"I can't believe you're here already…" Ken muttered.
Rohan's eyes flickered for a moment. "So you expected me to come after all…" He leaned in closer and whispered, "Does that mean you have something to do with healing my injuries?"
Ken flinched.
'Crap! I was so shocked that I didn't even try to hide something like this…' Ken felt a little panicked.
However, Rohan placed an arm around his shoulder and brought him closer. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you… Now let's get ourselves a spot on the roster."
Ken was silent for a moment before shaking his head in exasperation, "Looks like my competition just increased." He said with a laugh.
"This is Daichi, my brother. He plays catcher by the way." Ken said, introducing Rohan.
"Rohan Hills, I played alongside your brother for a few weeks in Double-A before he left us for dead." The guy teased, extending his hand.
Daichi accepted it while Ken felt even more shocked. He had never seen this side of Rohan, even though they'd only known each other for a little while, it seemed like night and day.
However, Ken began to get excited. His goal for this season was to get as famous as possible, what better way than to win the World Series? But for this to be achieved, they needed a great team.
Ken knew that Daichi was a one of a kind talent and could easily make the team. With his own skills and abilities, Ken believed he too could make it. Having Rohan as another pitcher in the rotation would only increase their chances of going deeper into the season.
So while he needed to focus on securing a spot on the roster, Ken needed to ensure that his teammates were also top class.
He didn't know much about the other players, but that would have to change if he wanted to go all the way this season.
'For now I'll focus on making the team, but after that I'll need to do a report on all my teammates. I have the Training Demon skill which gives the team a boost of 20% to training efficiency, so that should help.' He thought.
"Alright, gather around everyone." Mark said, blowing a whistle.
All of the players on the field did as they were told and made their way to the coach standing on the side of the field. There were around 40 players present at this moment, but this would need to be cut down to 26 before the end of Spring Training.
Ken looked around, of these 40 people, 14 would be going home in the next couple of weeks based on their performances.
Once everyone was gathered, Mark moved his gaze over the group.
"As you know, we only have two weeks left of Spring Training. We will be going through various drills and assessing each players capabilities silently. At no point will you know if you are safe or not, so I expect you to give it your all."
"Yes coach!"
"Good. Break up into your positions. Outfielders are with Coach Keenan, Infielders go with Coach Bradford, Catchers and pitchers with Coach Michaels and me." Mark said.
With that, everyone split up. Ken gave Daichi a grin and they bumped fists. Even without saying a word, they knew what each other was thinking.
'Do your best.'
Ken, Daichi and Rohan made their way over to Mark, along with another 15 players. Ken recognized a couple of the pitchers from the main team, these would be his main competition.
Edward Rodriguez, the left hand pitcher and ace for the Ligers. He'd just signed a 5-year lucrative deal with the team, he was essentially a lock for the roster.
Mitchell Lorenzen, the right hand starting pitcher and Michael Manning who was a young star in the making. These three were the starting pitchers and direct competition for him and Rohan in this training.
They were brought off the field to the bullpen where some expensive looking cameras were set up right behind the mounds.
There were 4 mounds and on 2 the cameras were set on the left side and the other two were on the right. Ken had seen this camera setup before. It measured the velocity and spin of each pitch, allowing one to see areas of improvement.
Ken was feeling a little excited.
"Alright, catchers get your gear on. I want you to call the strikes and balls, we'll worry about the leads. Remember, everything here will be documented and used to decide whether you'll receive a roster spot." Mark explained.
Like this, Daichi and the other 3 catchers got their gear on and made their way to the other end of the bullpen.
"Alright, Edward, Mitchell, Michael, Blake, step up and warm up your arms."
Ken watched from the side as the others warmed up. His eyes were on Edward, the Ace. The guy had a long wingspan despite only being around 6 feet tall. Every time he threw, it was like a whip.
What made it even more deadly was that he was a left handed pitcher, looking quite unorthodox.
There were screens nearby that showed all of the data of each pitch. There were other staff members at each one, ready to record the data for each player.
"Alright, four-seam fastballs first." Mark called out once everyone was done with warming up.
And like he said, everyone started to throw a fastball.
PAH
PAH
PAH
Ken turned his attention to Edward's screen close by and tried to peak at the numbers. His velocity was a respectable 92mph and the spin rate of 2100rpm.
Ken nodded. 'As expected of the ace, those numbers are quite respectable.' He said in his heart.
However, Ken knew that even though his pitching was only SSS+ grade, he could outdo these numbers. It might be close with his left arm, but his right arm was definitely better.
"Again." Mark called out.
Ken waited patiently by the side, waiting for his turn to step up and wow the staff members present.