NPB Bullet Points: Spring Training Notes
While pitchers and catchers are just now showing up to MLB camps, NPB spring training has been in full swing for a couple of weeks. Here’s a collection of random news stories from around the league. All links are in Japanese.
- Chunichi has signed outfielder Victor Diaz, who had been in camp with the team on a try out basis. Diaz has MLB experience with the Mets and Rangers and played in Mexico last season.
- Sumo wrestler Hakuho spent a day in camp with Yomiuri. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
- Hanshin righty Randy Messenger tweeted about a soba restaurant he enjoyed.
- Japan newcomers Scott Mathieson and John Bowker got to try eel.
- A Sponichi report from February 8th indicates that the Nippon Ham Fighters will give Korean lefty Yoon-Hee Nam a tryout. Nam, 24, was a first-round pick of Doosan in 2006, but opted to sign with the Texas Rangers instead. He pitched five seasons in the Rangers’ system, reaching high A in 2010.
- Softbank is working out two young Dominican pitchers, Juan Carlos Paniagua and Wanel Mesa.
- One of the more interesting positional battles (for me anyway) is for Orix’s cleanup spot, where newcomer Dae-Ho Lee is taking on incumbent T-Okada. Lee has the lead in the “huge gut” category.
- NPB legends Masaichi Kaneda and Katsuya Nomura turned up at Yomiuri’s camp. They both have quite an eye for fashion, particularly Nomura.
14/02/2012 at 8:24 am Permalink
Yoon-Hee Nam is lefthanded
14/02/2012 at 8:33 am Permalink
Fixed that. Someone hasn’t had his coffee yet this morning…
14/02/2012 at 8:43 am Permalink
Wowzers, Dae-Ho Lee is not ‘baseball fat’, he’s just plain ol’ fat. T-Okada is going to have to hit the onigiri pretty hard to make up that kind of gap.
14/02/2012 at 12:52 pm Permalink
Hakuho is the honorary chairman of the Mongolian Baseball Association.
http://www.daily.co.jp/sumo/2011/01/17/0003742501.shtml
14/02/2012 at 4:12 pm Permalink
I think T.Okada will quickly bat clean-up again.
14/02/2012 at 8:29 pm Permalink
Hakuho’s looking sleeker than Dae-Ho
14/02/2012 at 10:21 pm Permalink
Wow. Starting Dae-Ho in the cleanup spot would make no sense for either baseball or marketing reasons. T Okada is kind of the face of the franchise now, no?
Fat KBO infielders don’t exactly have a strong recent track history in NPB, either…
16/02/2012 at 1:38 am Permalink
Looks like the BayStars signed Oscar Salazar out of those three guys they tried out last week. Not that it means too much, but I always thought he was a half-decent utility guy for the Padres and Orioles. And it’s nice to see players older than me still getting contracts.
17/02/2012 at 1:03 pm Permalink
Looks like he was happy to get the gig: http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/photos/120217/bse1202172050004-p2.htm
He should fit in with Rami-chan.