Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 465 - 85: It’s Not Over Yet! (Part 2)

Of course, this kind of pitching strategy also has a prerequisite condition, which is the nearly rigorous requirement for the pitcher's control and the ability to grasp the ideal strike zone of the batter and the umpire. Especially considering that at the high position of the strike zone, few batters choose to swing, and the umpire tends to be more cautious in making judgments. There's a high probability that non-obvious balls might not be called strikes.

For others, this might be a problem, but for Lin Guanglai, it naturally isn't.

The fluid and powerful pitching motion started instantly. As his right arm swung with a "swish," the baseball shot out from his fingertips, flying straight towards the high area of Shima Keihiro's strike zone—as a traditional catcher who has mostly focused on defense and catching skills and is placed eighth in the lineup, Shima Keihiro didn't swing at such a high fastball and just let the ball pass.

And Lin Guanglai was delighted to see this situation, as he had ample confidence in his control ability and plenty of data supporting the opponent's batting ability and characteristics—since Shima Keihiro didn't swing at such a pitch, he continued to press towards the same position.

The lingering effect of the first pitch hadn't completely faded when Lin Guanglai's continuous fastball attack swept towards the batting area. Shima Keihiro wasn't mentally prepared for this at all, and without organizing any effective resistance from start to finish, he was sent off by Lin Guanglai's three consecutive high fastballs.

After getting rid of the eighth batter Shima Keihiro, Lin Guanglai's next opponent was the ninth batter Seijima Ryosuke: don't be fooled by his ninth batter title. If not for Okajima Gourou's sudden breakout as the first batter, Seijima Ryosuke would likely still be Rakuten's lead-off hitter.

The reason why he's placed ninth is more from Hoshino Senichi's perspective to connect the whole lineup—if any pitcher dares to face Seijima Ryosuke with the casual attitude of dealing with a normal ninth batter, they will definitely be in big trouble.

Behind home plate, Hosokawa Kei's catcher's mitt reached towards the inner corner orientation of the batter. Lin Guanglai on the pitcher's mound also understood, and the next second he started pitching, sending the baseball towards home plate.

With this pitch, he replicated his usual pitching strategy, choosing to use his most powerful four-seam fastball to aggressively attack the batter's inner corner. This can intimidate the batter, laying the groundwork for subsequent pitches; on the other hand, this is also his preferred way to seize strike counts.

Facing the fast-approaching pitch, decided to fight a long battle with Lin Guanglai, Seijima Ryosuke didn't fall for it, just standing still and watching the baseball enter the plate. Even though the umpire declared it a "strike," no emotional changes appeared on his face.

As if playing a survival game with a countdown, in Rakuten Team's view nowadays, the confrontation with Lin Guanglai mustn't be limited to the victory or defeat of one at-bat. As long as they can consume as many of the opponent's pitches as possible, even if their at-bat is eliminated, as long as they can take him off the field, the teammates behind have a greater chance of turning the tables.

Receiving the baseball passed back to the pitcher's mound by Hosokawa Kei, Lin Guanglai's expression remained unchanged: he knew Rakuten's batters were determined to play a relay race with him, but his fastball was not just to get strike counts...

Nodding towards Hosokawa Kei, the next second, the baseball darted out of his hand again; almost at the same time as seeing the ball trajectory, Seijima Ryosuke in the batting area widened his eyes:

This ball's trajectory is unexpectedly heading towards the center!

"What's going on, is this a bad pitch by the opponent? Or is there some conspiracy?" Seijima Ryosuke's mind raced, trying to figure out what Lin Guanglai was up to; however, the time for him to react was evidently urgent. Unable to think carefully, he instinctively chose to swing.

Even if the coach ordered them to tangle with the opponent pitcher, very clearly, a center fastball definitely wasn't within the scope of this order; any batter who dared to let a center ball pass or not even swing would certainly get scolded harshly and torn apart by their coach upon returning to the player's section.

Not to mention, Ko Matsumoto was waiting on first base all the time—the good state and efficiency of Lin Guanglai in this game meant that Rakuten Team didn't have many offensive opportunities; Seijima Ryosuke didn't want to miss this chance and get slapped by Coach Hoshino.

Judging from Lin Guanglai's pitching motion and ball trajectory, there's no doubt this is a misplaced fastball to the center—a ball like this, once hit, would definitely be a long hit, possibly sending Matsui Jatou directly back home.

When Seijima Ryosuke's brain and body were ready to receive a 160 km/h fastball, and the bat swung towards the ball's direction, he realized something amiss.

This ball seems to be a changeup!!!

However, by then, it was too late—his body's center of gravity had already shifted forward, his core strength fully released, yet the changeup, slower by 10-15 km or even more compared to a typical fastball, hadn't reached the hitting position.

This meant Seijima Ryosuke couldn't use full power to hit the baseball, relying only on leftover strength and an unstable body posture to swing at it.

To hit the belated baseball, Seijima Ryosuke's hand could only try to scoop the ball—this posture made the bat head much lower than the ball's height, forcing him to hit the ball's upper part with the bat's upper edge or even its neck.

Such a scooping action applied a huge forward spin to the ball; under the joint action of Magnetic Force and external forces, the originally airborne ball, flying towards home plate, was smashed down to the ground by the extended bat.

Most of the impact force was dissipated by the bat; the baseball softly rolled towards the pitcher's mound: quick-eyed and nimble Lin Guanglai instantly reacted correctly, quickly rushing towards the incoming ball, scooped it into his glove, and swiftly turned to send the ball towards second base—where Imamiya Kenta was already prepared to catch and step on base.

"Seijima Ryosuke hit a weak ground ball! Lin Guanglai caught the ball and threw to second base!!"

"1, 6, 3—no problem! A perfect 1-6-3 double play, Rakuten Team's infield coordination is remarkably smooth! Three outs, this half-inning is defended again by Softbank Team!"

Still in the broadcast room of the Miyagi Stadium stand, Takeshita Yohei expressed his views on the recent double play:

"Seijima Ryosuke was still anxious on this ball, but it's understandable, as it was a center changeup—no batter would choose to let this ball go."

"Ultimately, it's Lin Guanglai's pitching that's too deceptive, from the release motion to the first half ball trajectory, his changeup and fastball are virtually indistinguishable, making it genuinely hard for batters to deal with."

"As for Matsui Jatou on first base, he really tried his best to run, but he's already 38 years old, no longer the Flying Legs who could sprint to first base in 3 seconds; besides, the reaction time for this ball was indeed too short. Being caught in a double play is naturally within expectations."

"Though less than four days have passed since the first pitch, from Lin Guanglai's state today, his touch remains so outstanding—the preliminary stage of the match has ended, spending 21 balls on 9 batters over 3 innings, incredibly efficient!"

"It seems very likely that today Softbank Team might turn the score around, changing it to 2 to 3!"

"Their 2013 season isn't over yet!!!"