#maezono

Ok so, in the recent chapter, QUITE A LOT HAPPENED. We had this happen to Maezono:

[Maezono is practicing batting and the ball hits his foot. He has trouble standing afterwards.]

And I don’t even know what to feel about this:

[Kawakami grabs a bottle but unexpectedly drops it. He is confused about what happens, and is later seen holding his elbow.]

THIS IS A LOT TO UNPACK!! And just take a look at what the chapter ends with:

But?? But what, Terajima-sensei?? Hmmm????

Injuries

So we know for a fact that Terajima is not afraid of injuries. Of course, with sports, injuries are natural and can happen to anyone. However, with other sports anime (namely Haikyuu!!, Free!, Kuroko no Basket, Yuri!! on Ice, etc) injuries are sort of glossed over. Or, there are the few “token characters” that have one or experience one. Think of Daichi, Oikawa, and Yaku in HQ, Sosuke in Free!, Teppei in KnB, and... no one(??) in YOI.

In these few instances, the characters were injured but it was considered a “minor inconvenience” and the character usually continued playing, or could play the next match. Sosuke and Teppei are a little different, they actually required surgery and rehabilitation, but they were still allowed to play through an injury and it was not a major plot point.

DnA, on the other hand...

How many major injuries have we seen? (Major in terms of plot, not major as in the severity of the injury itself).

We had Miyuki’s torn muscle that led to him being effectively booted off the team during the spring tournament. He was the captain, cleanup, and “genius catcher”, yet the coach and team still made the decision to not let him play. Sure, we didn’t really see the spring tournament in the anime, but the fact that an injury like this put Miyuki out of commission for nearly an entire month is unreal. He’s the most popular and most-loved character in DnA. He’s the most relied-upon in the team. He makes the most calls as catcher and captain. 

Then there’s Furuya and both (you read it right: BOTH) his injuries. His back and his ankle. Both put him in recovery/rest for a number of weeks. Both were catalysts for Sawamura to start growing as the “top pitcher”, and move into the ace position.

Ono’s injury was... damn. I don’t even need to talk about it. It was what allowed Yui and Okumura to gain experience on the first-string.

In short, Terajima does not shy away from injuries. And instead of making them all minor, he uses the injuries to develop character relationships and skills. This means that injuries are not just there for shock value. Injuries are not “minor scares”. An injury means a player is taken out of the game and possibly the whole tournament. Terajima takes injuries seriously, and I respect him for that.

Let’s go back to the pictures. 

Analysis

Maezono getting hit in the foot is a bad thing. That was a full-speed pitch, and he hit it top-strength. Maezono is part of Seido’s cleanup, a school known for it’s explosive lineup. There is no way his foot is anything less than badly bruised.

I’d dare to say it’s even broken. It looks like it hit the top of the arch of his foot, around his metatarsals. Fractured metatarsals require around 6 or more weeks, depending on the severity of the fracture. (oh no)

Kawakami is a side-arm pitcher. Side-arm pitchers pitch from the 1/2 slot. (If you know how pitching from different slots works, ignore the rest of this paragraph.) Submarine pitchers pitch from somewhere between 0 and 1/4. We have only seen one submarine pitcher on DnA, as they are extremely rare: even then, this submarine pitcher pitches from a higher-than-normal slot for submarine. (I can’t find a video, but it’s the pitcher from the game that Miyuki sings “aim and swing” with the band.) Furuya and Sawamura could be overhand pitchers. Most pitchers pitch from this slot. There is also 3/4 which is somewhere in between. I think Umemiya pitches from this slot, but I’m not entirely sure. 3/4 is the most natural pitching motion, and is by far the healthiest. [also a note... sidearm, 3/4, and overhand aren’t exactly their positions. Overhand isn’t exactly above the head and looks more like 3/4 if you’re going purely by sight and cutting up the “pie”. 3/4 is like overhand with a bent arm. Overhand is at the 3/4 slot but with a straighter arm. If you’re confused, there are a bunch of better explanations on the internet because I cannot for the life of me describe this]

Sidearm and submarine pitchers tend to put more strain on their elbows while 3/4 and overhand pitchers use their shoulders. Not to say that 3/4 and overhand pitchers don’t throw out their elbows, or sidearm pitchers can’t injure their shoulders, they absolutely do. It’s just that sidearm puts considerably more strain on the elbow than others, and 3/4 and overhand puts more strain on the shoulder than the elbow. (This is why when Furuya injured his back, everyone was concerned that it was his shoulder.)

Kawakami feeling stiffness in his arm and holding his elbow is a very bad thing. At the very least, it demands rest, ice, and absolutely no playing. At the very most, he already needs surgery. It could mean that he’s at risk of permanently damaging his throwing arm if he continues without treatment.

With games against Ichidaisan and (potentially) Inashiro, depending on who wins the semifinals, I don’t know how Seido could fare without Maezono and Kawakami. They are both vital members to the team: Maezono as cleanup and Kawakami as a closing pitcher. 

I think Maezono’s out of the Ichidaisan game, for sure. Even if it’s just a bruise, he’ll have a hard time playing. Kawakami... I don’t know. If he tells the coach about the pain, he won’t be allowed to play. If he gets put in a game as a closer and ends up injuring himself, it means someone else will have to step up as pitcher.