Off Topic
YS9 OF of the Future Faces Final Obstacles
April 21, 2044: Indianapolis – Sazui Kawashima is used to being told what he can’t do. Even when he was selected at the end of the first round of the 1941 draft process, people focused on things they didn’t like. He was immature, they said. Couldn’t run. Wore Velcro cleats because he wasn’t motivated enough to tie a set of shoestrings. Some scouts didn’t think he’d grow into any power. Others were concerned that his lackadaisical approach to defense and baserunning would result in injury after injury.
He who laughs last, however, laughs hardest and after looking at some numbers a lot of people are beginning to think Kawashima could be laughing pretty hard. Kawashima, a spray hitting phenom, went to Florida and hit .364/.430/.464 with eight doubles and a homer. And now, assigned to Indianapolis after only 23 AA plate appearances, the LHB outfielder is blistering AAA pitching to with a .458/.547/.708 slash. His defense is still borderline, but borderline is not “bad”—especially when you’re OPSing 1.255.
“He’s had a bit of a tough life getting here,” said Yellow Springs hitting coach Emilo Rodriguez, “So it’s exciting to see him come along.” Of particular interest to Rodriguez is Kawashima’s ability to hit left handed pitching. “It’s hard to find a left-handed bat that can handle pitching from both sides,” he said. “So his progress bodes well for us.”
Kawashima is 21. Right now Rex Foster and Ricardo Mendoza are ahead of him on the old depth chart, but time moves in only one direction and it’s well understood that the Nine are going to face some pretty severe financial issues in the near future.
“All I can do is hit as well as I can hit,” Kawashima said. “The rest is up to everyone else,”