Baseball: A Two-Way Player

It must be said, in creating show effects and stories of grudges, Major League Baseball is truly a master:

For the new season's opening game, a primetime national broadcast, the Yankees have been sent by the league officials to Houston to play a four-game series against their "old friends," the Houston Astros, at Minute Maid Park.

Although they have been widely criticized for the cheating incident of the 2017 season, from a lineup construction perspective, the Astros are indeed one of the few top strong teams in the American League now that can match the Yankees in lineup strength;

With their division rival, the Boston Red Sox, tightening their budget and selling off numerous star players in recent years, the showdown between the Yankees and the Astros has naturally replaced the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, becoming the highest-level competition in the American League.

Especially considering that the Astros' current head coach is Joe Girardi, who led the Yankees to the top in 2017 but was mercilessly dismissed by the management after the season, the matchup between the two teams carries even more off-field grudges.

Since Lin Guanglai joined the Yankees in the 2017 season, in the past 7 seasons, the Yankees and Astros have met in the playoffs three times, with the Yankees winning all three series, tallying 12 wins and 2 losses in the individual games, thoroughly crushing their opponents;

However, considering today's game is in Houston, and the Yankees have already announced early that Lin Guanglai will not pitch in the new season, quite a few Astros players are starting to get restless——

Before the game started, Astros' starting pitcher Framber Valdez made bold claims in an interview with reporters, stating he'd "keep Lin Guanglai firmly locked in the batter's box, unable to move"; star player Jose Altuve also stated, "I'll do everything to win all games against the Yankees."

In response, Lin Guanglai's reply was simple: In front of dozens of interviewing media outlets, he copied NBA star Klay Thompson, raising four fingers to the camera—this gesture representing his four championship rings, three of which were won after defeating the Astros.

Other than that, he didn't say a single word: when the game officially starts, he will let the Astros' players know why he is recognized as the best in the baseball world today.

When the Yankees players walked inside Minute Maid Park, the Texas home fans erupted into overwhelming boos, trying to affect the Yankees' players' condition, though the boos carried a hint of guilt—

After all, over the past years, in both the regular season and the playoffs, every time the Astros faced the Yankees, most likely they ended up being outmatched, and these fans are truly afraid.

After the simple opening ceremony, as both teams prepared, the 2024 Major League Baseball opening game officially began: at the top of the first inning, the New York Yankees, playing away, went on the offense first.

As one of the main pitchers for the Houston Astros today, Framber Valdez, known for his fiery temper and big mouth, has been criticized by many, but his strength is undeniable:

Valdez's pitching repertoire centers around the sinker, the fastest at 99 mph and averaging 94.3 mph, supplemented by a four-seam fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup, very much like the Astros' former ace and Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel;

And as one of the extremely rare left-handed pitchers on the market, Valdez quickly took over the Astros' pitching rotation after Keuchel left and swiftly rose to the top sequence.

Just like in the first at-bat, facing the Yankees' leadoff hitter "Heavenly Son," Valdez used his signature sinker to induce Torres into hitting a ground ball, which was then secured at second base by Jose Altuve.

This relatively smooth start gave the Astros' home fans some confidence—perhaps today, they could actually win against the New York Yankees at home and hand them a loss in the opening game?

With that thought, the fans in the stands immediately erupted into loud cheers, and on the first and third base sides, sustaining boos continued to exert pressure on the Yankees.

But when the Yankees second batter Juan Soto stepped into the batter's box, the expressions on those Astros fans' faces turned severe again:

Starting from Soto, Valdez faced a trio of challenges with Soto, Judge, and Lin Guanglai to follow, all of whom have the power to send the baseball to any corner of the field, leaving the pitcher with virtually no room for error.

Moreover, for Valdez on the pitcher's mound, right in front of him was Juan Soto, precisely the type of batter he hated most—despite being only 25 years old, Soto's performance in the batter's box is comparable to those who've spent a decade or two in the Major Leagues;

Aside from superior strike zone judgment and nearly rigorous plate discipline, Soto is especially good at using his body language to affect the pitcher's mindset: every time the opposing pitcher throws a ball in front of him, Soto lowers his center of gravity and then dramatically twists his stride, performing his signature "Soto Shuffle" to mess with the pitcher's mind.