A Straight Ball

"A single fastball. Until next spring, Kōshū, all you need to refine is one fastball." Coach Ninomiya held up a single finger with solemnity.

"Then can I pitch in games?" Kōshū asked cautiously.

"Ha, of course you can pitch, but you'll only throw fastballs. Even with just that one pitch, you have to adjust velocity, spin rate, spin axis, and accuracy. Half a year sounds long, but truly mastering a single fastball—time still won't be enough." From the towering pile of books and documents on his desk, Coach Ninomiya pulled out a sheet of paper. The front seemed to be an English paper; he flipped it over carelessly and scribbled furiously on the back.

"I'm a coach now, but I used to be an orthopedic doctor, and before that, a medical lecturer. I'm not the type to shout vague, hot-blooded slogans. Kōshū, professional baseball can be played until you're forty. So for the decades ahead, spending just half a year building a foundation is well worth it." With that, he used two fingers to spin the A4 paper directly in front of Kōshū.

"Kōshū, this is my task as your starting coach, and also your task."

Kōshū stared at the wild, scrawled handwriting, barely recognizing it as a timeline-based task list.

Fortunately, Coach Ninomiya didn't expect him to decipher a medical lecturer's penmanship and explained from top to bottom.

"First is a physical exam. You need an X-ray examination to check your bone density and projected height. This checkup happens once every six months. The pitching coach will probably set up a physical profile for you in the next few days, and we'll update your physical stats weekly—height, grip strength, push strength, etc. This work confirms training effectiveness and prevents chronic injuries from overtraining."

"Second is diet and rest. Half a year from now, this is the target." Coach Ninomiya pointed at a number on the paper.

"76 kg?"

"You're only 67 kg now, right? Many kids lose about 1 to 2 kg in the first week of training because their diet doesn't keep up. They're usually between 1.6 and 1.75 meters. Kōshū, you're already 1.82 meters. If you get any thinner, you won't have anything to protect yourself. So for these six months, you need to increase your food intake by about 10% each month compared to the last. 10% is roughly one extra chicken leg per meal. As for food ratios, weekends or holidays are fine—we'll arrange plenty of meat for you. On regular school days, eat more meat, eggs, and dairy. After the X-ray, you might need vitamin D supplements. I think Hui Li has already explained our club's philosophy to your mother."

Kōshū nodded, recalling how his mother and Mr. Sasaki had discussed buying a big refrigerator at the dinner table yesterday.

"Next is rest. People your age are really enviable—even if you skip naps, as long as there's a ball to play with, you're energetic all day. Even after a bad night's sleep, you bounce back quickly. It looks like proper rest and relying on your body's recovery are the same, but that's an illusion. If there were such a thing as a health account, proper rest is saving money, while relying on your body's recovery is constantly spending. So, on top of eating well, make sure you rest well."

Then his voice dropped to a mumble: "The numbers after that are your target weight each month. That's the pitching coach's job. Let's move to the next item."

"Third is the refinement of a single fastball. Kōshū, listen closely to this. The fastball is the foundation of all other pitches, and among all its attributes, velocity is the most fundamental. The first two points I mentioned are aimed at increasing velocity. For specific training plans, you can ask Coach Yoshioka. Spin rate is the root of a fastball's effectiveness. Even among professional players, fastballs with different spin rates feel completely different to batters." Coach Ninomiya paused. "That's one reason for so-called 'late movement.'"

"High and low spin rates... Are you sure you want to explain this to a middle schooler?" Kōshū pointed at himself, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"Ha, you'll understand at the next study session. Since you love this sport, you should learn the knowledge related to it."

Coach Ninomiya stopped to take a sip of water. "Spin rate is the speed at which the ball rotates. A high-spin fastball, at the same velocity, not only makes the ball drop less between the pitcher's mound and home plate—making it straighter and flatter—but also, when the batter hits it, besides the force from the frontal impact, there's the powerful rotational force from the ball, making it hard to control. If a pitcher can control spin rate, even the same fastball can produce different effects."

He pointed again at the many tasks listed after the third item: "These tasks include fine-tuning your form as you grow, fingertip sensitivity training, and so on. You can ask Coach Yoshioka directly. This is something we've been researching for the past year. The change is very obvious in ChaiZaki's case. He'll be back on the team soon; you can talk to him."

Perhaps to avoid overwhelming Kōshū with too many tasks, Coach Ninomiya skipped a bunch of scribbles and pointed directly at "spin axis." "Spin axis refers to the angle between the ball's rotation axis in the air and the target direction. For a fastball, the direction is very clear. The best state is for the ball to fly straight into the catcher's glove without losing energy due to the spin axis tilting left or right."

"Judging spin axis deviation requires professional equipment, which we don't have yet." Coach Ninomiya tapped the desk. "My son works as an assistant pitching coach in American pro baseball. If they get something new over there, I'll try to get it too."

Kōshū obediently nodded, but his heart was a little uneasy.

Coach Ninomiya sighed.

"Kōshū, it's really great that you joined the team at this time. Your spin axis is very straight."

"But I only threw about thirty pitches yesterday..." Then he remembered the cameras set up on both sides of the bullpen—behind the pitcher and behind the catcher. "Oh, I see. I thought all bullpens had cameras."

"Ha, we set those up to measure spin rate. Didn't expect to find something even more interesting. Kōshū, your accuracy is remarkable. Based on our analysis, part of the reason is your straight spin axis. When you aim for a certain spot, there's basically no deviation from spin axis causing movement."

"Then if I learn a changeup, will there be a problem?"

Coach Ninomiya didn't answer immediately but thought for a moment. "Based on my many years of experience, no. But that's something to consider next year. We still have many topics to study now—for example, how much more threatening a pure fastball like this becomes to batters."

Finally, accuracy.

"Accuracy seems to be your strong suit. Tomorrow morning, we need to assess the limits of your accuracy and then decide on subsequent training tasks."

With that, all the plans on the paper were covered. "As we learn more about your physical condition, these plans may change."

'Coach Ninomiya doesn't seem to recommend me playing any position other than pitcher,' Kōshū thought.

"Kōshū, let's end today's talk here. Please call your younger brother over too. I saw him waiting for you in the indoor training field."

After expressing his thanks, Kōshū closed the office door. He walked a few steps away before gently exhaling all the air from his lungs. His mind was stuffed with information. It seemed the coaches also wanted to gain some training experience from him, but Kōshū understood their intentions. He was really looking forward to seeing that version of himself half a year from now.

Compared to the excited Kōshū, Lang Zhi, who stayed in the training field hitting balls, was a bit unbalanced. Six people in the whole team were already practicing the shortstop position. Unlike Kōshū, he didn't have outstanding talent in any particular skill. The only thing he could say was that his body coordination was good, which didn't stand out much among a group of excellent shortstops.

'I kind of regret letting that slip today. Damn it. The brotherly comparison I was dreading might come soon.' Most importantly, he stopped his bat and instinctively started calculating money. 'Too expensive. Besides the one-time registration fee, there's the monthly fee, meal costs, etc. Clothes and equipment damage, plus extra nutrition at home.'

"Ever since I said I wanted to play hardball, Mom and Dad have really gotten serious..." Lang Zhi muttered, not noticing a hand reaching from behind to cover his head.

"What's gotten serious?" Kōshū pressed down on the shorter boy's head and shook it gently. "Stop overthinking. Use that energy on hard training instead, okay?"

"Tch," Lang Zhi jumped aside. "Don't act like you know what I'm thinking."

"Fine, fine. By the way, Coach Ninomiya wants you in his office." Kōshū pointed upstairs.

"Huh? Why?" Lang Zhi looked confused, pointing at himself. "Just me?"

"Go on. Maybe after talking to Coach Ninomiya, you won't think so much." Kōshū snatched Lang Zhi's bat and wiped the sweat off it with his shirt hem.

"What do we talk about? Tell me quick."

"You'll find out when you get there, won't you?" Kōshū ignored him, and Lang Zhi had no choice but to walk away nervously.

About a minute after Lang Zhi left, Kōshū stepped outside. Under the cover of night, he watched the nervous short guy on the second-floor corridor stiffly walk to the office door, stand there for a full three seconds, and then knock and enter.

'That shorty.' A faint smile tugged at Kōshū's lips.

"Phew—" He turned around.

The field behind him lay asleep in the darkness. It was hard to imagine how lively it was during the day—like looking at a sleeping baby and finding it hard to imagine the ruckus when it wakes up.

'Before I knew it, I've been talking with Coach Ninomiya for so long.'

"Kōshū, just coming out?" It was Hayakawa Aki. From the direction he came, Kōshū saw the bullpen glowing with light.

"Coach Ninomiya told me about the arrangements for the next half year."

"Mm, it's about that time—the one-on-one meetings."

"One-on-one meetings?" Kōshū pointed toward the second floor. "For over forty people?"

"That's right. The coaches discuss each player's plan in advance, then let them know through individual meetings. They also send copies to the parents."

Kōshū's scalp tingled. The sheer workload sounded enormous.

"Haha, that's why my family's planning to send my little brother here too... but probably not until after I leave."

Hayakawa had said he and his brother were only two years apart. Sensing a hint of envy in Hayakawa's voice, Kōshū offered, "Then he can still stay for two years. You'll be together in high school, right? Brothers playing baseball together."

Hayakawa seemed to be thinking about something else. He said quietly, "Maybe."

[1] Outline progress: Roughly outlined ten chapters today. I have to write the match now. I'm dead, I'm dead—I still can't understand Pitching Strategy.

[2] Later arrangements 1: First, write out the team's philosophy. After that, I might hit the accelerator and let Kōshū grow fast. Everyone here reads Daiya no A fanfics, and I've written nine chapters without touching the core material. I'm vaguely feeling the danger of going off-topic.

[3] Later arrangements 2: Next chapter or the one after, I absolutely have to bring in Miyuki. He needs to lure Kōshū to Seido.