Daisuke Matsuzaka to have examination after freak shoulder injury
Chunichi Dragons pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka skipped practice Thursday to seek a second medical opinion about a freak right shoulder injury sustained when an overzealous fan yanked his arm, the Central ...
Former big leaguer Daisuke Matsuzaka has another hurdle to clear with inflammation in his right shoulder after a fan pulled his arm during an event at spring training. The Chunichi Dragons ...
DH talk brings back memories of reverse experiment
One thing the current conversation about a possible universal DH in MLB is showing is that a lot of people have great disdain for the concept of pitchers hitting. Like, a ...
Chihiro Kaneko draws attention from Yu Darvish, others, because of change-up
Chihiro Kaneko, as a 35-year-old veteran of 13 seasons, probably possesses a fair amount of wisdom he can impart on the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters pitchers younger than him. Even those who have already moved on. Former Fighters ace and current Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish ...
Giants go on offseason flurry in effort to revive glory days
The Yomiuri Giants are often referred to as Japan's answer to the New York Yankees — the "Evil Empire" version of the Bronx Bombers anyway — and the offseason they've had makes it easy to see why. After finishing a fourth straight season without winning ...
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks pitcher Kodai Senga said Wednesday he has made no progress in persuading the Pacific League club to let him move to the major leagues. The right-hander, who turned 26 on Wednesday, has asked the two-time defending Japan Series champions to make him ...
BayStars slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo becomes advocate of pitch-count limits for youth
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo was struck by a strange thought while playing for Samurai Japan during the 2017 World Baseball Classic. There were pitch limits in effect during that tournament, which features professional players, adults from MLB, NPB and other leagues. Meanwhile at the high school level ...
Tigers catcher Fumihito Haraguchi battling intestinal cancer
Hanshin Tigers backup catcher Fumihito Haraguchi has been diagnosed with intestinal cancer and will undergo surgery in the coming days, the team announced Thursday. The 26-year-old Haraguchi has a career batting average of .280 with a .361 on-base percentage and a .421 slugging average although ...
Alex Ramirez, who has managed the Yokohama BayStars since the 2016 season, has been granted Japanese nationality, according to a government report published Wednesday. The 44-year-old, who was born in Venezuela, revealed last January he had applied for Japanese citizenship, but the process was delayed ...
Upon further review, NPB's replay system winning over doubters
Those who doubted the value of Nippon Professional Baseball's video review system a year ago have officially left the building. On Tuesday, NPB announced a few tweaks to a system that got some negative press last year, but was — on the whole — considered ...
Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame showing little respect for former NPB great Tuffy Rhodes
It's one thing for another year to pass with Tuffy Rhodes not yet even within shouting distance of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. But there has to be something in the voters' water for the American slugger to be left in the dust ...
Kazuyoshi Tatsunami, Hiroshi Gondo and Haruo Wakimura elected to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
Kazuyoshi Tatsunami began his career with a double and by the end of his 22 pro seasons had racked up more two-baggers than any NPB player before or since. "I wasn't really much of a home run hitter," he said. Not that it slowed him down ...
