday.

Matsuzaka had been planned to start against the Hawks in Nagano and said Friday that he felt fine, but Seibu manager Haruki Ihara decided to hold his top right-hander out of the rotation at least for one game.

Matsuzaka left the mound in Seibu's 3-1 loss to the Kintetsu Buffaloes last Monday after feeling some discomfort in his throwing elbow.

An examination in Tokyo on Wednesday showed nothing wrong with the elbow of the hard-throwing hurler, but Ihara and Matsuzaka decided Friday to hold off on his scheduled start in Nagano.