Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter Has Arrived

Chapter 472: Improvement

Three consecutive strikeouts.

Despite two balls mixed in, it did not affect Zhang Han's god-like state. He easily dealt with the three Yakushi High School Baseball Team batters, demonstrating an unparalleled presence.

In the Yakushi High School Baseball Team's dugout, the atmosphere was as cheerful as ever. Even though the opponent's strength had made them feel almost despairing, the smiles on their faces never faded. Playing actively, bravely challenging opponents, and fully enjoying the process of the game. These things that Todoroki Raizo had taught them had now merged into their bones and blood.

As for what Yakushi themselves were thinking inside, no one could guess. But for their opponents, this feeling was truly awkward.

The members of the Seido High School Baseball Team all had grim faces. Normally, this might not be a big deal, but Zhang Han had just struck out three batters in a row, showing unparalleled form. From the perspective of the situation, even if they weren't overjoyed, they should have been able to face the subsequent challenges with a more relaxed mindset. However, the members of the Seido High School Baseball Team did not feel that ease at all.

This was the pressure that those guys from Yakushi High School Baseball Team brought upon them. Unless Seido High School Baseball Team completely subdued Yakushi High School Baseball Team, it would be difficult for them to show relaxed smiles.

Of course, there were more outsiders at the scene, and they couldn't experience the tension felt by the Seido High School Baseball Team players. Most of them were immersed in the shock that Zhang Han brought them.

That pitch speed was too fast. Fast as light. Simple, yet very efficient.

Perhaps some people would question that Zhang Han's pitching seemed a bit too simple, without any particularly striking features. But in the eyes of Zhang Han's supporters, wasn't this good? It's easy to say "just fast pitch speed," but they didn't know that fast pitch speed itself was a remarkable thing.

As long as the pitch speed was fast enough, the batter's swing could not catch up. Even if the situation was not that pleasing to the eye, as long as the batter didn't hit the ball and was successfully retired, wasn't that already perfect? There was no need to fuss over other things.

Besides these spectators, there were two other people who were more familiar with Zhang Han and felt his progress more clearly.

One was an assistant coach for the Seido High School Baseball Team, responsible for recording the pitcher's data. During his recording process, he discovered a very astonishing fact: Zhang Han's control when pitching with his left hand at full strength had improved again.

Before Zhang Han's injury, if he completely disregarded control and only pursued pitch speed, his probability of throwing into the strike zone was only about 60 to 70%. It couldn't be called low, but it was definitely not high. By the standards of the Seido High School Baseball Team, Zhang Han was barely qualified to pitch on the pitcher's mound. If this data were slightly lower, Zhang Han would not have been able to play at all. The opponent wouldn't need to do anything special; they could just wait for Zhang Han to self-destruct. If a pitcher cannot enter the strike zone, even a 200 kilometer Fastball is useless.

But just now, out of the eleven pitches Zhang Han threw, nine entered the strike zone. For an ordinary pitcher, this was actually a common figure. But for Zhang Han, who had just resumed training, the meaning was completely different. In just one short week, his probability of controlling the ball into the strike zone had nearly reached 82%. He could now pitch steadily on the pitcher's mound. And with this control, even if he threw a ball, there was a high probability that the opponent would think it was intentional.

Don't underestimate this 10 to 20% improvement. Zhang Han's control had gone from barely acceptable to no longer a weakness. That was an improvement of one to two levels.

"There really are geniuses in this world!"

The assistant coach exclaimed sincerely. These things could only be analyzed from data. As a result, so many people from the Seido High School Baseball Team who watched Zhang Han pitch, including Coach Kataoka, did not realize the depth of his improvement. However, after the game, the baseball team would definitely take it seriously. Zhang Han's path to becoming an Ace had also become smoother.

There was another person who expressed the same sentiment as the assistant coach. That person was Nitta, a reporter from Tokyo Television. He kept staring at the monitor, also noticing a terrifying improvement in Zhang Han. And what he noticed was different from what the assistant coach saw.

Through the monitor, he clearly saw the pitch speed of each of Zhang Han's eleven pitches. He casually jotted them down and calculated an average. Comparing it with the previous average, Nitta felt his heart clench tightly.

Too shocking.

Although Zhang Han could throw pitches approaching 150 kilometers per hour before, in most cases his pitch speed was not that fast. It generally stayed between 140 and 147, with occasional pitches exceeding 150. The average pitch speed was just slightly over 145 kilometers per hour, and that included the 156-kilometer pitch.

147.6. That was Zhang Han's average pitch speed in the first inning.

But in the second inning, his overall pitch speed was completely different.

151.5. 152. 155.

Although Zhang Han did not throw pitches above 155 kilometers per hour in this inning, his overall pitch speed had made a significant leap. Out of eleven pitches, only three did not reach 150 kilometers per hour. The remaining eight, without exception, all exceeded 150.

In Koshien and even professional games, pitchers who can throw above 150 kilometers per hour are not many, but they are not few either. In Koshien alone, there have been more than a dozen. In professional baseball, the number is even higher. Some have even reached a terrifying 160 kilometers per hour. But these are only one or two pitches. How many such pitches can they throw in a game? The number is definitely not as high as people imagine. At most, a dozen or twenty, and some only a few. In the entire game, they account for a quarter or even less. Most of the other pitches are probably all under 150 kilometers per hour.

However, Zhang Han was different from all his predecessors. He actually managed to throw over 70% of his pitches at speeds exceeding 150 kilometers per hour.

They all said Zhang Han's pitching had no special characteristics. But wasn't pitch speed his greatest characteristic? With such a high proportion of Fastballs, plus the occasional ordinary pitch, Zhang Han's prestige suddenly rose to an unparalleled level. Who would dare say he was a pitcher without characteristics?

Pitch speed was his greatest characteristic, and also his strongest. Based on this alone, no one could underestimate him for any reason. He was destined to be the kind of person who belonged in the spotlight. No matter what profession he engaged in or what sport he played, he could turn it into his own stage.

Average pitch speed: 151.7 kilometers per hour.

This was the true monster. The monster's name was Zhang Han.

For now, people hadn't noticed just how terrifying Zhang Han's Fastball was. But they had noticed that the young man on the baseball field seemed to be pitching faster and faster. Not only had his pitch speed increased, but his pitching motion also flowed like clouds and water, looking smoother and more pleasing to the eye with every inning.

The white ball, like a mischievous elf, instantly pierced through the opponent's bat.

The game came to the bottom of the second inning, and Seido High School Baseball Team was unable to get a hit or score. Not all of Seido's batters were that strong. Their true offensive core ran from the first to the sixth batter. In contrast, the lower-order batters were not as reassuring.

Two innings ended. The score on the field was still 3:1.

Next, it was Yakushi High School Baseball Team's turn to bat again. The first to bat was their ninth batter.

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