There was a lot of excitement about this young Tigers team, particularly the first two draft picks in 2016. The team’s future slugger and ace, respectively, had great springs. But this is one game I’m sure both of them would rather forget… Starting Pitchers: Taiki Ono vs. Kris Johnson 1 Amazing! We’re stealing bases again!…
It took until the ninth inning for the Tigers to get on the scoreboard, and they got good pitching from their birthday boy starter, but ultimately they fell in extras. Starting Pitchers: Shintaro Fujinami (0-0, 5.59 ERA) vs. David Buchanan (2-0, 0.56 ERA) 2 Three straight singles gave the Swallows a quick lead. It took…
Last year when the Tigers brought in a rookie to face the Hiroshima Carp, it went REALLY badly. For the rookie, that is. The team covered his butt in the end. But this rookie wanted no part of those dramatics, and put on an incredible performance in his pro debut. Starting Pitchers: Haruto Takahashi (0-0)…
For the third straight year, Fujinami got the home opener at Kyocera Dome. For the third straight year, he threw himself into all sorts of trouble. Starting Pitchers: Shintaro Fujinami (0-1, 7.20 ERA) vs. Shinnosuke Ogasawara (0-1, 7.50 ERA) 1 Leadoff walk. Stolen base. Fujinami throwing error on sacrifice bunt. Wild pitch. He showed three…
The big win on Opening Day was a great sign that our guys could still hit the ball, hit it hard, hit it often, even against top notch pitching. That fun continued in Game 2, but when the tides turned in the sixth, they carried us out of the driver’s seat and into loserland. Starting…
The Hanshin Tigers announced their top squad members today in preparation for the start of the 2018 season, which starts tomorrow against the Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome (March 30, 6:00 pm JST). Here is the list, as well as some comments from yours truly: Catchers #12 Seishiro Sakamoto: Of the three catchers, he’s got…
March 16: Stomping on the Eagles in Shizuoka This game started quite slowly, as the two aces showed off their repertoires before helpless bats. Our guys finally got to Takahiro Norimoto in the fifth, when Kento Itohara smacked a 2-run double to the left field corner. T 2-0 E Randy Messenger is just getting warmed…
Camp is over! The team packed up late this morning and are on their way back to mainland. Exhibition season up here starts on March 3 (in Fukuoka, where they’re selling “open seating” all-you-can-eat tickets for ¥2500) and runs through the 25th. Looking forward to see how the field and mound start to take shape!…
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…
Though the year hardly ended on a positive note, it was still one filled with lots to get excited about. There were good times, and there were bad times. Here’s H-TEN’s look back at the season, with the ten biggest things that defined it. 10) Kakefu Sheds Uniform for the Last Time As you may…