Sawamura grows, from the bullpen.
What They Say:
Episode 6 – “Go Straight”
Seido has little time to rest after the spring invitational before the Tokyo spring tournament. Their first round opponent is Eigen High School. Kawakami is the lead-off pitcher, but the crowd is expecting Furuya who shone at Koshien Stadium. Will Furuya make an appearance? And what about Sawamura, who was disappointed and Koshien Stadium and is all too aware of Furuya’s prowess?
Episode 7 – “King”
A third-round game at the Tokyo spring tournament is attracting a lot of interest. Inashiro Industrial, the runner-up team from last year’s summer tournament with this generation’s best southpaw, Mei Narumiya, is facing Yakushi, a quarterfinal finisher from the spring invitational. How have they grown after their winter training and experience in the invitational? Has Narumiya recovered after his disappointing run in the fall? This heavily watched game is about to get under way!
Episode 8 – “Camphor”
At Meiji Jingu Secondary Stadium, the sparks are flying as Inashiro and Yakushi’s game wraps up. Meanwhile, Okumura and the other new Seido first-years are learning how tough high school baseball can be. Seido can seat 20 players on the bench for the spring tournament, but they’ve only registered 18. Coach Kataoka purposely left two spots open so the third-years for whom this is the last summer tournament, as well as the second and new first-years will compete for them.
Episode 9 – “Battle x Battle”
Seido has made it to the fourth round of the Tokyo Spring Tournament. With East and West Tokyo competing, there are some interesting games coming! Teito, a school that has played many times at Koshien Stadium and defeated the reigning champions Inashiro in last year’s fall tournament, is facing Ugumori who have been getting lots of attention. The winner of this game will play Inashiro in the fifth round! It will be a match to see!
Episode 10 – “Debut”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
There hasn’t been much of Sawamura in game situations so far in Act II, but episode six gave us our first big glimpses at what his pitching looks like now. Episode 10, and soon to be 11, will give us the first big chunk of Sawamura on the mound for Seido.
His first appearance comes as a replacement for Kawakami in the second half of the game. Sawamura comes in alongside Maezono and Higasa, who are replacing Yamaguchi at first base and Kanemaru at third base, respectively. The game itself isn’t too exciting, and is an early round Tokyo spring tournament game against Eigen. By the time the show really settles into the game, it’s already 6-0 in favor of Seido on the heels of a Haruichi hit and Miyuki homer.
Sawamura clocks in at 135 km/h in this time, a far cry from Furuya’s 154 km/h. But because of the deception in both his delivery and the ball’s path to the plate, it appears much faster than it actually is. He strikes out the first batter he faces, a righty, with an outside-in pitch. He ends up retiring all the batters he faces in the seventh, which ends the game due to the mercy rule. Amazingly, all 11 of his pitches were for strikes, with only two fouls. Sawamura played in the zone the whole way through, which says something about both his command and control. Which is not as much as you can say about Furuya at this point in his career.
Episode seven is completely dedicated to the match between Inashiro and Yakushi, also facing off in the same tournament as Seido and Eigen. The bullet point recap:
- Sanada is, of course, on the mound for Yakushi. I recall his endurance being a factor in his not starting in the previous series, but he’s had a bit since then and I’m sure he’s improved on that front. He has his trademark shootball, but also a two-seamer to go along with it. He’s also standing on the first base side of the rubber instead of the third base side, which I guess is a thing, but I never pay much attention to where the pitcher is standing…
- Narumiya is on the mound of Inashiro. He allows a bloop single sandwiched in between outs, but he’s otherwise dominating. Even the bloop single is more of a fluke than actual outplaying Narumiya in this case. Todoroki gets some good contact off Narumiya after the bloop, but it’s just a flyout to left, ending the inning and the threat.
- In the bottom of the 5th, Todoroki strikes out.
- In the top of the 6th, Carlos hits a homer, which ends up being the only run they needed.
- In the bottom of the 7th, Todoroki is up again. And strikes out again. Narumiya has no hit Yakushi since the blooper.
The episode ends after that Todoroki strikeout, and the next episode picks up with Inashiro just the victor by a score of 4-0. Narumiya was too much for Yakushi’s lineup, and Inashiro whittled Sanada down just enough to eke out four runs in a big 7th inning.
The next episode and a half are spent with Seido, which are moments I very much enjoy. It’s levity that can’t really exist in game situations without taking away from some of the tension. When they’re up, Sawamura can do some, but not as much as he can outside of a game. It’s a reminder why I watch this series beyond the relative deep dives into inside baseball.
They’re trying to establish all the new first years, but especially Yuki Masashi (the former captain’s younger brother), Yui Kaoru, Okumura Koshu, and Seto Takuma. Yuki the younger and Yui both make the team as the 19th and 20th players on a 20-man tournament roster, but the other two are left off.
Masashi profiles similar to his brother, but with more athleticism. He has probably average to below average defensive abilities around the diamond currently, but for now is set for the outfield to both maximize his offensive potential while not being a defensive liability. He strikes out near the end of the 10th episode, and it was a powerful swing that left his helmet like that of Todd Frazier’s.
Yui is a third catcher on the roster, and is maybe the heir-apparent to Miyuki. He has the same analytical abilities as Miyuki, and it looks like he can hit too. He’s quite diminutive as well, seemingly Altuve’s size compared to his peers. He also has a low batting stance, similar to Kris Bryant, probably to utilize an even smaller strike zone than an upright stance would give him.
Episode nine is where we get to see the first of Furuya’s struggles as a pitcher. He’s neither a control nor command pitcher, and it really shows up in the game against Hodai. He’s wild, and allows more hits and runs than he should have given his level of talent. The moments are given with maybe a three minute clip show, but it’s obvious something was off. Whether it was fatigue or just an off day, Furuya could use the rest.
It’s fortuitous, then, that Seido’s next opponent is against Kasuga and their lefty heavy lineup. It allows Furuya to rest. And it’s perfect for Sawamura and Seido’s excellent middle infield. Sawamura can jam them, and Haruichi and Kuramochi can clean up any ground balls Sawamura gives up. He’s by no means a wipeout pitcher like Furuya, so weak contact is how he will live and breath. I guess similar to now-Atlanta Brave Dallas Keuchel, who now has a similarly great double field combo in Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson.
The bullet point recap of the Seido and Kasuga game:
- The show starts us with Sawamura on the mound in the top of the 2nd with two out and a runner on first. He strikes out the batter, showing off his moving fastball. I doubt Miyuki is calling much of anything else, waiting for the Kasuga batters to catch up to it before showing off that Sawamura is more than a one pitch pitcher.
- In the bottom of the 2nd, Masashi strikes out to end the inning.
- In the top of the 3rd, Sawamura induces a groundout to the third baseman. Then strikes out the batter to end the inning. I have no idea how the other out was achieved, because they didn’t show me.
- In the bottom of the 3rd, Kuramochi gets on base with a walk then gets the Rickey Henderson double. Tojo hits a comebacker for a single, putting runners on first and third. Haruichi hits a forkball, the opposing pitcher’s wipeout pitch, into left field, bringing home Kuramochi and keeping two runners on, except this time first and second.
- The episode ends with Mikyuki up to bat, presumably about to clear the bases.
If I was smarter, I would perhaps not end a review in the bottom of the 3rd inning of a seemingly key game, but alas. That’s the way the dice rolled.
In Summary:
I do quite like what they’re doing with the new characters, as well as Sawamura’s doofy interactions between them. They’re going to be pivotal characters on Seido’s roster in a few years, and this show is as much about Seido as it is about Sawamura with as much roster turnover as happened after the initial third years graduated. Masashi hasn’t gotten much yet, but neither did Haruichi when he was sitting with the number 19 on his back, so there’s time for growth. Yui has had a bit more, and perhaps showed that his bat plays better than the others, so that’s why he got a position on the bench. His most likely role will be pinch hitter or injury replacement, given the importance of Miyuki as captain and starting catcher for at least the last two years.
As far as the baseball goes, Furuya needs to calm down as always. And probably rest given the wild outing in his last appearance. Sawamura seems just as weak-contact-inducing as before, but isn’t really going to get a chance as long as Furuya is as dominating as he is. On to episode 11, which may be the last significant exposure to Sawamura we get for a while.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Equipment: Xbox One, LG 47LB5800 47” 1080p LED TV, LG NB3530A Sound Bar
