NPB Bullet Points: Four Unrelated Notes
by Patrick Newman (Jul 6, 2010)
Title says it all, here are the bullet points. Everything's in
Japanese for this edition:
- Remember Naoya Washiya, the California jr college
player who was drafted
by Washington last year? He's been
released and has returned to Japan.
- Orix is bringing former KBO and 3A pitcher in
Hyang-Nam Choi for a workout. Choi is 39, but
prior to this season he put
up good numbers in 3A stints with Cleveland and LA, including a
very solid season last year as a reliever in Albuquerque, a notoriously
hitter-friendly environment.
- Rookie Yusei is returning
to Seibu's farm team after a two-month layoff due to shoulder
discomfort. I've written very little about the prospect formerly known
as Kikuchi this season, but his pro career is off to a bit of a rough
start.
- Yu Darvish's July 3 start is available on justin.tv,
spread across 1
2
3
links. Darvish showed great velocity, struck out 10, and worked from
the stretch all the time in this game. Darvish set a new NPB best with a
155 km/h fastball, which he threw by Masato Nakamura
on an 0-2 count. The pitch can be seen at about 47:22 of the first link.