Chiba Lotte's Mike Bolsinger sets lofty goals for 2019 season
Mike Bolsinger ended his first year in Japan with a 13-2 record and 3.06 ERA in 117⅔ innings for the Chiba Lotte Marines. As he prepares for the 2019 season, the ...
The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles donated 1,000 seats on Monday from their home stadium to a local ballpark in Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan, an area hit by the devastating ...
Masataka Yoshida's grand slam led the way as Japan beat Mexico 6-0 on Sunday and earn a split in their two-game series. A day after a 4-2 loss in which he ...
Eagles hurler Takahiro Norimoto to undergo elbow cleanup procedure
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles right-hander Takahiro Norimoto will undergo a cleanup procedure on his pitching elbow next week, general manager Kazuhisa Ishii said Friday. The 28-year-old missed the Eagles' preseason opener in late February due to a sprained neck, and discovered damage in his right ...
Hanshin's Fumihito Haraguchi back in action after cancer surgery
Hanshin Tigers backup catcher Fumihito Haraguchi resumed training at the club's minor league facility in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture on Thursday, after undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer. The 27-year-old, who had been diagnosed with cancer in an yearend health check last year, said Jan. 31 on ...
Clean-shaven reliever Ryan Cook excited for new challenge with Giants
Ryan Cook's former Seattle Mariners teammates will have be forgiven if they don't immediately recognize him when they arrive in Japan later this month. It won't just be because Cook will have on Yomiuri Giants uniform. It'll be because the Giants, much like the New ...
Fighters' Kotaro Kiyomiya fractures wrist ahead of second season
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters teenage slugger Kotaro Kiyomiya has sustained a fracture to his right wrist ahead of the upcoming season, the Pacific League club said Monday. The 19-year-old first baseman received the diagnosis after undergoing an examination at a hospital in Tokyo. He withdrew ...
Eagles' Takahiro Norimoto leads NPB group chasing Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano
Tomoyuki Sugano is the best pitcher in Japanese baseball. The Yomiuri Giants ace has won the past two Sawamura Awards, hasn't posted an ERA higher 2.14 (or an fielding independent pitching over 2.80) since 2015 and is 32-13 over the past two seasons. There's no real ...
Hisashi Iwakuma throws in practice for first time since returning to Japan with Giants
Former major league pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma on Wednesday threw for the first time in practice since making his return to Japanese baseball with the Yomiuri Giants. The 37-year-old right-hander tossed 45 pitches, testing out a variety of balls at the Giants' preseason camp in Okinawa. "Right ...
Time has come for Japan to consider burden placed on young arms
Kosei Yoshida threw more pitches in six games during last summer's National High School Baseball Championship than NPB hurlers did in any one month last season. Yoshida threw 881 pitches during Summer Koshien for Kanaashi Nogyo (Akita) High School, which made a Cinderella run to ...
Lions need Imai to step up with Kikuchi gone
Yusei Kikuchi, as Japanese fans can easily see on news reports every night and also on the internet and in newspapers, is doing just fine so far in his first MLB spring training with the Seattle Mariners. But while everyone watches Kikuchi move on from ...
Fighters' Kotaro Kiyomiya named to Samurai Japan squad for Mexico friendlies
Japan manager Atsunori Inaba named 11 new players Monday to the national team's squad for upcoming international friendlies with Mexico, including Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters teenager Kotaro Kiyomiya. Along with the 19-year-old first baseman, Fighters outfielder Haruki Nishikawa, 26, and Orix Buffaloes outfielder Masataka Yoshida, ...
