Baseball is officially back in full swing as spring training is underway in both Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball. Additionally, Samurai Japan’s World Baseball Classic camp is heating up as they played their first two warm-up games against the defending Japan Series champion Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
JapanBall and Extra Innings Travel’s NPB Spring Training tour is also ongoing in Okinawa! Follow the journey on Instagram and Facebook for updates!
Here are some Japanese baseball highlights you may have missed so far.
Munetaka Murakami went 2 for 4 with a double in his Chicago White Sox spring debut. He is expected to play first base for Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic.
Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki hit his first homer of the spring. He is expected to play center field for Samurai Japan in the WBC.
Kazuma Okamoto made a nice play at the hot corner in his Toronto Blue Jays spring debut. He is expected to play third base for Samurai Japan in the WBC.
Former Yomiuri Giants outfielder Marek Chlup, the first Czech player in NPB history, hit an RBI double in a pre-WBC exhibition game against the Chiba Lotte Marines’ farm team.
Chiba Lotte Marines outfielder Hiromi Oka hit an inside-the-park home run in the team’s first preseason game.
Samurai Japan defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, 13-3, in its first pre-WBC exhibition game. They lost their second game, 4-0.
Tokyo Yakult Swallows prospect Nikita Moiseev, an ethnic Russian born and raised in Nagoya, hit a big home run in a spring training game.
Former MLB pitchers Kenta Maeda (Eagles) and Shintaro Fujinami (BayStars) faced off.
Former Houston Astros first round pick Forrest Whitley made his spring debut with the Yomiuri Giants.
