Chapter 791 72: Four Homers in a Single Game
"This is Lin's third at-bat in this game. In the previous two confrontations, he decisively faced two Astros pitchers, hitting two home runs and driving in 5 RBIs..."
"I think for Yankees fans, this should be excellent news—after all, over the many years, we've mostly discussed Lin's dominance on the pitcher's mound, often overlooking his abilities in the batter's box... In fact, since he entered the Major League, Lin has consistently been an above league-average hitter."
"Due to the recovery period from TJ surgery this season, he is expected to serve as a full-time designated hitter during the regular season. Without the distraction of pitching and no defense responsibilities, I am optimistic he could break his personal career record of 52 homers, possibly even surpass the 60 home run threshold—at least judging from his performance in the season opener, he appears in exceptionally good form."
In the studio at Minute Maid Park, during the time Lin Guanglai walked towards home plate, commentators from various broadcasters began making predictions about Lin Guanglai's performance for the new season;
The reliable and powerful past performances have instilled great confidence in these professionals, and they all believe he has the ability to achieve a new career high:
Even many East Asia commentators shared a consensus, suggesting that Lin Guanglai, when hitting with full strength, could surpass Aaron Judge's Yankees record of 62 home runs set in the 2022 season.
It's worth noting that although Judge's 62-home run record doesn't rank in the top five on the MLB single-season home run leaderboard, the records before him were notorious for being set during the steroid era, where their credibility was questionable;
In other words, 62 homers are almost considered the limits of human capability in modern times, even Judge himself finds it hard to reach that threshold again.
Lin Guanglai is unaware of what the commentators are speculating about. He feels his hands are hot, with a constant surge of strength emanating from his palms, longing to send every pitch from an Astros pitcher above the outfield stands.
The current Astros pitcher is a 34-year-old Dominican veteran, Rafael Montero. Although his career hasn't been famed, being in the Major League for over 10 seasons sufficiently proves that his qualities are above average;
As a relief pitcher, Montero's pitch arsenal isn't extensive. 87.9 mph average speed forkball accounts for nearly half of his pitches, complemented by approximately 40% four-seam fastballs (average speed 95 mph), 8% sliders (average speed 85.1 mph), and 5% sinkers (average speed 95 mph).
Montero's best performance was in the 2022 season, wherein he played 71 games, securing 5 wins, 2 losses, and 23 successful holds, with an ERA of just 2.37—this performance made him an integral member of the Astros bullpen.
However, Rafael Montero is still just an above-average relief pitcher, and his talent and ability determine his role, typically deployed to handle specific situations, nothing more;
In the Major League, where the jungle principle of survival of the fittest reigns supreme, facing a superstar like Lin Guanglai at the top of the player ecosystem offers these pitchers only a small survival space.
Facing off with Montero, Lin Guanglai exercised ample patience, not aggressively swinging at the first pitch as in his previous at-bats, instead engaging in a duel and a war of attrition;
During this process, Montero's traits as a relief pitcher with limited pitches and low endurance were exposed, and every time Lin Guanglai fouled out a ball, Montero's pressure ramped up another notch, causing his pitching to err radically.
As their tenacity extended to a full count at 3 balls and 2 strikes, Montero, sweating heavily, made a massive error in controlling the forkball's trajectory. The pitch didn't drop as intended but instead landed squarely in the strike zone, the batter's most comfortable hitting spot.
How could Lin Guanglai, who had already hit 2 home runs in this game, miss such an opportunity? Faced with the incoming ball, he mercilessly swung the bat in his hand with significant might instantly channeled into the approaching baseball, sending the ball soaring into the sky with a significantly exaggerated initial speed, hurtling back within the park.
Astros fans painfully closed their eyes, refusing to witness the imminent brutal scene; some even stood up from their seats and headed toward the stadium exits as the baseball ascended, unwilling to remain here and endure the torment.
Conversely, in a Yankees fan bar located a thousand miles away in New York, fans gathered in front of the television erupted in lively applause and cheers, raising their glasses to jointly celebrate their team expanding the score once again.
"Astros are doomed! Cheaters deserve eternal damnation! Lin did magnificently! Truly worthy of being our Yankees captain!"
"Ah, now I'm relieved—Lin is certainly still the invincible Lin from before, Seems like TJ surgery hasn't impacted him much, which is certainly excellent news."