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02/25/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Furuki's Awe of Kuwata Leads to Bad Day at the Plate"
Kuwata, Kisanuki Impressive in Giants Victory Over Yokohama
Masumi Kuwata and number one draft choice Hiroshi Kisanuki each posted impressive first outings and newly appointed cleanup king Yoshinobu Takahashi blasted a solo homer to right, as the Yomiuri Giants stifled the Yokohama Bay Stars at Ginowan, Okinawa Monday by a 4-1 score. The Stars were limited to six hits total, three of them by first baseman Hirofumi Ogawa and two by second sacker Hitoshi Taneda while third baseman Katsuaki Furuki went homerless for the first time this spring. In addition, the other safety was a gift from rightfielder Roberto Petagine, who allowed a catchable fall to fall in thanks to a late jump.
Yuji Yoshimi started for Yokohama and while his line looks good, no runs on two hits in three innings with three strikeouts, his mechanics were off and he was leaving a lot of his pitches up. He also threw ten forkballs, a pitch he is attempting to master, and those weren't all that hot.
Kuwata only got it up to about 84mph during his time on the hill, but he was able to consistently hit his spots. Kisanuki then succeeded the veteran righty and the first pitch he threw to Furuki, who was leading off the fourth, sailed about waist high behind him and to the backstop, leading to a brief staredown between the young hurler and Furuki. The count eventually went to 2-2 before Kisanuki threaded a heater on the outside corner, which Furuki took for called strike three. He got two strikes on rightfielder Tyrone Woods before burying another fastball on the inside corner that Woods let go by only to see the umpire's right hand shoot up for the second out. Ogawa cracked a single to right. Taneda then dropped one into centerfield for a hit as Ogawa burned around the second base bag and headed off to third, only to be shot down by what was called "an arrow" in the Japanese press from Takahashi for out number three. Kisanuki, who was clocked at 91mph, was told to work solely out of the stretch by head coach Yoshitaka Katori for the fifth and he put together a perfect inning to finish his assignment for the day.
Kuwata and Kisanuki got some support in the top of the fourth, as Takahashi got a hanging 2-1 slider on the inner half of the plate from rookie Takeharu Kato and crunched it high and far and barely inside the rightfield foul pole to make it 1-0 kyojin. After the game, Takahashi credited the breeze that was blosing out toward left as the reason that ball stayed fair.
Then in the sixth, Takahashi singled to right off of Yuji Hata and was pinch run for by Takahiro Suzuki, who beat catcher Ryoji Aikawa's peg to second for a successful steal. First baseman Koji Goto singled to left and Suzuki flew around the basepaths and crossed the plate to widen the Giants advantage to 2-0.
They added to that in the seventh, when rookie second baseman Masahiro Nagata walked and moved up on a botched double play attempt by Hitoshi Taneda, who mishandled third baseman Takayuki Saito's grounder. Leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu singled to center to load the bases. Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka lofted a fly ball to center and Nagata tagged and hustled in for a 3-0 Yomiuri lead.
Rookie Yuya Kubo came on for the Giants in the sixth and put the side down in order, but then he found out the pros aren't so easy during his second inning of work. With one down, Ogawa singled to right. Taneda ratched a screamer into the rightcenter alley and Ogawa scored all the way from first on the two base hit to shorten the Yomiuri hegemony to 3-1. Rookie leftfielder Kenji Yano then geeked a routine fly ball off the bat of centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo to put men at first and third. Kubo, though, stepped it up and fanned the next two men to extricate himself.
The Giants order, however, snatched that run back in the eighth, as Suzuki singled to left, went to second on a one out groundout, and completed the circuit on a single to center from Ichiro Horita to restore the three run cushion at 4-1. Relievers Ryuji Kimura and Takashi Kamoshida then tossed two perfect innings for the Tokyo side to bring the curtain down.
Kind of an odd note about Furuki: he is apparently a big fan of Kuwata's and was awed about facing him. Thus, Kuwata had an edge just due to the fame factor with the young slugger. If Furuki is going to succeed on the longterm, he has to rid himself of the stars i his eyes.
For Yokohama, Woods was 0-3 and is at .200 on the spring.
For Yomiuri, Petagine was 1-2 and is at .400.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
Kuwata (W, 1-0) IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 39 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kisanuki IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 27 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kubo IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 29 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
R. Kimura IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kamoshida (S, 1) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yokohama:
Yoshimi IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 38 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
T.H. Kato (L, 0-1) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00
Y. Hata IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 28 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Tomioka IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 32 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 2 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Kizuka IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 19 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: K. Yano, Taneda
SB: T.H. Suzuki, K.N. Tanaka
2B: K.N. Tanaka
HR: Y. Takahashi (1)
RBI: Nioka, Y. Takahashi, K. Goto, Horita, Taneda
SF: Nioka
LOB: Yomiuri 9, Yokohama 6
Season Series: Yomiuri 1, Yokohama 0
Game Time: 2:33
Attendance: 12,000
Umpires: Shikida (HP), Sasaki (1B), Shimada (2B), Tani (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara had an 82 swing indoor batting practice session Monday against both fastballs and breaking balls. There is still no concrete timetable for his return to action, though....Pitcher Yusaku Iriki had an MRI on his right hamstring Monday and it is indeed a pull, meaning it is going to be at least three weeks beforehe can begin serious workouts again....Handy utility guy Kenji Fukui took a pitch on the wrist during an intrasquad game on the 15th and has suffered a fracture. It will be in a cast for three weeks and then he can start rehabbing it.
Yakult Todd Betts has apparently lost his hold on the first base job and it looks like he will be sharing it with former Seibu infielder Ken Suzuki. "We're going to go with whoever has the hot hand," says manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu....According to Hochi Sports, number one draft choice Yuhei Takai will start an Eastern League instructional game in mid-March.
Chunichi Outfielder Alex Ochoa had his first Japanese batting practice session Monday after taking part in a defensive drill, homering three times in 43 swings. Ochoa said that he hadn't worked out in three days and so is only at about 80% and was focued mainly on taking the ball back up the middle. Even with that, he was still featured on the front page of Chunichi Sports....Kosuke Fukudome will DH in Tuesday's exhibition game against Yomiuri after being taken out of a game with Yakult due to discomfort in his elbow....Hitoki Iwase threw batting practice Monday and had an excellent 53 pitch session. He mixed in the sinker he has been working on and had good results....Yoshimi Sakurai will hit ninth against Yomiuri tomorrow.
Hanshin Teruyoshi Kuji, who was in the mix for the starting shortstop's job, injured his oblique muscle during batting practice and he is likely to miss making it to opening day....Ace Kei Igawa, in addition to refining his curve ball, is also working on a sinking two seam fastball and was getting good movement with it in a bullpen session Monday....Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto was able to take batting practice for the first time in two weeks Monday since injuring a calf muscle. Team management is considering having him DH in an exhibition game March 1st against Orix and then he would play in the field starting on the 7th....Second baseman Makoto Imaoka, who is also nursing an injury, is hoping that he will get an at bat in Tuesday's exhibition game. Coaches are playing it cautiously and he won't be making any starts until the 7th as well....Wearing a Hanshin uni top, Japanese comedian Akashiya Sanma visited the Tigers spring camp site at Aki, Kochi Prefecture Monday with a tv crew from a show he hosts called Sporto! in tow. Despite the fact that he is a native of Osaka, Sanma is a Yomiuri fan. Batting instructor Koichi Tabuchi asked Sanma if he wanted to take a turn in the batting cage, but the bucktoothed funny man demurred, saying that standing in against live pitching was "too scary."
Hiroshima The Carp announced Monday that outfielder Jimmy Hearst will start in an exhibition game on March 2nd at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium against Orix. According to Sankei Sports, though, Hearst is having a tough time adjusting to the rugged Japanese practice routine. "All they do is practice, practice. And the strike zone is really high. I don't want to complain, but this camp has tired me out. And the weather in Hiroshima will probably be cold. It's tough"....In consideration that his players may be fatigued, manager Koji Yamamoto only held a half day workout Monday. He says that he is also going to have a tough time choosing who will be the fifth starter between Alan Newman,Tetsuto Tomabechi and Takaya Kawauchi because they have all been throwing so well in camp.
Seibu Daisuke Matsuzaka threw 152 pitches Monday in the bullpen, 99 fastballs, 22 sliders, 12 curve balls and 19 changeups, working as if he was in an actual game. He will make a relief appearance in an intrasquad game Wednesday....Fumiya Nishiguchi threw 40 pitches in the bullpen Monday. But he is tired and will skip a scheduled start in an intrasquad game Wednesday....Record setting closer Kiyoshi Toyoda has hurt a calf muscle and is going to be out almost a month. In his place, setup man Shinji Mori is likely to settle back into the closer's role for the time being....The Lions were scheduled to play industrial league teams on February 27th and March 1st, but those have now been cancelled for undisclosed reasons.
Daiei Nagisa Arakaki was clocked at 94mph in an intrasquad game Monday, as he tossed four innings, surrendering four runs, all unearned, on two hits. His next mound appearance will be an exhibition start on March 1st against Yomiuri at Fukuoka Dome ....Rookie infielder Manabu Morimoto suffered what sounds like a labrum tear (I'm not up on Japanese medical terminology) and he has some ligament damage. He will be out a year.
Kintetsu Rookie Tomotaka Sakaguchi had three hits Monday for the Buffaloes' minor league nine in a practice game against Osaka Gas of the Japanese industrial leagues....Lefthander Etsuji Taniguchi started for Kintetsu and went five innings of shutout ball, striking out five as part of his rehabbing of his surgically repaired elbow. He was clocked in the high 80's and had excellent command of his slider.
Nippon Ham The Fighters will soon begin construction on a dormitory and a 2500 square meter indoor practice facility next to the Sapporo Beer Garden in Sapporo's east end. the land is leased from the Sapporo Beer Company and the project should be finished by December. When the club isn't using the facility, it will be available for local organizations to do so.
Lotte Reliever Hiroyuki Kobayashi is hoping to get into the club's rotation and will make an intrasquad game start Tuesday.
Orix Makoto Suzuki played catch Monday and is talking like he will be able to be on the opening day roster despite a muscle pull he suffered last Friday.
Hideki Matsui According to a wire report, that dental appointment that Hideki Matsui left for yesterday may have been a root canal. Yikes!
Miscellaneous Tsuyoshi Shinjo homered to left, struckout, and grounded out to first in three at bats in a Mets intrasquad game Monday....Ichiro, meanwhile, flied out to center, walked, and flew out to left in his three trips to the plate in a Mariners intrasquad contest.
Today's Pictures
Hiroshi Kisanuki Delivers a Breaking Ball
Kids, You Don't Want to Imitate This Delivery by Yuji Yoshimi
Nagisa Arakaki From Batter's Perspective
Daisuke Matsuzaka On the Mound
Tsuyoshi Shinjo Plays a Little Hammertime
Yoshinobu Takahashi Turns on Inside Pitch
Takahashi Circles the Bases With the Scoreboard in the Background
Kisanuki Halfway Through His Motion
Akashiya Sanma Yucks it Up With Senichi Hoshino
Matsui Goes 0-2 in First Yankees Intrasquad Game
See story at: MLB.com Article
See related story at: CBS Sportsline Article
Matsui Adjusting to Leftfield
See story at: North Jersey.com Article
Yankees Need More Quality Pitching, Not Matsui
See story at: Cincinnati Enquirer Article
Epstein Rationalizes Millar Waiver Claim
Yep, we may hurt the relationship between the Japanese and U.S. pro leagues, but what the hell, right Theo? What a moron! See story at: Corpus Christi Caller-Times Article
Agbayani Regrets Not Going to Japan
See story at: Boston Globe
Taguchi Has Something to Prove
Note to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Taguchi was never "one of the better players in the Pacific League."
See story at: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Article
Expos an International Phenomenon
By the way, the Enquirer may want to note that "saiko" means "that's the best!" or "it's the greatest!" "Let's go!" is "ikou."
See story at: Cincinnati Enquirer Article
Japanese Industrial League Season Starts March 4th
See story at: Japan Today Article
Korean Stars Welcomed to Marlins' Camp
See story at: Palm Beach Post Article
See related story at: MLB.com Article
Replies: 1 Comment
Yes, the relationship between the Japanese and U.S. professional leagues is permanently fractured. No Japanese players will be sold off for big $ ever again. No pros from North or South America will ever play for teams in Japan.
With Linares retiring, don't be shocked if Benny Agbayani ends up putting up big numbers playing for the Dragons. Millar will be a footnote then.
Posted by Cry, Cry again @ 03/01/2003 11:24 AM EST
