Those of you who watched the game today probably wish you hadn’t. The Tigers got shellacked and are showing few signs of life in July. (More in the next series recap.)
I just “discovered” a Twitter account (mine is @thehanshintiger, follow me!) that reports on activity down at Naruohama, where the farm team plays and practices. Here are two tweets from today that deserve our attention. They might even lift our spirits a little!
右肘の故障で離脱中の西岡は、７日からバットスイングを再開。この日も鳴尾浜室内でスイングチェックを行い、その後はリハビリに努めました。復活を目指し、地道な鍛錬が続きます（支局長）#鳴尾浜
— 鳴尾浜支局（日刊スポーツ） (@NikkanNaruohama) July 11, 2015
Tsuyoshi Nishioka has resumed swinging a bat since July 7th. He has been on the disabled list with a right elbow injury. He went over his swing today at the indoor facility at Naruohama, and then worked on rehabbing afterwards. He aims to make a comeback and continues to train steadily.
ウエスタン:阪神２−８オリックス（試合終了） 新外国人ペレスは吉田一からチーム唯一の２安打で打率は３割６分８厘。外国人枠の関係で１軍昇格が見えないけど、ものすごく頑張ってます（支局長）#鳴尾浜
— 鳴尾浜支局（日刊スポーツ） (@NikkanNaruohama) July 11, 2015
Western League: Orix 8, Hanshin 2. New foreigner Perez was the only one on the team to record two hits off Yoshida, and now has an average of .368. It seems unlikely that he’ll get a promotion to the big club (due to the import limitation) but he’s busting his butt anyways.