Source: Tigers Official Outfielder Yoshio Itoi announced his retirement on Tuesday morning after 19 seasons of professional baseball. Originally drafted as a pitcher by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2003, Itoi won multiple Golden Gloves, a batting title, a stolen base title, and played in many all-star games as well. He spent four seasons with…
Sources: Tigers Official / Nikkan Sports / Sports Nippon It is now official. The Hanshin Tigers have signed Dominican first baseman Aderlin Rodriguez (30) to a contract for the remainder of the 2022 season. The right-handed hitter was playing for El Paso (San Diego Padres AAA affiliate) at the start of this season, batting .271…
Sources: Tigers HP / Sponichi / Daily / Sponichi The Hanshin Tigers officially announced the signing of Dominican infielder Aderlin Rodriguez (30) on June 20. Rodriguez has experience with the Orix Buffaloes (2020), putting up a .218 average with 6 home runs and 25 RBIs in 59 games. He left the team prematurely as an…
Newly signed import pitchers Aaron Wilkerson (32) and Kyle Keller (28) arrived in Japan on March 6 and met the press today in Nishinomiya, Japan. Below is a partial transcript of their interviews. Please keep in mind that these are translations (from Japanese to English) of translations (from English into Japanese)! I do not have…
Source: Hanshin Tigers HP The Hanshin Tigers unveiled their new slogan for the upcoming season. In Japanese it is イチにカケル (ichi ni kakeru). In English, this can be roughly translated as “Betting on One” or “Putting One on the Line”. Hard to translate because it kind of has a multiplicity of meanings. Anyhow, about the…
In case you missed it, there was a bit of a brouhaha in the middle of last night’s game. With runners on first (Jefry Marte) and second (Koji Chikamoto) and Teruaki Sato at the plate in the top of the fifth, play stopped mid-at-bat. Voices from both benches were raised to the point that they…
Source: Nikkan / Sponichi NPB announced on Friday that the Hanshin Tigers reached an agreement to send outfielder Masahiro Nakatani to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in exchange for right-handed pitcher Akira Niho. This trade makes sense to both teams, with Hanshin feeling a lack of depth in the bullpen, and the Hawks needing bats to…
Source: Tigers Official Website Hanshin Tigers reliever Robert Suarez and infielder Teruaki Sato were named Central League pitcher and hitter (respectively) of the month for May. Suarez appeared in 12 games as the team’s closer, recording saves in nine games, including saves in seven straight mound appearances. He allowed just five hits all month, walked…
Sources: Sponichi / Nikkan Sports There is more to Junya Nishi than meets the eye. Whether you know him as the fireball-throwing, celebration-embellishing second-year high schooler, the first-round draft pick of the Hanshin Tigers in 2019, or the kid who nervously pitched through his first inning as a pro last night, ultimately earning the win,…
Sources: Hanshin Official / Daily Sports / Hochi Sports Newly-signed imports Raul Alcantara (RHP) and Mel Rojas Jr (OF) completed their two-week quarantine period on Sunday the 18th and met with the local press the following day via teleconference. Here are parts of the transcripts from their Q & A sessions. Alcantara Give us your…