It’s another precious day off for our heroes on the diamond, so let’s look back on the last few days of spring training action!
First, the “news”:
Newly acquired relief pitcher Diego Moreno looked good pitching in the bullpen and in live batting practice. Some have called him a “skinny Mateo” – he uses the same motion for his changeup and fastball, and has a solid cutter as well. In batting practice, he broke Yohkawa’s bat with a pitch. Not a common occurrence, from what I understand.
Super ironman Takashi Toritani has been taking a lot of grounders at second base, in anticipation of moving there full-time this season. He is looking sharp, but has not taken grounders from live hitters yet. Obviously that is a different animal in itself. I’m no expert but I think he should play a bit deeper like Ryosuke Kikuchi of the Carp — Tori’s getting up there in age and I’m sure his range will be a bit of a sore spot, but having played short and third, his arm strength is not an issue at all.
Shintaro Yokota, who is fighting hard to come back after brain tumors sidelined him for the whole 2017 season, took his first batting practice in a year. He looked pretty good, all things considered, and even put a few balls over the fence.
Hiroki Uemoto, who is working out on the farm, made his first in-game appearance in 2018. The feisty second baseman is working his way back from offseason ankle surgery, and hopes to get playing time at second base, should Toritani show signs of fatigue or struggle.
We’re seeing our first swapping of pieces between the farm and top squad tomorrow! This year’s fifth round draft pick, pitcher Masaki Tanigawa, will head down to Okinawa, while third round pick Takahiro Kumagai (shortstop) and pitcher Koyo Aoyagi will come up to Aki where they’ll get a bit more individual attention.
Speaking of firsts, we also have our first “drop out” from camp. Reliever Kyuji Fujikawa has complained of gastroenteritis, and will miss a few days of team workouts.
And now, on to exhibition game action…
vs. Eagles (Friday, February 16)
Yuta Iwasada started the game on the mound and looked really good in the 1st, but then struggled through three, giving up a run. Shintaro Fujinami went two innings and walked two, but also struck out two and did not give up any hits or runs. After that, Taiki Ono threw two innings of shutout ball, as did Hiroto Saiki. So the arms held the Eagles to just one run on six hits – how did the bats do???
First of all, they were held silent for three innings by Eagles’ 2016 first round pick Shoma Fujihira. But then in the fourth, facing the Eagles’ first reliever, our friend Wilin Rosario punished a ball, sending it to the opposite field. His third home run in three games!
🐯マジで凄い❗ww
ライトスタンドに放り込みました#阪神タイガース #ウィリンロサリオ #WilinRosario pic.twitter.com/2OrSeflGBd
— ⚾埼とら⚾今年も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) February 16, 2018
And do you remember our friend Taiga Egoshi? The guy with all the potential but who has shown little promise? The guy who’s trying to become a switch hitter? Well, here’s a case against it:
🐯出た〜〜❗www
江越がスタンドに放り込む
ツーランです❗👏🏻😆#阪神タイガース#江越大賀 pic.twitter.com/4LLRajgzzR— ⚾埼とら⚾今年も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) February 16, 2018
And then there’s two-time farm HR/RBI king, Naomasa Yohkawa. He joined the action later as well, giving our team a trifecta of home runs for the second time this spring.
🐯出た〜〜❗www
陽川もスタンドに放り込みました
やっぱり飛距離が凄いよ。👏🏻😅#阪神タイガース #陽川尚将 pic.twitter.com/JU2yXM2YDD— ⚾埼とら⚾今年も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) February 16, 2018
Other big hits came off the bats of Fumiya Hojoh (a two-run triple) and Fumihito Haraguchi (a two-run double). It was a romp.
Final Score: Hanshin 10, Rakuten 1
vs. Fighters (Sunday, February 18)
I’ll tell you right now, this report starts and ends with the pitchers. Takumi Akiyama started things off with three shutout innings, giving up just a single. Then Suguru Iwazaki threw two shutout innings. Then Hiroya Shimamoto, Aoyagi, Ryoma Matsuda and Tsuyoshi Ishizaki each recorded three outs.
The hitters didn’t hit, and this one ended in a scoreless draw.
Final Score: Hanshin 0, Nippon Ham 0
Second Squad – vs. Kochi Fighting Dogs (Sunday, February 18)
To counterbalance the lack of runs (and quality of pitching) in the top squad game, we have plenty of scoring to report here…
Development player Hiroaki Saiuchi got the start and gave up a solo shot in the top of the first. He also struck out two.
The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the inning with a few hits and walks.
Daiki Enokida put the visitors back in the driver’s seat the very next inning, and then Yuya Yokoyama allowed them to pad their lead to 4-1 in the third.
But that was all for the amateur squad… the Tigers bats scored five in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to six hits and a walk.
Kazuo Itoh threw a blank inning just before the comeback. Then new import Yen-Ching Lu threw a shutout fifth.
And the Tigers added four more runs in the bottom half of the frame on three hits and two walks.
Newcomers Haruto Takahashi and Masaki Ishii each threw shutout innings before the Tigers added a couple more insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The game ended without anymore fireworks, but Shoya Yamamoto and Koki Moriya each put a goose-egg (takoyaki?) up on the board before the lights went out.
Final Score: Hanshin 12, Kochi 4
That’s all for now – just two more spring training reports and we’re ready for exhibition play! (What? You thought this was exhibition play? Nope… the official exhibition season kicks off next weekend!)