October 19, 2008 Hideki Okajima has made four appearances in the ALCS and allowed just one hit and no runs over 6.1 innings.
Our View:Jonathan Papelbon and Justin Masterson have gotten most of the attention but it's hard to pitch any better than Okajima has in this series.
September 13, 2008 Hideki Okajima has made enough appearances that his $1.75 million option for 2009 has kicked in.
Our View:Okajima has had hiccups every now and then, but the southpaw has had his second straight great season in Beantown.
June 10, 2008 The Orioles got to Hideki Okajima again. The reliever allowed two hits and three runs over 0.1 innings on Tuesday night. He hurt himself by walking two batters. Okajima allowed four runs to the O's on June 2.
Our View:Okajima has allowed only nine runs all year, and the Orioles are responsible for eight of them. We have no way of explaining that.
June 2, 2008 Hideki Okajima posted the worst line of his major league career on Monday. The reliever allowed four hits and four runs over 0.2 innings against the Orioles. Okajima allowed three straight singles, a sacrifice fly, a fielder's choice, a walk, and a double before being pulled. He had never served up four hits in an outing before. Okajima's ERA jumped from 0.72 to 2.10.
Our View:We don't think there's anything wrong with the southpaw specialist, and he was probably due to have a rough outing sooner or later. Nobody maintains such a low ERA.
May 19, 2008 Hideki Okajima, who hasn't thrown since last Wednesday, was given permission to play catch this afternoon, this according to the Providence Journal. Okajima was shut down after that outing in Baltimore, with the team saying the left-hander has been suffering from soreness in his left wrist.
Our View:The Japanese import, according to the report, was throwing from about 20 feet, but felt well enough to play catch from 60 or so feet. His status for tonight, and the series against the Royals has yet to be determined.
