Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 495 - 98: Responding to Doubts

"Good evening, all fans of professional baseball!" On the TV screen, the graceful and lovely female host of the baseball program greeted the audience with her gentle and intelligent voice, "Welcome to the special program for the first week of the new season of professional baseball."

"The 2014 season of professional baseball has already been underway for a week. Let’s take a look at the current standings of the two major leagues—"

"In the Central League, last season’s champion Yomiuri Giants had a poor start and are currently in fourth place with 5 wins and 4 losses after three series. Ahead of them are the Hanshin Tigers with 7 wins and 2 losses, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp with 6 wins and 3 losses, and the Yakult Swallows who have the same record but lead due to head-to-head performance."

"It’s worth mentioning that Yakult’s young player, Yamada Tetsuro, who officially took on the role of the team’s starting second baseman this season, has been outstanding in offense, defense, and base running. He is currently leading the Central League with a batting average of over .300."

"Compared to the back-and-forth, fiercely contested Central League, the situation in the Pacific League is much clearer: last season’s Pacific League champion, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, have been struggling after losing their ace Tanaka Masahiro. They currently have a start of losing 6 out of 9 games, placing them second to last in the Pacific League."

"The Orix Buffaloes, who had a dismal season last year, continue to excel this season in their pitching lineup. They boast the league’s best team ERA and have conceded the fewest runs, making them a formidable force. After strengthening their batting lineup, their current record of 8 wins and 1 loss is a fitting reward for the team."

"However, when talking about the best performing team this season, one cannot overlook SoftBank, currently leading the Pacific League. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, who had a rough start last season, are off to a flying start this season, sweeping their first three series against Rode, the Nippon Ham Fighters, and Rakuten with a 9-0 record, dominating the field."

"In the pitching repertoire, Lin Guanglai continues his extraordinary performance from last season. He has pitched in 2 games this season, throwing 16 innings without allowing a single run and delivering a staggering 25 strikeouts. Up until the start of today’s program, all his stats are leading the Pacific League."

"Compared to the stable pitching lineup, the SoftBank team’s batting lineup is even more terrifying: among the starting nine, the key players including Lee Dae-ho, Matsuda Naohiro, and Nakagawa Seiichi all have home runs to their names, boasting the most powerful lineup among Japan’s 12 professional teams."

"And this is achieved even with Lin Guanglai’s performance at the plate being below par, with a batting average of under .250—" The female host paused for effect, then turned her attention to the professional baseball commentator guest, "What do the guests think of Lin’s struggles at the plate since the start of the new season?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The topic raised by the female host is one of the hot topics recently discussed online:

Since the start of the new season over a week ago, while Lin Guanglai has shown outstanding and stable performance as a pitcher, his performance as a batter has not been as impressive.

A batting average just above .225, one home run, and most other advanced metrics, including the offensive index, are average or even below average in the league.

Clearly, such performance has not satisfied the discerning professional baseball fans, especially after the highly publicized offseason.

Anyone with a decent understanding of baseball would know that this topic has been deliberately created by those with an agenda:

After all, with only 9 games into the new season, and considering Lin Guanglai’s rest around his pitching appearances resulting in only playing 4 games, while the numbers are not stellar, they are definitely not as worthless as some make them out to be; at most, it just indicates a need for adjustment.

But what can you say, television programs fear lack of controversy and attention—because of this, even the experts present, who clearly understand the situation, still went through the motions to express differing opinions on the topic.

"In my view, Lin Guanglai’s performance is quite normal—on one hand, young players naturally have ups and downs; no matter how talented, they must adhere to objective patterns. Moreover, it’s only been a week into the season, so I don’t believe there’s any need to make a big fuss," someone first shared their viewpoint.

"The fear is that this state isn’t a flash in the pan, but will become his norm! Many historical lessons are there—after an impressive rookie season, numerous batters face targeted research and strategies from opponents in their second season, leading to inevitable declines in their stats..."

Right after the expert expressing the favorable opinion finished, a rebuttal was already echoing from the other side, "Plus, Lin Guanglai still needs to balance pitching—if you ask me, he might as well focus on being a pitcher; given SoftBank’s current firepower, his absence might not make that much of a difference. With his talent, he might just win the Eiji Sawamura Award this season."

Before the match against Orix began, as Lin Guanglai was just entering the locker room, Yanagida Yuuki cheerfully placed his phone in front of him, showing him such a video.