2035.21 Godzilla ready to stomp on opposing pitchers
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2018 6:51 pm
SALT LAKE CITY --
By some act of god, intelligent design or fortuitous foresight, Mountain Park -- where the Salt Lake City Alpines get on their home cooking -- is located kiddie corner from Kentucky Fried Chicken's original location, and Yunosuke Terada is hungry.
Not, as you might expect, for some of the delicious crispy concoctions whose smells waft into the ballpark on every homestand, but for some bonafide BBA pitching. The Japanese elite prospect has been deep-frying his AAA competition this season to the tune of a .285/.393./.615 slash line, a performance worth 4.2 WAR.
He's ready for the next challenge.
"Look, I hit 41 long balls in AA last year, and I'm on pace for at least as many in AAA this year," Terada said. "You know that saying, 'Chicks dig the long ball'? Well, it must only be true in the majors, because I've been striking out just as much off the field as I have on it."
Even from a young age, Terada has always been eager to face top competition. Even growing up back in Japan, he would play travel ball with kids with four years older than him -- and would still clamor to be placed in a higher league.
Terada gets his nickname "Godzilla," from that time in his life, dubbed after his walk-up approach which he still keeps to this day. As he comes out of the dugout, the first baseman raises his knees to his chest and stomps obnoxiously on the ground, whacking his bat in front of him in the dirt and then baring his teeth at the opposing pitcher as he reaches the plate.
Most of the guys who play against him hate it.
"Can I swear? Fuck that guy," said Roberto Ramos, a starter for the Clash City Rockers whom Terada claimed as his latest victim. "He's a cocky ass who deserves to be hit by an errant pitch one of these days, if you catch my drift."
But his teammates see it differently. The ever-likable center fielder Antonio Duran said the team gets a hoot out of the batting routine, and play a game where they bet on how many steps Terada will take to get to the plate.
The high, Duran said, is 18.
"Phew, that was a day!" Duran said. "'Zilla was pretty pissed off at something before that at-bat, and honestly, we didn't know if he'd ever make it to the plate. But you bet there wasn't a chance the home ump was going to tell him to speed it up."
As for when the Spuds will speed up Godzilla's developmental arc and send him to the majors? Only time will tell, although a source with intimate knowledge of the team told fans not to hold their breath; Boise will likely delay bringing Terada to the majors for as long as they can to preserve service time and extend Terada's time with the team into a possible window of contention.
By some act of god, intelligent design or fortuitous foresight, Mountain Park -- where the Salt Lake City Alpines get on their home cooking -- is located kiddie corner from Kentucky Fried Chicken's original location, and Yunosuke Terada is hungry.
Not, as you might expect, for some of the delicious crispy concoctions whose smells waft into the ballpark on every homestand, but for some bonafide BBA pitching. The Japanese elite prospect has been deep-frying his AAA competition this season to the tune of a .285/.393./.615 slash line, a performance worth 4.2 WAR.
He's ready for the next challenge.
"Look, I hit 41 long balls in AA last year, and I'm on pace for at least as many in AAA this year," Terada said. "You know that saying, 'Chicks dig the long ball'? Well, it must only be true in the majors, because I've been striking out just as much off the field as I have on it."
Even from a young age, Terada has always been eager to face top competition. Even growing up back in Japan, he would play travel ball with kids with four years older than him -- and would still clamor to be placed in a higher league.
Terada gets his nickname "Godzilla," from that time in his life, dubbed after his walk-up approach which he still keeps to this day. As he comes out of the dugout, the first baseman raises his knees to his chest and stomps obnoxiously on the ground, whacking his bat in front of him in the dirt and then baring his teeth at the opposing pitcher as he reaches the plate.
Most of the guys who play against him hate it.
"Can I swear? Fuck that guy," said Roberto Ramos, a starter for the Clash City Rockers whom Terada claimed as his latest victim. "He's a cocky ass who deserves to be hit by an errant pitch one of these days, if you catch my drift."
But his teammates see it differently. The ever-likable center fielder Antonio Duran said the team gets a hoot out of the batting routine, and play a game where they bet on how many steps Terada will take to get to the plate.
The high, Duran said, is 18.
"Phew, that was a day!" Duran said. "'Zilla was pretty pissed off at something before that at-bat, and honestly, we didn't know if he'd ever make it to the plate. But you bet there wasn't a chance the home ump was going to tell him to speed it up."
As for when the Spuds will speed up Godzilla's developmental arc and send him to the majors? Only time will tell, although a source with intimate knowledge of the team told fans not to hold their breath; Boise will likely delay bringing Terada to the majors for as long as they can to preserve service time and extend Terada's time with the team into a possible window of contention.