Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 312 - 169: Dialogue with a Professional

Seeing his resolute demeanor, Izumi Minoru nodded, feeling the determination of his disciple, and said nothing more.

Having heard up to this point, Miyata Shinku, who was sitting beside them and had witnessed everything but remained silent, finally moved — the main reason he came to Waseda Jitsugyo today was largely to evaluate whether Lin Guanglai had any professional inclination; in addition to that, he also brought some advice from their scouting department and professionals to make a good connection with the player himself.

"Hearing you say this, Lin, I feel relieved — to be honest, our SoftBank Team is very interested in you, Lin, and even President Wang (Wang Zhenzhi) has mentioned your name many times."

"I didn’t bring any gifts today, but here is a scientific training plan and targeted improvement measures designed by our professionals and scouts based on your physical conditions and game data. I hope it will be of some help to you."

"Let’s first look at pitching — according to our scouting department’s data, besides the fastball, the breaking ball you’re most reliant on is the slider, with a fairly high completion rate..."

"However, considering your health, we think it’s best to avoid using the slider as your main pitch over the next year... ah, please don’t misunderstand, this is a suggestion made for your health — after all, the slider really puts a lot of strain on the elbow, and for long-term development, we think it’s better to minimize the use of the slider."

"As for a replacement pitch, the pitching coach suggests the cutter — after all, both in terms of arm motion and stress on the elbow, a cutter has considerable advantages, and its velocity and trajectory are similar to a fastball, allowing it to deceive batters; most importantly, using a cutter can increase the number of ground balls and effectively reduce pitch count, which is only beneficial for your body, Lin..."

During the subsequent time, Miyata Shinku provided relevant suggestions from SoftBank’s scouts and coaching department regarding Lin Guanglai’s technical characteristics, including how to improve, enhance, and minimize physical strain. A series of methods made Lin admire the professionalism of the professional team while also feeling the attention SoftBank Hawks placed on him — it’s hard for anyone not to feel goodwill towards such a gesture from the other side.

"The above are our team’s suggestions — if you have any ideas, feel free to bring them up, and within our capability, the team will discuss them internally."

"To be honest, I am really honored that SoftBank’s coaches and scouts can give me so much valuable advice; but... if I’m not mistaken, the first pick competition is a fair lottery among all teams, right... if I’m not picked, does the team need me to do anything? Like... decline the nomination?"

Lin Guanglai had reasons for his concern: just at the end of last year’s nomination meeting, the hot pitcher Sugano Tomoyuki refused a forced nomination and negotiation rights from the Nippon-Ham Fighters, preferring to delay another year just to join the Giant Team led by his uncle Hara Tatsunori — with SoftBank Team’s regard for him, it’s no wonder Lin would think more.

Hearing this, Miyata Shinku was momentarily stunned, then showed an appreciative smile.

Asking such a question indicates that the team’s regard for Lin is justified: for other players, receiving such attention from a professional team might make them complacent; whereas Lin remains able to calmly analyze his situation — the implication in his words is that with his ability, SoftBank will surely face competition from multiple teams, ultimately leaving his fate to the lottery ceremony.

Thinking of this, Miyata Shinku smiled and confidently responded to him: "Rest assured, Lin, if you are selected by other teams, we will never ask you to refuse the nomination — if such a thing really happens, today’s events can be seen as forming a good relationship; after all, if you make a name in the professional baseball world, it only benefits the promotion of baseball, doesn’t it?"

Lin nodded, obviously satisfied with Miyata Shinku’s response — after the abolition of the reverse nomination system, players can no longer choose the team; the consequences of forcibly refusing a nomination are severe, meaning that Lin would have to first join a corporate team, gather experience for a few years, and then participate in the draft.

Like suddenly thinking of something, Lin turned to Miyata Shinku and asked one last question:

"Mr. Gongtian, you said before that if I have any ideas, I can bring them up... right?"

"Then may I ask, if I want to initiate a Dual Swordsmanship plan in the professional baseball world, would the SoftBank Team agree...?"