Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 666 - 19: Over the High Wall

As the game entered the top of the ninth inning, the Boston Red Sox brought in their team's, and indeed the entire Major League's, top relief pitcher, Craig Kimbrel.

At 28, Kimbrel has led the league in saves four times and won the Trevor Hoffman Award for the best National League relief pitcher in 2014. He has been selected for the All-Star Game five times, making him a coveted closer for any team;

Since the start of the 2017 season, despite the Red Sox's average performance due to the WBC's impact early in the season, Kimbrel's performance has been outstanding. He currently leads the league in both saves and ERA, and is a strong contender for this year's Mariano Rivera Award as the best reliever in the American League, aiming to become the first to achieve the 'save king' title in both leagues.

Bringing him in at this moment, Farrell hopes this legendary closer can stabilize the game and take the tie into the bottom of the ninth.

As soon as he stepped onto the mound, Kimbrel, nicknamed "Scorpion King," assumed his signature pitching stance: bending his body towards the ground, his upper body almost parallel to the ground, with his arms bent and his right arm lightly extended forward, as if locking onto the pitch path, like a scorpion ready to hunt.

This intimidating setup, along with the deafening cheers from Fenway Park and Kimbrel's signature entrance music, put enormous pressure on any batter stepping up to the plate in the ninth inning.

But not Lin Guanglai; or rather, his attention was never focused on Kimbrel on the mound.

Like before in the on-deck circle, Lin Guanglai's gaze was fixed on the "Green Monster" in left field at Fenway Park—he never hid his intentions, he indeed wanted to conquer that high wall!

Although Lin Guanglai prefers a powerful pull-hitting style, as a gap hitter, his strength and technique allow him to place the ball in any corner of the field; likewise, although going the opposite way weakens a bit of power, the left field distance of just over 90 meters at Fenway Park compensates for that—

Summing it all up, his next move became clear: he needed to hit a fly ball off Kimbrel, the top closer, and make the ball fly high and far enough to clear that towering wall.

Kimbrel was indeed very strong, but fortunately, he was just a closer: the biggest issue with these relief pitchers was the lack of depth in their pitch arsenal. As long as the batter could hold on, there was a good chance of guessing the pitch selection and snatching victory with a single hit.

Like Kimbrel facing Lin Guanglai now, he used to throw changeups and two-seamers early in his career, but now he's down to only two pitches: an average 155 km/h four-seam fastball that can reach up to 164 km/h, and a curveball that makes up about 40% of his pitch selection.

Notably, Kimbrel's curveball is not like Kershaw's 12-6 curve, which sits in the 120-130 km/h range and tricks hitters with speed differential and a sharp drop; Kimbrel's knuckle curve is closer to a slider in speed and trajectory, reaching speeds near 145 km/h.

According to the Yankees' analytics on his pitching habits, Kimbrel loves to use his signature knuckle curve to end games when ahead in the count with 2 strikes—whether it's 0-2, 1-2, or 2-2. Based on this analysis, Lin Guanglai's strategy for his next at-bat became clear.

Behind the batter's box, Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon signaled to Kimbrel:

In today's game, Lin Guanglai had two hits in three at-bats, including a rare triple, and as the starting catcher guiding the pitcher, Sandy Leon was partly responsible for this;

Therefore, he called for an inside pitch to suppress Lin Guanglai's momentum with an aggressive approach.

Kimbrel raised his arm, and the next second, a powerful fastball with intense spin rocketed towards Lin Guanglai's inside corner, appearing from the batter's perspective as a dangerous pitch aimed directly at his body.

Lin Guanglai instinctively recoiled, letting the ball pass behind home plate. Just when he thought it would be called a ball, giving him a count advantage, the home plate umpire, after a brief hesitation, raised his right hand, calling it a strike.

Lin Guanglai was dissatisfied with this decision: although he had adapted to the umpire's lenient strike zone in today's game, calling such a dangerous inside fastball a strike seemed a bit too outrageous.

However, he did not react like the hot-tempered Harper or Machado, who might express their discontent with words and gestures; instead, he turned around and used his gaze to convey his message—after all, this was Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox. Although no one admits it, home field advantage does exist to some extent, and even superstars at the top of the food chain can't always avoid it.