The ball disappears and the ghost forkball that shocked the U.S takes off its veil
Nick Martinez (33, San Diego), who moved to San Diego in 2022 and had a successful season, is a player with quite a lot of experience in Japanese professional baseball. Four years is enough time to understand Japanese baseball and Japanese players to some extent.
Martinez, who did not succeed in Texas, went to Japan at the suggestion of Nippon Ham in 2018, and played for three years before playing for Softbank in 2021. In 2021, he participated as a member of the U.S. national team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and played an ace in charge of important games. Players playing in the Major League could not participate because the season was in full swing, but Japan suspended the league, so Martinez was able to enjoy the honor of playing in the Olympics.
The U.S. eventually failed to surpass Japan, the host country and the strongest team in objective power. The U.S., which went straight to the second round of the knockout stage as the top of Group B, lost to Japan 6-7 and also lost to Japan 0-2 in the gold medal match, staying in silver. And the player who persistently bullied the U.S. was Senga Kodai (30, New York Mets) who appeared at the most critical moment and blocked the U.S. batting lineup.
Senga went out in the middle of the second round against the U.S. and struck out five in two innings, blocking the U.S. batters. Martinez, who recalls the time, said in an interview with the New York Times on the 16th (Korea Standard Time), “I was well aware of the power of Senga’s forkball.” So I advised my colleagues not to hit a forkball,” he said. “But everyone was putting a bat on a forkball. So I said, “What are you doing?” and he said, “I know, but the ball comes and disappears.”
The power of this forkball, which was vividly conveyed by the U.S. national team, will be introduced to the U.S. media under the name of “ghost forkball” as in Japan later on. Forkball is one of Senga’s best weapons. Senga, who throws a fast ball in the mid-150km range on average, uses this forkball as a sidewalk for Jeon Ga-eun. The forkball, which is formed in the mid-130km range, falls by a large drop in front of the home plate. Senga’s biggest survival secret is that he can control the forkball freely.
The New York Times is interesting to see whether this “ghost forkball” can work in the United States. Senga signed a five-year contract with the New York Mets for up to 75 million dollars (about 93.1 billion won) ahead of this season. In the middle, an opt-out clause (abandoning the remaining contract and acquired FA qualification) was also included. In other words, they are treated well enough to cross the Pacific Ocean. Not only the Mets but also several teams participated in his recruitment campaign, drawing keen attention.
At the time of the Olympics, all American athletes saw Senga’s forkball for the first time. It’s not easy to adapt. However, as they continue to deal with it, batters put this information in their eyes. On the other hand, there is also advice that adapting to the Major League is an urgent priority. Culture, weather, and even home stadiums are different. New York is colder than Japan, and Senga’s former team, Softbank, used a dome stadium. On the contrary, Cityfield is an open stadium.
David Robertson, who knows Japanese players well because he has been with Masahiro Tanaka when he was in the New York Yankees and Seiya Suzuki when he was in the Chicago Cubs, said, “Especially at the start of the season, the weather in Japan is warmer than that of major league teams in the north.” And many Japanese teams play at the dome stadium. It will be difficult to cope with this cold from the beginning,” he said. In fact, Suzuki stuck his tongue out in the severe cold of Chicago in April last year and picked the weather as the most difficult to adapt to.
The New York Times also said, “The Major League will return to a five-man rotation, not a six-man rotation, like Japan.” Also, on the ground, you have to adapt to a harder mound and a bigger baseball,’ he said 파워볼사이트
However, Robertson predicted that there would be no big problem, saying, “If you start one or two games, you will realize what you need to do to pass this stage.” Martinez said Senga was a player who showed “leader” qualities in the clubhouse, and Rick Vandelhulk, who also played for Softbank for a long time, stressed that Senga was a humorous and sociable player. That there won’t be much trouble adjusting. Ghost forkball is now unveiled in Major League Baseball.
