Beyond the Numbers

For a professional baseball player, numbers carry immense weight.

Batting average, hit totals, games played.

Looking at those numbers, you can get a sense of how a player's season went.

But there are times that the numbers simply don't show.

This season, I played in nine games with the first team.

Three at-bats.

The result: no hits.

If you look only at the numbers, that was my season.

Of course, I know that this is a world where results are everything.

I'm frustrated with myself for not delivering.

I'm the one who has to accept those numbers.

The days I spend playing baseball aren't just about the games; they're about the hours spent training.

Working out alone in an empty weight room.

Swinging the bat early in the morning in an empty indoor facility.

Before the team practice even begins.

I've kept preparing in my own quiet space.

That daily routine has been just as much a part of my baseball life as anything else.

When full team practice starts, I give my all in fielding drills, batting practice, and baserunning.

I've spent every day focused on every single pitch.

Just because you train every day doesn't guarantee results.

Even so, if you don't do anything, nothing will ever start.

That’s why I keep stacking up the work I can control.

To be ready for that one moment in a game, I’ll risk it all.

I am frustrated with myself.

I also feel a sense of regret and impatience that I haven't been able to give back to those supporting me with actual results.

The time I put in every day doesn't always show up in the stats.

But those moments are undeniably a part of my baseball journey.

There are times that the numbers can't reveal.

I want to make sure I can look back on every single one of them someday.

I’ve decided to record it as my own story here at ITSUA PRESS.