◇ Round 3 ◇ Seventh (eighth time in Japan) ◇ Petco Park

Today’s pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka, was straight 95 miles, and I didn’t think he was in bad shape. There are only two things that interested me. First, he threw a lot of so-called “back door” sliders that entered the strike from the ball zone in the outer corner against the left-handed hitters lined up in a row.

This ball is difficult to control and is technically the most difficult ball. If you go in the middle, you are likely to get hit. The slider that came in the middle of Wendle’s two right front shots that allowed the first shot. One of Key Amyer’s four shots also had a sweet curve trying to hit the back door.

Maybe it’s because he’s confident in Tanaka’s ability to control the ball, but not many pitchers can throw that ball in a good spot. Tanaka also has two seams, so I think the combination of the slider in the inner corner and the two seams that escape to the outside is enough. Higa Shioka, the catcher, should have seen the state of Tanaka’s back door slider in the early stages and felt “better focus on another ball.”

Another thing that worried me was that there were a lot of cases where a high ball was thrown on parallel counts and first balls. The number of balls increased after firing him, and the count was also disadvantageous. Higa Shioka has been active as Ace Cole’s “exclusive receiver”. A call that throws a ball close to 100 miles at all times would miss that stop or foul. I felt that Higa Shioka’s leadership did not suit Tanaka. Since the condition itself wasn’t bad, it was really a waste to lose the ball that should be the shaft. (Daily sports critic)