Thirty-year-old Shingo Kawabata earned his international free agent option on April 14 with nine years of service time on the active roster. He is currently in the third year of a four-year contract.
Source: Nikkan Sports 4/14/2018, Sponichi 4/14/2018, Daily Sports 4/14/2018, Sanspo 4/14/2018
0 CommentsShingo Kawabata was hit by a pitch on his head during his at bat in the seventh inning of a game against the Hiroshima Carp on April 3. He was taken off the field on a stretcher and taken to a hospital in Tokyo for tests. No abnormalities were discovered. The Yakult Swallows will reassess his condition on April 4.
Takeru Imamura was tossed from the game for throwing the pitch.
Source: Sponichi 4/3/2018, Daily Sports 4/3/2018, Sanspo 4/3/2018, Nikkan Sports 4/4/2018
0 CommentsRyota Fujii hurt his right side when he fouled off a pitch during an at bat against the Yokohama Bay Stars on April 1. He was taken off the active roster the following day.
Source: Sanspo 4/1/2018, Sponichi 4/1/2018
0 CommentsFamily
Buchanan’s wife is pregnant with the couple’s first child (due in October 2018).
Source: Sponichi 3/30/2018
0 CommentsRelationships
Yachi (27) filed marriage papers with a woman in Tokyo in February 2018.
Source: Sanspo 3/23/2018
0 CommentsThe Yakult Swallows announced today that they added Ikusei players Kengo Tagawa and Hajime Omura to their seventy-man roster. Tagawa’s uniform number will change from 117 to 62, Omura from 120 to 59. They each agreed to contracts worth an estimated five million yen.
Source: Yakult 3/20/2018, Daily Sports 3/20/2018, Sponichi 3/20/2018, Nikkan Sports 3/20/2018
0 CommentsYakult’s Takahiro Araki was hit by a pitch on the left side of his head during an exhibition game against the Hiroshima Carp on March 16. Hiroshima’s Jay Jackson was ejected from the game for throwing the dangerous pitch.
Araki did not lose consciousness. He was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Source: Sanspo 3/16/2018, Daily Sports 3/16/2018
0 CommentsThe Yakult Swallows announced today that Kentaro Kyuko left Okinawa camp and returned to Tokyo because he was not feeling well. He was pulled from a practice game against the Yomiuri Giants on February 21 with an irregular heartbeat and again for the same reason from a situational batting practice scrimmage on February 23.
Source: Daily Sports 2/24/2018, Sanspo 2/24/2018, Sports Hochi 24/2018
0 CommentsThe Yakult Swallows held a press conference for Norichika Aoki at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa on February 6. He was assigned the uniform number 23.
Aoki started his career with the Swallows after he was selected in the fourth round of the 2003 draft. He won three batting titles before he left for the Majors via the posting system after the 2011 season. Aoki spent two years in Milwaukee before bouncing around six different MLB teams over four seasons.
Aoki returns to the Swallows after recording 774 hits, 98 stolen bases, and a slash line of .285/.350/.387 in 759 MLB games.
Source: Yakult 2/6/2018, Sports Hochi 2/6/2018, Nikkan Sports 2/6/2018, Tokyo Sports 2/6/2018
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0 CommentsThe Yakult Swallows announced today that Yofuku-no Aoyama will be their official suit supplier this season. They are the fifth team to sign an agreement with Yofuku-no Aoyama. The other four are Rakuten, Softbank, Nippon Ham, and Orix.
Source: Yakult 1/31/2018
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