Japan's Central League has said it is considering to join its Pacific League cousin in adopting the "yokoku sempatsu" policy of announcing starting pitchers in advance this season. The starters for each Pa. League contest are officially designated 24 hours prior to game time, and anyone can watch the evening sports news or check the NPB website and know who will be throwing the next day.

The CL, until now, has allowed managers to keep their starting hurlers a secret until the lineup cards are exchanged — usually 40 minutes before games are scheduled to begin. According to reports, representatives of the six Central League clubs are to meet on March 1 to consider the matter.

Supposedly, this would be another step for Japanese baseball to become more like the major leagues where managers routinely and openly reveal their starting pitchers for a three-game series well in advance. In Japan, however, there are two schools of thought and debate about the advantages and disadvantages of saying who will be pitching and when.