Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 425 - 66: Triple Kill

"The current situation in the Pacific League is already very clear — I think in the upcoming sprint phase, we should once again adjust the order of the starting rotation and prioritize putting all our energy into the games against the Seibu Lions and Rode. Rakuten has already gained momentum, and their magic number (Note 1) is already showing. It’s clearly the least cost-effective to go head-to-head with them using our already scarce pitching reserves!"

"Mr. Oishi is right, Rakuten’s advantage is growing, and both Orix and the Ham Team have fallen behind. Now, it’s essentially a battle between Seibu, Rode, and us, the SoftBank Hawks, three professional baseball teams vying for two playoff spots. To refine our strategy, in the coming month, we should focus more on the games against Rode. As for Seibu, once our standings stabilize, we still have plenty of opportunities to counterattack in September or even in the makeup games in October!"

In Akiyama Koji’s supervisor’s office, the coaching staff of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks team gathered around him, discussing the upcoming match plans for the latter half of the season.

As the season progressed to this stage, the situation actually became quite clear:

Due to the financial problems of the team, the Ham Team, which was still the Pacific League champion and the runner-up in the Japan Series last season, lost a large number of excellent players during the offseason, and also experienced a complete collapse of their defensive system this season — ranking second to last in the league in terms of pitcher ERA and with the most team errors, they are currently at the bottom;

Orix, which ranked at the bottom the previous year, actively sought team reconstruction during the offseason, made large-scale roster adjustments, and replaced more than 20 players, hoping to rebound from the bottom position of the previous year. However, the results were mixed: the strengthened pitching lineup was indeed the best in the Pacific League, with the self-blame rate ranking first; but the sluggish batting lineup couldn’t provide any support for the excellent pitching staff, losing many tight games.

Although there is still a theoretical possibility to advance to the Climax Series, in reality, these two teams have already fallen behind, and this season is basically declared over; for the other teams aiming to advance to the Climax Series, facing off against these two teams is also not allowed to lose, trying to win as many matches as possible.

Among the remaining teams, besides Rakuten, with its stable and deep pitching reserves and explosive batting lineup, after taking the top spot in the Pacific League standings in early July, never let the position slip, establishing its championship momentum in one fell swoop. The remaining three teams, Rode, SoftBank, and Seibu, have a difference in win totals of no more than 2 to 3 games.

It can be said that at this stage, almost every game’s win or loss will profoundly impact the entire Pacific League’s rankings, and the direct matches between these three teams have directly become focus showdowns that are tantamount to two games at once.

After repeatedly flipping through the detailed data at hand and considering the suggestions given by his team members, after silently thinking for quite a while, Akiyama Koji roughly had an idea of how to sprint in the next month or two.

He methodically began to issue orders to the coaching staff around him, listing one after another the contents of training and match arrangements and planning. The coaches, forming a group, also left his office one by one after receiving instructions.

"By the way, Yuuji, how many days has Guanglai rested? Can he play in the game against Seibu?" Akiyama Koji asked Takayama Yuuji, who was in charge of pitcher arrangements, beside him.

After taking a glance at the data in his hand, the other party replied: "Counting today, he has rested enough for a week and can continue to pitch!"

"Alright then, in tomorrow’s game against the Seibu Lions, let him start again, and we can discuss the corresponding adjustments after winning this game — this victory, we absolutely have to secure!"

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At Yahoo Dome, it was silent: the spectators in the stands were afraid that their sounds would disturb their own players who were playing on the field, and even Akiyama Koji, standing outside the player zone, was crossing his arms in front of his chest, silently staring at the field.

On the mound in the center of the dome, Lin Guanglai stood there, his gaze fixed tightly on the batter in the batting zone not far away, his face calm; however, his constantly rising and falling chest revealed that his inner heart was not as calm as it appeared.

This match, with SoftBank playing at home against Seibu, had reached the top of the 8th inning, with a score of 1:2, and the home team SoftBank was trailing.

And the situation on the field was indeed worrying for the home team fans: with no outs, aside from the Seibu’s cleanup batter Asamura Eitou standing in the batter’s box, the bases next to Lin Guanglai — first and second — had two opposing baserunners constantly maneuvering, exerting continuous pressure on him.

Since the second half of the season began, Lin Guanglai had faced this kind of situation more often, and the difficulty of becoming a starting pitcher had greatly increased:

The excellent performance of the first half of the season allowed him to firmly secure a position as a starting pitcher for the team and earned recognition and love from many professionals and fans, one could say he reaped quite a lot and was perfect beyond perfection;

But at the same time, the outstanding and almost un-rookie-like performance also inevitably made him a thorn in the side of other teams. Each team’s data analysis teams also increased their attention to him, carefully studying his various pitching habits and data under a microscope.