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.
Yoon-Hee Nam is lefthanded
Fixed that. Someone hasn’t had his coffee yet this morning…
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.
Hakuho is the honorary chairman of the Mongolian Baseball Association.
http://www.daily.co.jp/sumo/2011/01/17/0003742501.shtml
I think T.Okada will quickly bat clean-up again.
Hakuho’s looking sleeker than Dae-Ho
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…
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.
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.