Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 577 - 138: The Aggressive Major League (Part 2)

The gap between Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball can be seen just by looking at the success rate of Asian players in the Major League. Although there are successful cases like Nomo Hideo and Ichiro Suzuki, most of the time, there are more failures—the velocity that's called a "fireball" in Nippon Professional Baseball and the defense that's considered beautiful are just everyday occurrences for MLB players.

Upon seeing the difficult expressions on his players' faces, Kohkubo Yuuki decided to ease their pressure a bit: "Although the American all-star team's players might be stronger in individual abilities, you must remember that baseball is always a team sport, and individual skills often cannot determine the outcome of the game."

"I don't want everyone to feel too stressed. After all, this is just a friendly match. The more important thing is to adapt to the rules and intensity of international competitions and to find out our shortcomings from them—keep in mind, the last time the Japan Team won the Japan-USA series was back in 1990, so you don't need to worry about what happens if we lose."

"Besides, who says we're bound to lose? As far as I know, the Americans haven't even started their training camp yet..."

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On the other side of the ocean, John Farrell was also troubled at that moment:

As the distinguished manager who led the Boston Red Sox to end the Curse of the Holy Infant, and the manager of the current MLB All-Star team, he only got the list of team members for the upcoming Japan-USA exchange game from the MLB Players Association a week before the competition starts!

Opening the email, Farrell's brows furrowed tighter and tighter at each name on the list: If there are still a few all-star level players among the batters, then this lineup of pitchers is really too poor, isn't it?

Besides Mariners' Iwakuma Hisashi and Royals' Jeremy Guthrie, there are actually no other pitchers who have completed the required innings!

And why are there two free agents without contracts in the so-called "All-Star Team"? Is this a showcase to the world of Major League power, or a job fair for fringe players?

Also, with less than a week until the official game, the Major League hasn't even settled the pre-game training camp. Such inefficient work just made Farrell feel a bit worried about the upcoming trip to Japan…

Like the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners, as a well-established giant having signed Matsuzaka Daisuke, the Boston Red Sox also has their own scouting network in Japan. So as the head coach of this giant club, Farrell clearly knew, the batch of players that Japan is sending over this time, is definitely not as worthless as most American baseball media, who know nothing about Asian baseball, claim it to be…

"Especially that young player from the SoftBank Hawks. Even in America, such a level of talent is considered top-notch and might even be promoted to the Major League level at about 20 years old — can this shabby lineup really be said to firmly suppress the opponent..."

Shaking his head, Farrell decided not to dwell on this matter any longer—after all, the result of this match wouldn't have any impact on his position with the Red Sox. Even if they lose, it would just be the league's loss, not his.

"Exactly, this can also be an opportunity to observe that young player. I heard Matsuzaka has already signed with the SoftBank, and I wonder if with this connection, our Red Sox could gain a head start in the draft process in the future?"

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Once the Japan National Team fully assembled, they immediately started the intensive preparations: 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Thanks to the timing of the match right after the season ended, the players didn't need much time to get back into competitive form; especially players like Lin Guanglai, freshly off the Japan Series, who displayed excellent competitive states.

The first match of the Japan exchange was set in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture. Thanks to its advantageous geographical location, even in late autumn, Okinawa's temperature remained quite warm, further reducing the risk of player injuries.

In the bullpen of the training ground, the pitchers selected for the training camp were practicing adapting to the game ball under the guidance of the pitching coaching staff—the event adopted WBC rules throughout, using the breakthrough tie system in extra innings, with the WBC certified balls and WBC's 80-pitch limit introduction.

Most of the other rules were fine, but for these pitchers who grew up in the Japanese baseball environment, the hardest part was adapting to the balls used:

The balls used in Nippon Professional Baseball games are made by Mizuno as standardized balls, whereas both Major League games and international matches are monopolized by Rawlings;

Although they appear to be the same baseballs, for the extremely sensitive pitchers, the difference between the two types of balls is night and day.

For pitchers, apart from the slight differences in size, the most notable difference between Japanese and American game balls lies in the stitching:

The Mizuno-made Nippon Professional Baseball balls have much smaller stitches, which leads to a wider gap between adjacent stitches (the so-called sweet spot area), making the NPB balls' surface more "tacky and rough" compared to MLB's, allowing easier control to the desired position;

Rawlings's American standard balls are renowned for their smooth surface out of the factory, requiring Japanese pitchers, who are used to Japan-standard balls, to spend quite a bit of time adapting.

Even pitchers well-known for excellent control like Lin Guanglai and Kaneko Chiharu experienced multiple instances of control instability and even misplaced pitches during today's training; as for ones like Fujinami Jintaro and Ohtani Shohei, who already struggled with control, it was even more of a dismal sight.

At once, misplaced balls filled the bullpen sky, and merely judging by the quality of pitches, it was hard to believe this was the level of professional players; it was really hard on the three catchers working with the pitchers today: Kobayashi Masashi, Ito Mitsuo, and Shima Keihiro.

Of course, what makes a professional player isn't just their top-tier talent, but also their strong capacity to summarize experiences and adjust: even though initially these American standard balls indeed gave them quite the trouble, after some time adapting, even this nation's finest pitchers soon found the groove.

Besides routine trainings, Lin Guanglai, as the currently most prominent player, was frequently pulled away for a variety of activities, including but not limited to media interviews, fan meet-and-greets, and interactive sessions, and even opening ceremonies for some matches in Naha, where every appearance of his attracted large crowds of fans and enthusiasts.

The swarming crowd has proven that Lin Guanglai is now one of Japan's most influential baseball stars. When it comes to both honors and fame, he has already achieved "speedrun" and stands at the top of Japan's pyramid. Even a senior like Maeda Kenta can't compete with him—this is why Nippon Professional Baseball officials are willing to utilize almost all resources to support and promote him. A player who has the combination of looks, fame, and skill can definitively boost the development and spread of the sport.

And now, this top-tier talent from Nippon Professional Baseball is set to confront the formidable Major League all-star team: among them are accomplished legendary veterans, prominent players at the peak of their careers, and young talents still on the rise, just like Lin Guanglai...

Under the world's watchful eyes, what kind of performance will he deliver?