Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 683 26: Fierce Battle with the God Trout (Part 2)

The simple pitching practice session soon ended, and when the Angels' leadoff hitter Cameron Maybin stepped into the right-handed batter's box, Angel Stadium gradually fell into silence, entering the atmosphere of the game.

The 30-year-old Cameron Maybin was an early career potential star highly regarded by many experts as having "the potential to become a fixture at the All-Star game and remain one of the most spectacular players on the field for a long time.";

At that time, Marlins president Larry Beinfest, who selected him, even remarked that Maybin had the potential to become a star player comparable to Hanley Ramirez — the latter being the 2006 Rookie of the Year, now a key player for the Boston Red Sox; and Maybin himself declared his hope to emulate his idol Ken Griffey Jr.

But clearly, Cameron Maybin did not reach the ceiling the media set for him: since his debut in the Major League in 2007, over the past ten seasons, Maybin has drifted between various teams, changing teams almost every few years, with the recent years seeing him change teams annually;

Once regarded as a "five-tool player" with untapped potential, he has lost his sparkle during these wanderings — today's Maybin is simply seen as a Major League average level, expendable player, relying on his hand-eye coordination and speed to act as a trailblazer in the team.

Solving this kind of opponent did not consume much effort from Lin Guanglai, and still using the set of tactics well-known to most league teams but still useful — the three-axe strategy, Lin Guanglai spent 4 pitches to secure his first strikeout of the game from Cameron Maybin.

As Maybin returned to the dugout acting as the trailblazer, the home fans in the stands, wearing Angel team jerseys in white or red, stood up from their seats, wildly waving the towels in their hands and showing one homemade support sign after another towards the camera lens on the field:

"Welcome back, GOAT Trout!!!"

"MVP For Trout!"

In his first game after recovering from injury, Mike Trout was placed by the head coach in the second spot, which is enough to glimpse his absolute leadership role on this team — at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Trout is the sole king here.

Feeling the fervent atmosphere from the home fans in the stands, Lin Guanglai's expression instantly became serious.

The shadow of a person and the name of a tree, Trout has showcased his strong and stable power over several consecutive seasons of MVP-level output: In fact, if not for the Major League award selections still emphasizing traditional statistics at the time, Trout might indeed have achieved the unprecedented "five consecutive MVP" accomplishment.

Undoubtedly, this is the strongest opponent Lin Guanglai has faced since entering the Major League — Mookie Betts, Jose Altuve, Manny Machado are strong opponents, but all possess certain limitations;

Whereas Mike Trout, regardless of power, technique, or mental and physical state, is in the peak of his career, a trans-generational superstar potentially vying for the best in history, leaving Lin Guanglai no room to relax.

Out of respect for Trout, even Lin Guanglai, who typically likes to aggressively press the inner corner with the first pitch, opted in this confrontation not to immediately target the inner corner but, under Gary Sanchez's guidance, aimed a fastball towards the outer corner's top edge, probing the umpire's scale while collecting relevant information about the batter.

Upon the swift start of the pitching motion, the baseball was flung by Lin Guanglai's arm, headed towards Trout's strike zone's outer corner.

This is a region most pitchers find difficult to control accurately, but Lin Guanglai's control was flawless, sending the baseball with vigorous tail action and intense spin toward the upper left corner of Trout's strike zone;

This is also a region many batters choose to pass up, but facing the incoming ball, Trout in the right-handed batter's box made an unexpected move:

Facing the ball, he seized the moment and swung powerfully!

With a dull "thunk," the baseball struck by Trout's bat almost instantly soared into the sky, flying towards the deep left field of Angel Stadium, and the entire stadium erupted almost simultaneously in loud cheers and screams.

Over there, Brett Gardner guarding left field was judging the baseball's landing spot but found this ball was nowhere near his range — Trout nearly consumed the ball wholly, with power and technique, the baseball flew directly toward the stands outside the field almost without descent.

"Uhhh—!!!" Amidst the regrets of tens of thousands of fans, the baseball ultimately brushed past the left-field foul pole of Angel Stadium, flying to the deep stands — slow motion shows that this ball was just centimeters short of being a solo home run.

Seeing the baseball fail to land in-bounds, Trout in the batter's box shook his head, chewed his gum twice, then resumed his swing practice outside the box, showing little sign of disappointment;

On the pitcher's mound, Lin Guanglai who was startled by just now's ball broke into a cold sweat: he knew Trout was strong, but did not expect him to be so decisive, so tenacious, and able to consume his high outer pitch that could strike out most Major League batters so fully!

Bear in mind, today's game was Trout's first upon returning from injury, he hadn't had a real match for a full six weeks prior, yet on the first pitch of his comeback, he nearly hit a home run off Lin Guanglai, the current favorite for the American League Cy Young award.

"Indeed, this is the strongest power of our times, even not at full, yet not to be underestimated..." Lin Guanglai thought while receiving a brand new baseball from the catcher — after just that pitch, Trout's danger level in his mind surged several notches higher.

Many pitchers upon encountering a situation like just now, would fear getting struck out and avoid confronting the batter, but such thinking is prone to being exploited by the batter.

For this reason, Lin Guanglai opted for a riskier but stronger approach: he chose the fastball again, and this time aimed straight at the high inner zone of Trout's strike zone to continue vying for strikes!

This strategy naturally involves huge risks; if the opponent reads the ball route and hits the incoming ball, Trout would not miss a second chance;

But to some extent, it's a desperate measure: confronting a super batter whose average against all pitch types is hovering around .320 and whose nine-grid box almost has no cold spots, a certain risk had to be taken.

Since entering the world of professional baseball, Lin Guanglai hadn't encountered a batter putting him under such pressure for a long time, standing on the mound, he took a deep breath, exchanged a glance with Gary Sanchez, then exerted all his strength to throw the baseball.

The super-fastball exceeding 100 mph, with over 2700 rpm spin raced toward Trout's direction, exhibiting an upward trajectory visually during its flight — facing this aggressive baseball, Trout's face too became serious, his continuously chewing mouth halted, gaze fixated on the baseball, the bat swung again.

The baseball was struck by Trout again, however, accompanying was a crisp "crack": facing Lin Guanglai's near 165km/h fastball, Trout's swing speed still couldn't keep up completely, although the bat hit the baseball, it contacted at the bat's fragile middle.

After intense impact, Trout's Old Hickory MT27 bat broke subsequently, alongside the baseball rolling quickly toward the shortstop position within the field.

Well-prepared Didi Gregorius swiftly crouched forward and caught the baseball with his glove, confirmed its stability then steadily shot the ball towards first base, sealing off Trout before he reached base.

After this out was completed, the camera instantaneously turned towards home plate —

Here, the bat broken from the middle, silently narrated all that just transpired.