Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 705 36: Wild Card Sudden Death

Before the wild card sudden death game against the Minnesota Twins was about to start, in the home team's locker room at Yankee Stadium, Joe Girardi was giving the players their final pep talk.

"The Twins' selection for their starting pitcher is out, and as we predicted, apart from Ervin Santana, there will be no other choice."

"Remember what we said in the pre-game meeting, Santana's pitching quality has a high probability of declining after the first round of the lineup. They might bring in their number two starter, Jose Berrios, to help Santana eat up some innings, and he naturally struggles against left-handers. Plus, the Twins' bullpen itself is relatively weak... With our strength, as long as we remain steady, winning this game should be no problem."

Girardi paused for a moment, then slowly scanned the players in the locker room with his gaze, and spoke slowly:

"When we confirmed entering the playoffs, I remember I told everyone that the Yankees' goal, our goal for this season has always been just one—to fight our way through until the end of October or even early November, and then raise that championship trophy in our own home."

Saying this, Girardi signaled with his eyes for the players to gather around him in a circle, reaching his hand into the center of the circle.

Under his lead, all the Yankees players stacked their hands together, then raised them upwards in unison, all shouting "Let's go Yankees~" to complete the final pre-game ritual this way.

Single-elimination, wild card sudden death, although this format sounds terrifying and did indeed scare some of the young players who just got promoted to the Major League in the Yankees team, it didn't have much of an impact on Lin Guanglai:

After all, just in his three years of high school, he played in dozens of matches of this specification; in terms of single-elimination winning experience, probably no one here is more adept at this format than he is.

As the Yankee players in their iconic pinstripe jerseys walked out from the player tunnel, the first thing that caught their eyes was the massive crowd in the stands: As the exciting playoff stage arrives, Yankee Stadium naturally fell into a frenzy, with more than 50,000 seats completely sold out, over 90% of them occupied by pinstripe shirts.

Yankee Stadium is renowned across the U.S. for being a devil's home field, where the cheers and support from Yankee fans can continue from the start to the end of the game, never ceasing; and if that team happens to be called the Boston Red Sox, apart from cheers, as a spectator, you could also learn various insulting terms in English.

In the feverish atmosphere created by the home fans, Brian Dozier of the Twins team slowly walked into the batter's box, posed ready to hit; meanwhile, Lin Guanglai on the pitcher's mound stretched a bit, then fixated his gaze, facing the aggressive Twins batter head-on.

The Twins team is one of the most aggressive on the bases in the entire American League, with their team leading in total steals in the league; and as the lead-off for this team, Brian Dozier has maintained an excellent competitive state since September, with a monthly batting average exceeding .300, and has scored a total of 56 runs for the Twins, the most runs scored in the Major League during the same period.

Considering the Yankees' current primary catcher, Gary Sanchez, is more offensively strong than defensively, if Dozier gets on base, with Sanchez's throwing technique and speed, it might be hard to impede the opponent's advancement, and might even cost more bases due to catcher errors with throws.

Taking all factors into account, Lin Guanglai aimed for a strikeout right from the start in this at-bat; seeing Lin Guanglai on the mound preparing to pitch, Brian Dozier's gaze focused, as he recalled the scouting report's analysis on Lin Guanglai in his mind:

"The four-seam fastball is his favorite weapon for the first pitch, with a usage rate over 30%, an average speed of 99 mph, the fastest reaching around 102 mph, a spin rate of approximately 2700 RPM, with a noticeable rising effect, moving about 8% more than a regular fastball. When facing most batters, the first pitch's target is usually inside."

Dozier furrowed his brows, brainstorming possible pitches Lin Guanglai might throw next; and during this time, the baseball flew out from Lin Guanglai's hand, violently heading towards home plate.

The next moment, the white ball arrived, yet the target was not the inside as Dozier had guessed; Lin Guanglai's 99 mph fastball ultimately landed above the second position in the strike zone grid, roughly a ball's width higher.

"Whoosh—", the bat cut through the air, hitting nothing; Dozier only heard a dull "bang" behind him and knew he had been fooled by this pitch.

"Possessing three Major League top-level pitches, complemented with two above-average breaking ball types and top-tier control ability, most importantly, this pitcher also has an astonishing ability to eat innings... Don't think about opening up the game against him at once, our goal should be to play a lasting endurance battle instead."

Recalling the coach and data team's reminders during pre-game training, Dozier regained some of the confidence that had just been struck: he admitted, Lin Guanglai, being the almost locked-in Cy Young super pitcher for this season, indeed had unrivaled prowess; but as players able to start in the Major League, although I, Dozier, might not be able to outmatch you, I can still wear down some of your energy for my teammates, right?