In 2015, 15-year-old Kanagawa boy Hojo Yoto voluntarily gave up his top special recruiting spot at a prestigious Japanese baseball school. Armed with only an old pair of gloves and exclusive training data that he stayed up late for half a year to compile, he resolutely went to the United States alone to enter the professional baseball field.
At a young age, he has amazing talent. His four-seam fastball easily breaks 150 kilometers, and his vision for hitting and reading the ball is even more impressive than that of his peers. But he chose a thorny path that no one dared to try - refusing to be defined as a pure pitcher or a hitter, and firmly embarked on the path of extreme wild ball in both directions, and was once not favored by all professional teams.
Starting from the bottom of the desert rookie league that no one paid attention to, and surviving the cruel trials of the A, double-A, and triple-A leagues, Fengcheng Yangdou broke through the barriers step by step and stood on the much-anticipated major league stage. There are no comic-like sudden counterattacks and talent awakenings here, only the strict defense of top opponents, sophisticated data tactics targeting personal weaknesses, the relentless fight for quotas, and the overloaded physical wear and tear caused by two-way combat.
The astonishing ball speed allowed him to shine, but what really allowed him to gain a foothold in the top arena was his ultimate ball control, precise ball selection, scientific body management and meticulous on-field ball matching. It was the ultimate self-discipline of constantly reviewing and iterating every game.
The fifteen-year-old boy once made a wild promise to win the pitching and batting triple crown at the same time and reach the top of world baseball. After thousands of sails, he finally had an epiphany: the short-lived miracle of talent will eventually come to an end. Only by polishing talent into hard-core ability that can output steadily year after year can a unique two-way legend be achieved.
