Takayuki Kishi was pulled from his start on August 11 after just one inning because of discomfort in his leg. Kishi apparently felt the discomfort in his leg before the start.
Kishi was taken to a hospital in Sendai for tests and was diagnosed with a mild case of pes anserinus tendinitis. He was taken off the active roster on August 12.
Source: Sports Hochi 8/11/2018, Sports Hochi 8/12/2018, Nikkan Sports 8/12/2018, Daily Sports 8/12/2018, Sponichi 8/12/2018, Sanspo 8/11/2018, Sanspo 8/12/2018
0 CommentsThe NPB announced that they issued Japhet Amador a six-month suspension for violating their performance-enhancing drug policy.
Amador was part of a group of players that was tested at Rakuten Seimei Park on June 13, 2018. His results tested positive for chlortalidone and furosemide. The drugs are listed under WADA’s prohibited diuretics and masking agents. Amador denied intentionally taking the drugs during an interview with Rakuten personnel on July 30. His samples were retested on August 1 with no change in results.
The Rakuten Eagles notified the NPB of the results and the NPB’s Anti Doping Committee finalized their ruling on August 8.
Amador’s was given a six-month suspension (August 9, 2018 until February 8, 2019). Rakuten is currently awaiting the results of more recent tests to see if there are any changes.
The Eagles released the following statement from Amador:
I have never used performance-enhancing drugs. I have also never intentionally taken any banned substances.
I have never used stimulants or muscle enhancing agents and have never considered using diuretics or masking agents.
I have taken many tests in the past and they were all negative.
I am very surprised at the positive results from this recent test. I am concerned because I have no recollection of taking the drugs.
I am fully cooperating with investigations to discover the cause.
I apologize for worrying everyone.
Source: NPB 8/9/2018, Rakuten 8/9/2018
0 CommentsKazuya Fujita banged the left side of his chest while sliding head-first into third base in the eighth inning of a game against the Chiba Lotte Marines on August 3. He was removed from the game and taken to a hospital in Sendai. He was diagnosed with a bruised rib (fifth rib on the left side) and will require about four weeks for a full recovery. He was taken off the active roster on August 4.
Source: Sponichi 8/4/2018, Daily Sports 8/4/2018, Sports Hochi 8/4/2018, Sports Hochi 8/4/2018
0 CommentsManabu Mima is still having problems with his right elbow. He first developed some tightness in the elbow after a start against Lotte on July 17. His condition was not serious (some inflammation) and the Rakuten Eagles removed him from the active roster and skipped him once in the rotation. Mima’s next start came on August 2 against Orix. He pitched five innings and later complained of a different kind of tightness in the elbow.
The Eagles took Mima off the active roster again on August 3. He is expected to undergo additional tests as a precaution.
Source: Sports Hochi 8/3/2018, Jiji 8/3/2018, Sanspo 8/3/2018, Daily Sports 8/3/2018
0 CommentsJaphet Amador was taken off the active roster on August 3 with pain/discomfort in his right side.
Source: Jiji 8/3/2018, Sports Hochi 8/3/2018, Daily Sports 8/3/2018, Sanspo 8/3/2018
0 CommentsThe Rakuten Eagles announced today that they are going to add twenty-seven-year-old Ikusei pitcher Ryota Ishibashi to their seventy-man roster. His uniform number will change from 028 to 94.
In seventeen Ni-gun games this year, Ishibashi went 1-3 with a 2.09 ERA and thirty-three strikeouts over 51.2 innings of work.
Source: Rakuten 7/26/2018, Sports Hochi 7/26/2018, Sponichi 7/26/2018, Nikkan Sports 7/26/2018
0 CommentsMilestones
2018
July 24 vs Nippon Ham at Rakuten Seimei – Yamashita hit a walk-off two-run home run in the eleventh inning off Taisho Tamai. The home run was also the first of his career. He became the first player in Eagles’ history to record a walk-off home run for his first career home run.
Source: Daily Sports 7/25/2018, Sponichi 7/24/2018, Nikkan Sports 7/25/2018
0 CommentsThe Rakuten Eagles topped one million in attendance in their forty-second home game of the year on July 21. They made it to the same total in forty-one home games last year.
0 CommentsMilestones
2018
July 21 vs Seibu at MetLife Dome – Tanaka blasted the first grand slam of his career (sixth inning off Shota Takekuma).
Source: Sports Hochi 7/21/2018, Sponichi 7/21/2018
August 1 vs Orix at Kyocera Dome – Tanaka joined Eigoro Mogi (seventeen in 2017) and Hiroaki Shimauchi (fourteen in 2017) as the only Rakuten lifers to hit ten or more home runs in a season when he blasted his tenth home run of the year in the third inning off Andrew Albers. He recorded the first two-homer game of his career when he connected in the eighth off Taisuke Kondo.
Tanaka’s two home runs came from different sides of the plate (from the right side off Albers and from the left side off Kondo) and made him the eighteenth player in NPB history (accomplished forty-one times), fourteenth player in Pacific League history (accomplished thirty-four times), and second player in Eagles history (behind Fernando Seguignol in 2008 and 2009) to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game. He also became just the eighth Japanese player to accomplish the feat, behind Hiromi Matsunaga (six times), Yoshihiko Takahashi (one time), Kazuyuki Shirai (one time), Kazuo Matsui (three times), Tatsuhiko Kinjo (three times), and Shogo Akada (one time).
Source: Sports Hochi 8/1/2018, Sanspo 8/1/2018, Nikkan Sports 8/1/2018, Nikkan Sports 8/2/2018, Sponichi 8/2/2018
0 CommentsManabu Mima was taken off the active roster with tightness in his right elbow on July 18. Mima is coming off a start on July 17 in which he allowed a run on five hits over five innings and ninety-three pitches. The Rakuten Eagles are playing it safe because he has had surgery on the same elbow in the past. However, they believe his condition is not serious. They are planning to skip him at least once in the starting rotation.
Source: Sports Hochi 7/18/2018, Sanspo 7/18/2018
[UPDATE 7/21 @ 6:16am]
Mima was diagnosed with inflammation in his right flexor pronator. He will travel with the Ichi-gun team and is expected to resume throwing once the pain goes away. The Eagles do not think Mima’s condition is serious.
Source: Sponichi 7/20/2018, Sports Hochi 7/20/2018, Sanspo 7/20/2018
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