Brandon Laird appeared to be bothered by back issues the last few days. He spoke about some discomfort after an Orix game on September 17, but said it was nothing serious. He felt tightness/pain in his back during pre-game practices on September 18 and was left out of the starting line-up. He could be headed to the hospital for an examination on September 19.
Source: Daily Sports 9/18/2018, Sanspo 9/18/2018, Sponichi 9/18/2018
[UPDATE 9/20 @ 2:45am]
The Fighters announced on September 19 that Laird was examined at a hospital in Tokyo and diagnosed with a strain in his left abdominal oblique. He will most likely require three to four weeks for a full recovery.
Source: Nippon Ham 9/19/2018, Tokyo Sports 9/19/2018, Daily Sports 9/19/2018, Nikkan Sports 9/19/2018, Sponichi 9/19/2018
0 CommentsThe NPB announced on September 8 that Nippon Ham Fighters games at Sapporo Dome against the Chiba Lotte Marines on September 11 and 12 were postponed due to the Hokkaido earthquake. Make-up dates will be released as they become available.
Source: NPB 9/8/2018, Nippon Ham 9/8/2018
0 CommentsHokkaido was hit by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake on September 6. At least nine people are dead, thirty-one are missing, and over 150 are injured. The earthquake also caused power outages.
The Nippon Ham Fighters reported that everyone in their organization was safe and accounted for. The Rakuten Eagles and Fighters announced that their game at Rakuten Seimei on September 7 was postponed due to travel issues (the airport in Hokkaido was closed). The game will be played on September 10.
The Pacific League is evaluating the Fighters’ schedule to see if any changes are needed for games beyond September 10.
Source: Rakuten 9/6/2018, Nippon Ham Tweet 9/6/2018, Sponichi 9/6/2018, Daily Sports 9/6/2018
0 CommentsKohei Miyadai was taken off the active roster on August 24 with an injury to his right hip. He may have hurt the hip during his last start on August 23 against Softbank. He was examined at a hospital in Tokyo on August 24 and assigned to the Ni-gun facilities for rehab.
Source: Nikkan Sports 8/25/2018
0 CommentsMiscellaneous
2018
August 23 vs Softbank at Tokyo Dome – Miyadai got the start and joined Shinji Niihari (three starts, all in 1965) and Takashi Ide (three starts, all in 1967) as the only pitchers out of Tokyo University to start one or more NPB games.
Source: Sponichi 8/24/2018, ZakZak 8/24/2018
0 CommentsMilestones
Miscellaneous
Lead-off Home Runs
2018
August 24 vs Rakuten at Sapporo Dome – Asama hit the second lead-off home run of his career (first inning, off Shoma Fujihira).
Source: Nikkan Sports 8/24/2018
0 CommentsSho Nakata blasted the 200th home run of his career during a game against the Rakuten Eagles at Sapporo Dome on August 24. He is the 103rd player in NPB history and the first Heisei player (players born on or after January 8, 1989) to reach the milestone. He joined Isao Harimoto, Koichi Tabuchi, and Michihiro Ogasawara as the only Japanese players in NPB to reach 200 home runs without any sac hits.
Home run 200 came in the fifth inning off Hiroki Kondo.
Source: Nikkan Sports 8/24/2018, Nikkan Sports 8/25/2018, Sponichi 8/24/2018
0 CommentsThirty-seven-year-old Kensuke Tanaka re-earned his free agent option today. He exercised his international free agent option after the 2012 season and headed to the Majors in 2013. He returned to the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2015. He told reporters today that he wanted to finish his career with the Fighters.
Source: Jiji 8/21/2018, Sanspo 8/21/2018
0 CommentsKazutomo Iguchi was taken off the active roster today. The Nippon Ham Fighters announced that Kazutomo Iguchi was diagnosed with a strain in his right teres major muscle. He will be shut down (no throwing) for a week and will most likely require about three weeks for a full recovery.
Source: Sponichi 8/20/2018, Sports Hochi 8/20/2018
0 CommentsTwenty-nine-year-old Sho Nakata earned his international free agent option on August 6 with nine years of service time on the active roster.
Source: Nikkan Sports 8/6/2018, Daily Sports 8/6/2018
0 Comments