Just as Chris had asked Su Qing about the scouting report, Harada was also very interested in Chen Xin, even though Chen Xin had only officially appeared in one game so far.
But the fact that Chen Xin could hang around with Miyuki and Chris meant this first-year was very likely one of Seido's main players.
Just as Chen Xin was hard to describe to Su Qing, Su Qing found Chen Xin equally hard to describe. Regular-season MVP? Multiple Gold Gloves? Stolen base king? A future Hall of Famer?
Fine, none of that would do.
"He's an incredible hitter. His average OPS+ is as high as 173, and he's also an amazing base stealer—the stolen base king where we're from."
It sounded impressive, but what exactly was OPS+?
Su Qing suddenly felt that bringing up the statistic had been pointless. They had no idea how incredible a career OPS+ average of 173 was.
"OPS+ is on-base percentage plus slugging percentage. You probably don't really understand that stat, so let me give you an example. Even the average single-season OPS+ of Major League batting MVPs each year is only a little over 160."
???
Why had this suddenly jumped to the pros?
"That stat doesn't sound all that amazing. My career batting average in Little League was as high as .735."
Harada had said that. But how good could Little League pitchers have been? Defense was also a major issue. Kids simply did not have enough arm strength, and throws back to the infield took forever. As long as they put the ball in play, they could get on base even if they hit it right into the infield defense.
Su Qing slapped his forehead. He seemed to have said OPS+ was on-base percentage plus slugging percentage. Little League numbers truly did not mean much, but he had not been talking about Little League stats. He had meant Chen Xin's career stats!
He remembered how Chen Xin had bragged about them to him every day back then, until his ears had nearly grown calluses. Su Qing had been disdainful, but he could not deny that the numbers were unbelievably good!
To make Harada take Chen Xin more seriously, Su Qing decided to make a sacrifice.
"His hitting is better than mine..."
After saying that, Su Qing turned his head away. Ah! His heart hurt! He had sacrificed way too much for the team! If Chen Xin found out, he would definitely push his luck!
The moment Su Qing said that, Harada understood. How strong was Su Qing's batting? Everyone at Inashiro had seen it with their own eyes! Otherwise, he could not have squeezed Yoshizawa out.
Su Qing was absolutely a monster hitter!
And now Su Qing was saying Chen Xin hit even better than he did. That sounded ridiculous. Yet Harada did not suspect Su Qing was lying, because no hitter would willingly admit someone else was a better batter unless he truly accepted it.
"Has he hit against you before?"
"Of course. We're old rivals."
"How did it go?"
Su Qing really did not want to answer that question.
Harada saw something was off from Su Qing's expression. If Su Qing had crushed him, he would have said so long ago instead of hesitating like this. So he could not beat him at all?!
"Evenly matched! We're evenly matched!"
One look at Harada's expression told Su Qing that he had gotten the wrong idea. Su Qing was not weaker than that guy Chen Xin!
"Has he hit every pitch you throw?"
Narumiya Mei, who had been listening, was also shocked. What did he mean, evenly matched?
This time, Su Qing hesitated again before finally nodding unwillingly.
"Yeah."
!!!
"He's even hit your Changeup?"
Su Qing did not want to answer anymore. Wasn't this just rubbing salt in the wound? What did he mean, hit it? Though that guy had indeed hit a Home Run off him, most of the time it had only resulted in inside-the-park hits!
"Don't leave! Wait for us!"
When Narumiya Mei saw Su Qing walk off without even looking back, he knew Su Qing was angry. But he had not asked on purpose; he only wanted to know whether this first-year named Chen Xin could hit a Changeup. His Changeup was somewhat similar to Su Qing's, after all. If Chen Xin could handle Su Qing's Changeup, then he might be able to hit Narumiya Mei's too.
That feeling was not pleasant at all! This was the deciding pitch he had only just developed!
Harada was in an even worse mood. Seido's lineup had already been absurdly strong! And now they had added a monster rookie, while their pitching had improved as well. Seido was about to take off!
By the time Su Qing and the other two returned to the field, the game had already ended. The entire field was empty, with only one Seido player still packing up his things.
Harada and Narumiya Mei both thought to ask this Seido player where everyone from Inashiro had gone.
Su Qing, meanwhile, grew excited. That back, that height, that chuunibyou voice—it was you! Little Angel!
"Eijun!"
???×3
"You know each other?"
"We do." "We don't."
Sawamura's eyes widened as he looked Su Qing up and down. Had his memory gone wrong? He really had never seen this guy before.
"I watched recordings of your games before."
Su Qing suddenly remembered that he had not transmigrated yet when Akagi's games had taken place. So he hurriedly added that they were recordings.
"This guy is that famous? How come I've never seen him?"
"Eijun might not be famous yet, but he has a lot of potential. His future achievements definitely won't be any worse than Furuya Satoru's."
Sawamura had initially thought Su Qing was not his friend, but after hearing that, he became convinced that Su Qing was absolutely a good friend! Hahahahahahaha!
Narumiya Mei looked at Sawamura's arrogant, nostrils-in-the-air expression, as though he were one step away from howling at the sky, then shook his head.
"I don't believe it. Him?"
Sawamura immediately took offense.
"Who are you?"
"You don't even know who I am? Then you're probably not even one of Seido's main players. Someone like you can achieve the same things as Furuya in the future? You expect me to believe that?"
"Why would I know you?!"
Two pitchers made a whole show, especially when both were absurdly tsundere. In Su Qing's eyes, they clearly just lacked a catcher's proper beating! Look at how well-behaved he was now!
At that moment, Miyuki, who was constantly putting out fires everywhere, arrived once again. Chen Xin was not with him this time; Miyuki said he had gone to train. That indirectly revealed that Chen Xin would not be playing today, and Su Qing thought that was great!
He had thought he would have to watch Chen Xin strut around from the sidelines, but Chen Xin could not even get on the field. Hahaha!
"Kazuya, why are you everywhere?!"
Narumiya Mei said unhappily. He had just wanted to tease this first-year a little. He looked pretty cute.
"Shouldn't you be heading to Field B already? I heard your coach is looking for you everywhere."
!!!!
"I know where Field B is. Hurry up!"
After that, Su Qing took Narumiya Mei and Harada and ran off. Their coach was urgently summoning them; if they did not go now, they would be courting death! They had messed around a little too much. They had been gone for over an hour, and the game had already ended. Su Qing could already picture Coach Kunimoto's expression!
Terrifying!
Only after Su Qing's group left did Sawamura suppress the irritation in his heart.
"Who were those guys? Why were they so punchable? And that curly-haired one, he seemed to know me."
Before you continue