Right-handed reliever Koki Moriya (26) has slowed down his rehabilitation program recently. His right shoulder is not ready to ramp things up, and so he has been simply staying behind at Naruohama and working on his fitness. Moriya appeared in a farm game on July 28 (@ Hawks) but said, “It’s just not the same at all. I had to try my shoulder out in a game situation, and I learned what I wanted to know. I’m a little fearful moving forward.” He will take things slowly in order to try to prevent any re-aggravations of his injury.
Meanwhile, left-handed pitcher Hiroya Shimamoto (27) has resumed throwing (but not pitching) on the farm. His strained left elbow has kept him out all this year, but he has been throwing the ball to see how his elbow feels. “I hope to ramp things up a little more [on the 4th],” he revealed. Shimamoto had surgery on his left elbow last fall, and was slowly working toward coming back, but he felt some discomfort in his elbow after appearing in a farm game on June 23 (vs. Orix). He spent two weeks not throwing at all. “I really can’t wait to get back to the top squad,” he said, as he aims to make it back in time for the second half of the season.