TYPnovel Chapter 468 468: 155 Kmph Fastball
Chapter 468 468: 155 Kmph Fastball
"Zhang Han! Zhang Han!!!"
In the stands, the fans were all frantically shouting Zhang Han's name. They were incredibly excited.
"This ball speed is simply defying the heavens!"
"Last autumn, his ball speed was already approaching 150 kilometers per hour. After more than half a year, such improvement is only natural."
One of the commentators analyzed with great satisfaction.
As early as September last year, he had published an article specifically discussing Zhang Han's potential in pitching. He stated that Zhang Han's ball speed could reach such a high level even when he had just started practicing left-handed pitching. Therefore, in the future, he might create a terrifying record that would shock everyone.
At that time, the report received a lukewarm response.
Over the years, with the improvement of the average physical quality of high school players, countless high school students had ball speeds approaching 150 kilometers per hour. Even the standard for a Fastball had increased from the original 135 kilometers per hour to 140. In the past, a high school student who could pitch over 135 kilometers per hour was already considered a high-speed pitcher.
But now, such pitchers were everywhere. If you couldn't pitch over 140 kilometers per hour, you wouldn't even dare to call yourself a Fastball pitcher.
As long as a pitcher had qualified innate qualities and scientific training, increasing their ball speed to over 140 kilometers per hour had become routine.
Nevertheless, pitchers who could pitch over 150 kilometers per hour were still rare.
It was much better now than before. In the past, it might take more than ten years for one to appear. Now, almost every era had pitchers of this caliber, but their numbers were still extremely scarce. You could count them on the fingers of one hand.
Under these circumstances, no one believed that Zhang Han would necessarily be able to pitch a Fastball over 150 kilometers per hour. Perhaps his talent was limited to that.
But now, Zhang Han had increased his ball speed to 154.5 kilometers per hour, far exceeding the 150-kilometer limit. His growth could no longer be ignored by anyone.
The halo around him was too dazzling.
As the first commentator to report on this matter, he would naturally receive many benefits. Maybe when someone dug up the information, he could even become a discerning patron. The commentator wondered if it would be easier to interview celebrities once he became famous.
It should be easier, right? For well-known commentators, even celebrities generally wouldn't easily offend them.
On the other side, Zhang Han looked at the fingers of his pitching hand.
Very good.
Even pitching with full effort, there was no discomfort whatsoever. It seemed that after more than a hundred days of rest, his previous injury had completely healed.
"No problem, let's continue!"
Seeing the signal Zhang Han gave him, Miyuki also breathed a huge sigh of relief. Not getting re-injured was the best news for them. And after Zhang Han recovered his form, his ball speed not only didn't decrease but even improved a little.
This was truly rare.
It fully indicated that Zhang Han's current condition was excellent.
"Then throw your most comfortable pitch!"
With no worries, it was time to play to their strengths as much as possible. Miyuki unhesitatingly gave the signal, and Zhang Han nodded slightly after seeing it.
Originally, last winter, Zhang Han had intended to practice breaking balls. He had envisioned a set of Fastball-system breaking balls in his mind, which he could boldly try out.
Compared to his right hand, Zhang Han felt that his left hand had greater strength and more precise control. The most significant example was his left-hand control. Without any special practice, his left-hand control was already very agile. He could pitch the ball to the approximate area he wanted, as he wished.
Although compared to pitchers who relied on control for their living, there was still a considerable gap between him and them.
However, being able to maintain this level of control at a ball speed exceeding 150 kilometers per hour was already extremely rare.
Zhang Han took his stance, and his whole body was like a wheel that suddenly rolled forward with full power, whooshing the ball out.
The white ball continuously cut through the air, producing a sonic boom.
The Fourth Batter of the Yakushi High School Baseball Team was a third-year player. As early as before Todoroki Raizo arrived, he was already somewhat famous in Tokyo. Although the Yakushi High School Baseball Team's overall performance was somewhat weak, his reputation was not small. Some even commented that even if he were placed in a powerhouse team, he should still be able to secure a spot.
A player who could receive such praise must have some real skill.
Even though Mishima was struck out earlier, this player showed no discouragement when he first stepped into the batter's box. Ambition burned in his eyes; he wanted to hit Zhang Han's pitch.
But after just one pitch from Zhang Han, he was completely stunned.
The baseball whistled past his eyes. He didn't even have time to react before a loud sound reached his ears.
"Thud!"
The sound of the baseball hitting the glove was particularly heavy. It felt as if it had struck the batter's heart, delivering a heavy blow.
How could it be so fast?
Zhang Han's Fastball was among the most ordinary of all Fastball pitchers. Why ordinary? It's actually very simple: Zhang Han's pitching was remarkably similar to a ball thrown from a pitching machine.
He didn't solely rely on his own strength to increase his ball speed to such a terrifying extent. He utilized the power of his entire body; he perfectly combined strength and technique, which allowed him to boost his ball speed to a terrifying degree.
The ball speed was fast, but the weakness was also obvious.
Because he had to mobilize his entire body, his movements would be particularly large when pitching. This made it easy for the batter to anticipate the direction of the pitch. In fact, if analyzed purely from this perspective, Zhang Han's pitch might even be easier to hit than one thrown from a pitching machine.
However, this only applied to balls below 150 kilometers per hour. Once the ball speed soared above 150 kilometers per hour, even a ball from a pitching machine had astonishing power. Not to mention, Zhang Han's current pitch speed was already approaching 155 kilometers per hour.
Zhang Han on the pitcher's mound had no time to care what his opponent was thinking.
He was pitching more and more smoothly, having completely found his rhythm and feel. This unrestrained style was something he had envisioned countless times before. Now, his dream finally came true.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Han's ball speed got faster and faster. He smoothly struck out the Fourth Batter and Fifth Batter of the Yakushi High School Baseball Team, both of whom had decent hitting power.
They were struck out.
"Strike!!!"
"Strike!!!"
Especially the last pitch. Zhang Han felt like he hadn't used much strength, but he threw the fastest pitch of the game.
"Whoosh!"
When the white ball flew out, even the fans in the stands had an illusion. That wasn't an ordinary baseball, but a beam of light. The baseball instantly traversed eighteen meters of space, precisely drilling into Miyuki Kazuya's outstretched glove before the batter had time to react.
"Thwack!"
"Strike!"
In the stands, the fans were cheering wildly.
Nitta excitedly asked his assistant beside him.
"What about that pitch just now?"
He couldn't help but ask about almost every pitch Zhang Han threw. However, only Zhang Han's first pitch had reached a speed of 154.5 kilometers per hour. The subsequent pitches were 153, 152, 149.5. They generally remained around 150 kilometers per hour.
But the pitch just now was different. Everyone present could feel that its speed was faster than all the previous ones, including Zhang Han's first Fastball, which had exceeded 154 kilometers per hour. It didn't feel as fast as that last pitch.
At this moment, Nitta's assistant was speechless. He looked at the numbers in front of him in shock, his heart filled with an overwhelming sense of awe. Not just him, the commentator who also saw the number was silent for a long time.
The impact they had received today was simply too great.
"Why aren't you speaking?"
Nitta asked anxiously. What was wrong with this assistant? In this short time, he had already spaced out three times. If it weren't for his usual hard work and good cooperation with Nitta, Nitta would now be considering whether to replace him.
It wasn't until Nitta asked for the third time that the assistant finally came to his senses.
"156.2 kilometers per hour!"
The equipment they used was very advanced, so the measurement was more precise. But even with ordinary equipment, the number displayed at this moment exceeded 155, reaching 156 kilometers per hour.
Zhang Han's top ball speed had actually exceeded 155 kilometers per hour.
Originally, they were counting on their fingers. Now, they could probably count on one hand the number of pitchers who had ever reached this level. In the more than one hundred years of Koshien history, no more than five high school students had a top ball speed exceeding Zhang Han's current one.
Zhang Han was now one of them.
The commentators in the stands unanimously took out their cameras and started snapping photos. The previous ball speed, while shocking, was just that. But now it was different. This was big news. And it wasn't just potential; Zhang Han's current strength was already enough to be the center of attention.
Manager Ota in the dugout was so happy that he was nearly beside himself.
"Too amazing! Zhang Han is too amazing!!!"
A Fastball exceeding 155 kilometers per hour. Before Zhang Han was injured, Seido High School Baseball Team had wondered whether one day Zhang Han could truly achieve such a feat. After all, at that time, Zhang Han's top ball speed had already exceeded 150 kilometers per hour.
But no one had expected that after being injured, Zhang Han would still be able to accomplish this.
It should be known that when Zhang Han first got injured, the vast majority of people believed that he might find it very difficult to pitch again. Even if he could still pitch, it would be difficult to regain his previous form. Even if he regained his previous form, it would be difficult to make any further progress.
Why are athletes plagued by injuries? The reason is simple: injuries can indeed end an athlete's career.
But now, Zhang Han, with his actions, shattered all previous speculation. He not only started pitching again, but his current ability also surpassed his previous peak.
As his partner, Miyuki felt it most deeply.
He had always felt that while Zhang Han's ball speed was fast, his pitching itself lacked distinctiveness.
How to describe this? A good pitcher's pitch inherently contains a spirit. It might be hard to understand, but Miyuki could feel it.
Those pitches were alive.
Just like Tanba's Curveball, Kawakami's sinker, and Hidezawa's Fastball. Their pitches carried that spirit; they were alive. The only difference was the strength of their vitality.
Zhang Han's pitch, however, didn't convey that sense of life. So even though he had a ball speed of nearly 150 kilometers per hour, his performance wasn't particularly astonishing. Even before this game, many people had overlooked Zhang Han's status as one of Tokyo's top pitchers in terms of ball speed.
But today, Zhang Han's pitching finally had its own unique characteristic. The ball, like a beam of white light, drilled into his glove. Even after entering the glove, it refused to settle down, bouncing around everywhere.
It was as if it were alive.
"Zhang Han, he's really different!"
Although it was only the last pitch, Zhang Han had shown that vitality. But since he could show it, it meant that Zhang Han's pitching itself must contain this quality. Now it was up to them to figure out how to develop it.
If developed well, Zhang Han would become a monster that shocks the entire country. Even if not, his current ball speed alone was enough for him to stand on the pitcher's mound.
Miyuki, having understood everything, smiled in anticipation. He was already eager to partner with Zhang Han and face national-level monster batters.
This was also the first time Miyuki had ever looked forward to playing on the field with Zhang Han.
On the other side, Todoroki Raizo of the Yakushi High School Baseball Team seemed very displeased.
One home run, one second base hit. No outs, runner on second base. With such a favorable scoring situation, they had ultimately only managed to score one run. Coupled with Zhang Han, who was now exuding an intimidating aura, it would probably not be easy to get hits and runs off him in the remaining innings.
"Has it changed from difficult mode to hell mode? How exciting!"
Bottom of the first inning. Seido High School Baseball Team's offense.
The teammates were all eager to make up for the lost points. Being suppressed by Yakushi felt unacceptable, even though the opponent had just eliminated Inashiro. The Seido High School Baseball Team needed to make a statement.
A powerhouse is not an opponent that can be easily defeated. Their previous victory was just due to being a dark horse, taking advantage of surprise.
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