Sawamura tries to add a new pitch to his arsenal: the changeup.
What They Say:
“Winging It”
At Seido’s indoor practice area, Sawamura is trying to learn a breaking ball. He’s having difficulties pitching any breaking balls but immediately succeeds on pitching a changeup with Coach Ochiai’s advice. Is Sawamura finally moving on to the next phase of his pitching?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Sawamura was the weird guy with wrist dexterity and a moving fastball that most batters couldn’t get anything on. Learning baseball for Sawamura meant throwing the ball real hard to a catcher. He doesn’t understand grips and I’m surprised he hasn’t hurt himself with what is essentially a self-taught form. That’s how you get under the knife for Tommy John. But he’s managed and was scouted to a high school team with who is probably the best catcher in high school baseball right now and a coach who knows what he’s doing. Quickly, he learns a what a four-seam fastball is and pretty much masters it. In addition, he has a much less reliable cutter. Now, he’s learning a changeup at the behest of Ochiai, another great coach with a less than desirable attitude.
Here’s the thing about the changeup: you grip it how you want, as long as the ball gets there slower than your fastball. That’s exactly what Sawamura was doing before he learned the four seam. Chris said it was probably a fluke that he threw a four seam that one time because he was just gripping as he felt like it. That’s his moving fastball. That’s what made him a great pitcher. And he lost it, because of form. But he’s gained it back through the changeup training. What he’s probably been doing his entire baseball career is throwing a hard changeup, simply because the catchers back home couldn’t catch his fastball. It’s back now, it seems. And it breaks in ways batters will be lucky to be able to hit.
The game starts after Sawamura’s practice and Haruichi is already up to bat with the Oya pitcher throwing a ton of forkballs to try at strikes. They easily held Seidou to no runs in the first, but I think they only have to get in a rhythm to get going into runs.
The real test is going to be Sawamura starting the game, but his new arsenal of pitches will be the key. Not just throwing them, but how reliable they are. By reliable, I mean whether they can look like they’re in the strike zone long enough for the batter to be fooled…because they break like hell and it’s going to be difficult for any batter.
The first batter jams to second for an easy ground out. Miyuki is sure to not use the “fast changeup” until a later inning, but the changeup could maybe have one appearance in the first inning. The second batter strikes out looking to an inside fastball and Sawamura is in a rhythm. This is exactly what they needed from Sawamura in this situation. Furuya’s probably healthy, but they’ll need him later. Kawakami has been solid for most of last year, but he seems to be having his own kind of yips. Or he’s realizing he’s reaching the end of his high school career and he’s not able to become a starter and he knows it.
The first attempt at the changeup fails pretty hard as it hits the ground probably before the halfway mark. Things go downhill after that as he walks the batter and then allows a bunt to third from the cleanup to put men on first and third after a botched throw to first.
In Summary:
Sawamura’s struggling on the mound, but he has before and he will again. He did fine for the first two outs until the changeup attempt, but a botched ball is going to affect you. This is as bad as the home run to Todoroki in the Yakushi game, mentally. But he got over that and pitched well after. Men on first and third with two outs and the six hole up, Sawamura has to prove himself. Changeup or not, he has to get out of the jam.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Equipment: PS3, LG 47LB5800 47” 1080p LED TV, LG NB3530A Sound Bar
