Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 512 - 106: Needlepoint vs. Wheat Awl_2
Seeing this situation, Sakamoto Yuuto instantly switched his batting strategy. With his strong ability to adjust, he hit the ball out of the park, sending it onto the stands on the third base side.
The count came to 0 balls, 2 strikes. The consecutive outside corner pitches forced Sakamoto Yuuto to further tighten his strike zone to prevent giving the opponent more opportunities to attack his outer corners. Lin Guanglai exchanged a glance with Takeshima Shinya; this young and strong catcher understood his intention—it’s time to clear the batting space. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
Behind home plate, Takeshima Shinya raised his glove, placing it at Sakamoto Yuuto’s inside corner. The next second, a baseball traveling over 160 km/h shot straight toward Sakamoto Yuuto’s chest.
With a "bang," the baseball slammed hard into Takeshima Shinya’s mitt, yet Sakamoto Yuuto wasn’t startled by it. Not only did he refrain from instinctively swinging his bat, but he didn’t make any move to dodge.
"He truly is Japan’s best at hitting inside pitches—the mastery of distance is remarkable," Lin Guanglai thought as he picked up the baseball. "But my purpose is already achieved; now he should be hesitant to recklessly cover the outside corner."
Capitalizing on the previous pitch’s effect, Lin Guanglai threw a change-up—it appeared as though it was an inside fastball from the trajectory, but as it reached the plate, the baseball suddenly slowed down and dropped.
Lin Guanglai’s renowned control made Sakamoto Yuuto hesitant to bet on the possibility of a ball; he could only manage to follow through, hitting the ball weakly. The baseball fell softly into the empty space near home plate, going out of bounds again.
"It’s looking bleak..." said the commentator for the Giant Faction on TV, expressing his concerns. "First an inside high-speed pitch as a setup, and now a change-up disrupting the batting rhythm, Sakamoto is in a fierce battle; every pitch from now on requires complete focus!"
With the arrival of the fifth pitch, Lin Guanglai on the mound and Sakamoto Yuuto in the batter’s box exchanged glances; both understood that the next pitch would be decisive.
After shaking off some grip powder from his hand, Lin Guanglai rubbed the baseball back and forth, his gaze tightly fixed on the catcher’s glove set at the outside low position, gathering the power of his body into the ball and throwing it out.
The baseball, like a sharp flying dagger, curved through the air, flying toward Sakamoto Yuuto’s strike-zone outside corner, dropping toward the edge of home plate.
In the batter’s box, Sakamoto Yuuto recognized it as an outside corner pitch, adjusted his swing stance, and swung his bat with full force.
"Bang!" The baseball slammed once again into Takeshima Shinya’s catcher’s mitt, while the swinging bat merely cut through the air, making wind-breaking sounds.
"A perfect slider pressing the strike-zone edge! Speed, control—it has it all. This is the ace of SoftBank, the top contender for the Eiji Sawamura Award this season!"
The Giant fans in the stands let out a sigh of disappointment, but quickly gathered themselves, cheering for their team’s lead-off hitter while encouraging the upcoming batter. After all, the game had just begun, and there was still plenty of time to score, wasn’t there?
But the situation on the field was destined to disappoint the Giant fans in the stands: after striking out Sakamoto Yuuto, the most individually skilled player in the early lineup, Lin Guanglai’s momentum didn’t wane; the subsequent hitters, Kataoka Senshiro and Kamei Yoshinobu, failed to stir any waves before him, getting eliminated one after another.
In the top of the first inning, Lin Guanglai dampened the Giant Army’s pride with a flawless showcase, achieving one ground-ball out and two strikeouts.
Fortunately, Sugano Tomoyuki, the starting pitcher today, maintained a good form as well. In the top of the second inning, apart from Honda Yuichi hitting a base hit toward third base, he performed outstandingly, quickly resolving SoftBank Team’s first round offensive, securing three outs.
As Lin Guanglai handled Giant’s fourth batter, Murata Shuichi, with 5 pitches in the bottom of the second inning, a towering figure, reminiscent of Takayama, walked powerfully toward the batter’s box. Meanwhile, all the Giant fans standing in the stands, waved various support items, channeling their love, cheers, and applause to this determined-faced man.
"Fifth hitter, designated hitter, Abe Shinjiro."
"Fifth hitter, designated hitter, Abe Shinjiro."
Abe Shinjiro, serving the Yomiuri Giants for a total of 14 years, is the 18th captain of the team and the primary catcher of the Japan National Team. He is recognized throughout Japan as the strongest hitter among catchers in the post-Furuta Atsuya era—having never recorded a season with fewer than double-digit home runs, sustained eight years as Best Nine, held Central League’s single-season hit record, and even during periods of lower elasticity coefficient balls, managed a batting average above .300 and an OPS over 0.9.
Despite being 35 years old this year, Abe Shinjiro remains the core of the Giant’s lineup; to ensure his offensive firepower remains active, the Giant Team has predominantly utilized him as a first baseman or designated hitter to lessen his burden.
