16 Oh

After Su Qing returned to the Rest Area, Harada pulled him aside and continued explaining the catcher techniques Su Qing knew. This made Narumiya Mei very unhappy. Harada was his partner, yet now his partner was dragging another pitcher off to whisper secrets. He was extremely unhappy!

And Su Qing was his new best friend. Now his best friend had ditched him to whisper with someone else. That made him even more unhappy!

"What are you two talking about over there? I want to hear too!"

"Come on."

It wasn't some secret. There was nothing he couldn't hear.

"Let's continue with framing. I said before that the foundation of framing is fooling the home plate umpire. Everyone should know that each person's Strike Zone is different, with more or less some variation. Of course, during a game, we have to follow the home plate umpire's Strike Zone. We can use his Strike Zone to call pitches that batters think are balls but the umpire thinks are strikes. Naturally, we can also fool the umpire through our body movements and the way we receive the ball, making him think a ball was a strike."

"How is that possible? The home plate umpire isn't blind. Can't he tell whether it's a strike or a ball? Don't try to be clever and end up turning a perfectly good strike into a ball."

As a pitcher, Narumiya Mei both loved and hated home plate umpires. He hated those who called the strikes he had worked so hard to throw as balls, and loved those who called balls as strikes.

"Who do you think sees the pitch more clearly, the catcher or the home plate umpire?"

"Of course the catcher does. There's nothing in front of the catcher, while the umpire is crouched behind him." Narumiya Mei wasn't stupid.

"If I open my mitt as wide as possible, then close it the instant I catch the ball, with half my mitt inside the Strike Zone and half outside it, do you think the umpire might hesitate?"

Hearing Su Qing say that, Harada felt as though he had suddenly attained enlightenment.

Su Qing saw the enlightened look on Harada's face and immediately grew anxious. He had only used that as an example for Narumiya Mei. Harada absolutely couldn't come away with that kind of understanding!

"Don't rush. Framing isn't that simple. I'll find you some footage later so you can watch it. For now, I'll explain the principle first."

"Just like pulling pitches diagonally can make batters misjudge the Strike Zone, catchers can also use their movements to make the home plate umpire think that a pitch was actually inside the Strike Zone. Everyone knows to pull the ball back into the Strike Zone after catching it, but that's too deliberate. Anyone can see through it at a glance. But what if it's an unconscious little movement?"

Su Qing felt that Harada definitely wouldn't understand through words alone, so he said to him:

"I'll demonstrate it for you."

"!!!!"

In his previous life, Su Qing had learned related framing techniques. Although he had no interest in catching, he had really wanted to try it. Moreover, Su Qing believed that if he knew framing too, he could coordinate better with the catcher. The facts proved that Su Qing was right. After truly understanding how framing fooled the home plate umpire, batters facing Su Qing no longer dared to let balls near the Strike Zone go by, because the catcher would definitely pull them into strikes!

"Oh, right. I don't think I brought a catcher's mitt. Can I borrow yours? And the gear too."

"You can catch?!"

Narumiya Mei, Harada, and the others nearby were all stunned!

Su Qing thought carefully about it. He really had caught before—the kind in official games. In order to make his stats look better and raise his draft position, he had played every position. Of course, he had played shortstop and Second Baseman the most.

After becoming the First Pick, he had even specifically found a recording of that year's draft. Sure enough, even the host commentating on the draft had been stunned by his versatility. His stats had been outrageously beautiful.

If he hadn't been too tall and unwilling to play the outfield, why would someone with his bat have become a pitcher?

The thought filled Su Qing with resentment. Still, he hoped he could grow a little taller. One hundred seventy-six centimeters was far too short! At the very least, he needed to be one hundred eighty-six!

In the end, Yamagami lent Su Qing his gear and mitt. Harada still had to take the field soon, so it was obviously impossible for him to take his gear off and lend it to Su Qing now.

Coach Kunimoto, who had not been paying attention to the Rest Area, was also drawn over by the commotion. Seeing Su Qing fully geared up and holding a catcher's mitt, he was completely baffled.

"What are you doing?"

The moment Coach Kunimoto spoke, everyone fell silent. In the end, Harada stepped forward and answered Coach Kunimoto's question.

"Su Qing wants to teach me a catcher's technique that's very popular in the pros. That's why he put on catcher's gear."

Coach Kunimoto was greatly surprised upon hearing that! Su Qing could catch too?! What kind of perfect utility player was this?! He could pitch, hit, and field, and now he was saying he could catch as well? Was he even human?!

"Demonstrate it after the game. You'll be taking the field soon."

Coach Kunimoto unconsciously looked toward Yoshizawa Hideaki, who was still struggling in the Batter's Box. The count was two strikes and one ball. Yoshizawa had just fouled off a strike that could have struck him out, and he was still fighting.

Once Coach Kunimoto looked over, everyone followed his gaze and saw Yoshizawa Hideaki's grim expression. Cheers immediately erupted.

Su Qing could only take off the ill-fitting gear he had just managed to put on and return it to Yamagami.

Sure enough, Yoshizawa Hideaki was unable to hang on any longer. He was eventually struck out and returned to the Rest Area with his head lowered.

Just then, it was three outs and the sides switched. Every player who walked out of the Rest Area and onto the field gave Yoshizawa Hideaki a playful smack, except for Su Qing, who came last. Rather than hitting him, Su Qing kindly handed him his glove.

"Don't be discouraged. Look, even the captain got struck out. There's nothing embarrassing about it."

Harada had been delayed changing his gear and was walking at the very back of the group, so he clearly heard Su Qing's words.

He stopped dead in his tracks and shot Su Qing a murderous glare.

It made Su Qing's skin crawl. He could only stand there and smile awkwardly. Fortunately, Coach Kunimoto was standing nearby, so Harada did not dare go too far and quickly left.

But Su Qing's comfort did not make Yoshizawa feel any better. That at-bat was merely a reflection of his recent situation. He had been in terrible form at the plate lately, batting only .267—even worse than Narumiya Mei. Otherwise, the coach would not have removed him from the heart of the batting order without hesitation this time.

Defensively, after Su Qing replaced him, he had actually performed even better than Yoshizawa. Hits down Inashiro's third-base line had been cut in half.

If he did not show his true ability soon, he would lose even his starting position. He might even lose his place on the First String.

Yoshizawa tightly clenched the hand holding his glove, nearly deforming it.

"Senpai? What's wrong? It's time to take the field."

Su Qing found it strange that Yoshizawa had stopped moving after taking the glove.