The turning point that former pitcher Zhang Yai talked about…He said in a light tone, “Shall I pitch?”
An unusual “conversion” changed his life. Pitcher Zhang Kai, who was notified by Seibu of his inactive status during last off-season, returned to his home country of Taiwan this season and joined the emerging baseball team “Taiwan Steel Hawks” as a trainee. When he joined Orix as a developmental player, he was registered as an outfielder. He didn’t have a chance to play in the second team, and there were times when he thought, “I want to quit baseball.”
[Attention]All you want to watch is professional baseball, so click here for “DAZN BASEBALL” where you can watch it right away with easy registration.
Although he was born in Taiwan, he studied abroad at Fukuoka Daiichi High School because he admired his cousin, outfielder Yang Tai Hang (currently Oisix). After entering Nihon Keizai University, he joined the team in the first place in the 2016 training draft. Although he has achieved his dream of joining the NPB, he is in a difficult position as a developmental player. For his first two years, he was not even taken on a second military expedition.
Days of batting practice at Buffaloes Stadium Maishima. It is said that he spent all his time practicing while encouraging each other with outfielder Yutaro Sugimoto, who was one year older than him and was also playing in the second team at the time. “We both said, ‘Let’s do our best.’ There were days when we couldn’t see tomorrow, and there were times when I wanted to quit baseball.”
If he can’t play, he won’t even have a chance to show off. Furthermore, he did not have a good result in the game as he had no hits in 5 consecutive games. 2018 was a turning point for Zhang Yi, who was on the verge of decay. After he took batting practice as usual, Tsutomu Sakai, his development coach, called out to him.
“Let’s pitch a little bit.” Her tone was light. Zhang Yi also went to the mound for a change of pace. When he threw it, he measured 148 kilograms. After that, he had a discussion with Keijiro Yumioka, the chief development coach, and Coach Sakai, and pitching practice began in earnest.
Since high school, he has had experience as a pitcher, saying, “I was like, “I’m going to be able to convert.””
During his college days, he was primarily a fielder, so his only real experience as a pitcher was in high school. However, “By the second year, I knew that I would be fired if I continued like this, so I was like, “I’m going to let you transfer.” I was grateful.” He pitched in five games in the second team that year and posted an ERA of 1.80. He became a registered pitcher from his third year, and he registered as a controlled player on May 1st. He pitched in eight games in the first team and recorded two wins, including his first professional victory.
It was an unexpected turn of pitcher for Zhang Yi, but coach Sakai had been paying attention to his strong shoulders since he joined the team. During a joint voluntary training session for new players, he was asked, “Chang-kun, would you like to try pitching?” He was joining the team as an outfielder at the time, and he once turned down the offer, saying, “I want to do my best as a batter.”
After turning into a pitcher, I asked Coach Sakai about when he joined the team. “When I asked him, “How did you feel at that time?” he replied, “I was serious.” In 2023, catcher Tomoya Mori will be transferred to Seibu as compensation. Although he was declared inactive last year after posting 4 wins and 9 losses in a total of 49 pitches, he said, “Because I became a pitcher, I was able to play in the NPB for seven years.” His baseball career has expanded thanks to his conversion to pitching. He will continue for even one year.
(Kodai Kawamura)
2024-04-14 13:36:26
#Unable #secondteam #field #trip #quit #baseball #rotten #years…An #unusual #conversion #saved #life #FullCount
