Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 374 - 23: Explosive Debut (Part 2)

Lin Guanglai certainly knew that Hosokawa Kei was deliberately provoking him, but now with their team leading in score and his personal performance being quite outstanding, he was happy to jump into the pit Hosokawa had dug for him: "Don’t worry, senpai, I never forget my own words—I’ll rely on your guidance for this next at-bat too!"

The 18-year-old Lin Guanglai and the 33-year-old Hosokawa Kei, this SoftBank starting pitcher-catcher duo with a 15-year age gap bumped fists, then walked towards their respective positions on the field.

"So—it’s the top of the fourth inning, Lin is facing Jones once again. Last time, he gave up the game’s only walk. What will be the outcome of this at-bat?"

As a Major League level power hitter, Andrew Jones’s ability to chase fastballs is indisputably strong, often easily able to lock onto a pitcher’s fastball and send it out of the park effortlessly.

Yet even such a formidable hitter, one who could be said to be a "dimensional hitter" in Nippon Professional Baseball, still has his weaknesses:

If one were to summarize Andrew Jones’s nearing end of career, age 30 is a critical point in his life:

Before turning 30, Jones was the "Young Master of the Choppers," a prodigy who hit two home runs at 19 in the World Series against the New York Yankees—during this time, he hit a total of 319 home runs, had a slugging percentage of an astonishing .513, and a WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of a staggering 62.6, pulling off defensive masterpieces with ease, recognized by many as one of the greatest central fielders in history, and entering the Hall of Fame only needed a cumulative record;

But after turning 30, under the dual attack of time and injuries, Jones’s stats plunged like the US stock market during a financial crisis—from 2008 when he joined the Dodgers to 2012 when he left the Major League, his slugging percentage fell to .424, his batting average was only .210, and in 435 games he hit just 66 home runs, with his WAR plummeting almost 30 times to a pitiful 2.2.

Last season, while playing for the New York Yankees, Jones still managed to hit 14 home runs over the entire season, but compared to his time with the Braves, whether it was his proud speed or hand-eye coordination, now Jones couldn’t even reach half of his previous peak levels;

What he now relies on is his erratic batting, but against breaking balls like sliders and curves, he only maintains a dismal .193 and .196 batting average, often forced to helplessly accept strikeouts.

Additionally, Andrew Jones has a fatal flaw, which is that he’s a typical right-handed hitter, with nearly 90% of his career home runs flying out from left field—this has been a major obstacle preventing him from becoming a historically great hitter, also allowing his opponents to limit his performance through defensive shifts.

Having gained experience from the first at-bat and combining all known information, Lin Guanglai had already made his decision.

The umpire pointed lightly towards the pitcher’s mound, signaling Lin Guanglai that he could start pitching; in the next instant, a dominant fastball rocketed toward the inner corner to Jones.

The legendary MLB pitcher, "God’s Right Hand" Pedro Martinez once said that as a pitcher, you should never lose the courage to throw inside pitches—it’s a hard truth that inside pitches are difficult to control, even prone to hitting batters; but if you want to intimidate hitters and open up a wide space for your pitches as a pitcher, the inside pitch is the lifeline.

Lin Guanglai deeply agreed with this— and in this game, that’s exactly what he did:

Even though in Jones’s first at-bat, his poor control of the inside pitch resulted in a walk, ultimately leading to a loss, it did not shake his determination to use inside fastballs to open up the game.

"Pop!" The baseball had just barely left his hand a second ago when it was caught the next moment by Hosokawa Kei in the catcher’s seat.

Out of trust in Lin Guanglai’s control ability, after catching the ball, Hosokawa kept his glove steady, without any motion of pulling the ball.

"Strike!" The umpire raised his arm, pointed softly to his right, quickly declaring the result of the pitch.

The fiery ball of 158 kilometers per hour sped towards Andrew Jones’s inside corner, and even for a player of his near Hall of Fame caliber, facing such speed and precision, there was nothing left but to sigh in admiration.

Riding the momentum of a good start, Lin Guanglai continued his aggressive attacks from multiple angles on Jones’s strike zone, with the batter and pitcher locking horns for a total of six balls without deciding a winner.

Lin Guanglai fully demonstrated what it means to be "a newborn calf not afraid of the tiger," not holding back at all against Jones, the veteran of professional baseball; and Jones, in this at-bat, was also stirred to a small outburst of anger, showing signs of a small surge.

After a wave of consecutive duels, both the batter and the pitcher tacitly slowed down their offensive or defensive rhythm, giving themselves some breathing space; shortly after, the battle reignited.

The count was 3 balls, 2 strikes, a full count—the cameras recording the game at the Yahoo Dome were now focused on Lin Guanglai, under the scrutinizing gaze of the reporters and the expectant looks of the SoftBank fans.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands, Lin Guanglai gestured towards Hosokawa Kei behind home plate, then tucked the baseball-holding right hand behind his back;

In the right batter’s box, Jones had barely seen the grip of Lin Guanglai’s hand before in the next instant, the ball was hurled out by Lin Guanglai who had gathered his strength.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, Lin Guanglai’s elusive right hand made it difficult for Andrew Jones to predict, leaving him just the instant to make an instinctive swing reaction; and as a seasoned power hitter, his body made a subconscious swing.

When the baseball flew into the strike zone and sharply shifted towards his outer corner, Andrew Jones’s heart sank as he tried to extend the bat towards the ball’s location, in hopes of just fouling it off.

But his efforts were destined to be in vain—

"Pop."

"Strike! Out!"

The umpire made an exaggerated bow drawing motion and enthusiastically announced the result of the at-bat.

"Wheeeeeeeeee——" At the same time came the tidal wave of applause from the stands at Yahoo Dome, the tangible manifestation of the audience’s love for a player.

Starting from this strikeout of Jones, the subsequent game quickly revealed to the SoftBank fans at Yahoo Dome the terrifying aspect of this young prodigy:

Strikeout, strikeout, strikeout... In the ears of the SoftBank fans, the umpire’s rapid and successive strikeout declarations were as melodious as heavenly music; Honda Yuichi’s grand slam from Nakamoto Ango’s hand in the bottom of the sixth inning truly ignited the stadium.

The love of fans is very simple: as long as a player can bring victory to the team they love, they quickly gain fans’ adoration—Lin Guanglai was exactly this kind of player in this game.

"Great! It’s decided! Everyone should put aside other support work for a while—before Lin takes the mound again, our support club must have his support song ready!"

At the very front of a section of the stands, a leader of Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ official fan support club made this proposal to their fellow fans.

"Guanglai, you did great in today’s game, go rest now!" After the bottom of the sixth ended, seeing their team leading 7 to 1, Akiyama Koji promptly took advantage and switched Lin Guanglai out to rest early—The more gifted the young player, the more sustainable the development path they must walk, overly rushing their growth instead easily ruins them, especially for a player like Lin Guanglai with Dual Swordsmanship.

When relief pitcher Sho Iwasaki was subbed in, the TV broadcast also displayed Lin Guanglai’s stats for the game:

Started for 6 innings, with 97 pitches, 11 strikeouts, 3 hits allowed, and 1 earned run;

As a batter, in 2 at-bats over 6 innings, he hit one two-run home run and one single.

Such a debut performance can truly be described as explosive!!!