英語検定ライティング準１級（第229回）

救援「週１出勤の先発投手ではない話」

40年前のプロ野球は先発投手が９回を投げるのがデフォルトだったように思う。確かに抑え投手はいた。最終回に出てきて３アウトを取る役目だ。彼が撃たれることは敗戦を意味する。
Around four decades ago, in the professional baseball business, a starting pitcher of each team was supposed to pitch a complete match, in addition, he participated in the game every four days, which was tremendously incredible or unbelievable in the modern situation.
Only now, each team had a stopper pitcher without fail, who was in charge of the last inning and must gain three outs, at the same time, he mustn’t allow the opponent team to gain a victory from behind, after all, such a pitcher must have felt thrilled and nervous because his failure meant that the team lost the match, he assumes.

これを踏まえると８回は投げるのが基本だった。ピンチで左の強打者が代打で出てきたらワンポイントの左投手が出ることもあった。リリーフ投手の出来は先発投手の勝ちを左右した。
Considering this, a starting pitcher had to perform his superior ability from the first inning to the eighth one.
When he brought his team into the critical situation and competed a lefty pinch hitter with superior ability, his team required a one point lefty reliever to strike him out.
Whether the starting pitcher wins or loses depended on the reliever’s physical and technical condition, he says.

その当時は７回や８回に出てくる投手は固定されてなかった。セットアッパーという役割だ。最優先中継ぎで表彰される投手もいる。150キロという豪速球を連発する投手もいなかった。
In those days, the pitcher in charge of the seventh inning or the eighth inning wasn’t fixed, but at present his role has been called a “set-upper” in recent years.
A few pitchers are awarded as the most valuable reliever at the end of the year, at the same time, there weren’t any pitchers who could throw a ball at speed of over 150 kilometers per hour in a row, an article says.

ある選手によるとバッターは常に受け身だ。豪速球を投げる投手が遅い変化球をどのタイミングで使うのか分からない。対戦したことのない投手が投げる球ほど難しく感じることはない。
A famous and popular baseball player says that a batter must always welcome a ball passively, not actively, which forces him to be uninformed of what kind of ball would come toward him, at the same time, whether a curve ball comes or a straight ball comes depends on the strategy between the pitcher and the catcher.
Furthermore, when a batter completes a strange pitcher for the first time, he finds what he throws extremely difficult because he has no information about him.