Prep Pitcher Ball Excited to go to Sox - 美國職棒

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BOSTON -- For a while, there was a position dilemma for Trey Ball, the
18-year-old from Indiana the Red Sox selected with the seventh overall pick in
Thursday's First-Year Player Draft.
It was a good kind of problem. Ball was a tremendous pitcher and a star
left-handed hitter.

However, Ball made his name as a left-handed pitcher in this, his senior year
at New Castle (Ind.) Chrysler High School. And it seems apparent the mound is
where his future will be.
"Growing up, I always did two-way, so I was open-minded to anything," Ball
said. "But coming [out] this year, this spring, my pitching came out strongest
this year, and that's what took off this year for me."

Trey Ball, 18歲，左投左打。投打都非常優秀，但在高中時選擇當投手。

In picking as high as seventh for the first time since grabbing Trot Nixon in
1993, the Red Sox took Ball, considered the best southpaw pitcher in this
year's Draft.
"We viewed Trey as one of the most complete players available in this year's
Draft," Red Sox director of amateur scouting Amiel Sawdaye said. "His size,
athleticism, competitiveness, and makeup made him attractive to the Red Sox as
we watched his outstanding performance as both a pitcher and an outfielder. We
were thrilled that such a talented player was available to us, and believe that
Trey will excel professionally as a left-handed pitcher."

紅襪上次有第七順位選秀已經是1993年，當時選了Trot Nixon，這次，襪襪決定要投資在這
個左投。”Ball 應該是今年選秀上最接近完成品的選手之一，不論型、運動能力、態度等
都很吸引人！”　”有這個左投大家都興奮了！！！！” 球探主管Amiel Sawdaye如是說。

Ball was stunned and excited when the Red Sox called his name.
"Coming in, I'd heard mostly between 8 and 14," Ball said. "Being picked
seventh by Boston, it was great. I was speechless. It's kind of surprising. I
had no idea where it was coming from. I guess it was a last-minute decision,
but I'm not sure. It's a moment of greatness, and I'm very excited, very happy."

當宣布被襪襪選上時，Ball整個人都呆了!! “我以為我的順位大概是8-14吧，第7順位!
這簡直…Oh My….Oh!!!!@#$%.....”

The Red Sox will now start the process of trying to sign Ball, who has a
commitment to the University of Texas.
"Right now, it's still open," he said. "We haven't shut the door on anything.
But it's the best fit for me and my family. Anything can happen, but I feel
that Boston is right for me."

襪襪現在要做的就是努力簽下來，目前Ball 跟University of Texas還有默契在。Ball 說
他沒有預設立場，但襪襪應該是他的愛 ($$??)。

A baseball player in a basketball-crazed state, Ball takes pride in elevating
his game to the point where a team like the Red Sox snagged him so early in the
Draft.
"The basketball, I played until my sophomore year when I decided to give it up
and focus on baseball," said Ball. "My job was to dunk. I'm one of the kids
from Indiana who can't shoot. My shooting skills are not very good."
Despite the cold elements, which made his season shorter than many of the other
top amateur talents, Ball was able to take his skills to a high level.

Ball 在高二才從籃球轉棒球，籃球的Ball基本上是個櫻木花道。”灌籃就是了，投籃什麼
的我不太會….” Ball 如是說。但即便是中途轉戰，讓他的球員生涯比其他人短很多，他
仍把技巧磨練到相當高的水準。


"The weather was actually awful this year," Ball said. "We had a lot of snow
and rain and it was very cold. I remember pitching at night when it was 30
degrees and sleeting out. I mean, it's been pretty bad. Northern kids, they
don't get out until later in the year. I think that gives us time to work on
stuff that we need to work on and progress."
Even if he didn't expect to be picked at No. 7, Ball at least knew he was on
Boston's radar screen.
"We had a lot of contact with them in the spring," said Ball. "They sent in
multiple guys to come visit and have meetings with me. They sent in their [area
scout]."

即便沒預期到自己的順位那麼高，但Ball早知道襪襪準備要狩獵他。 “他們從春天就一
直派人來接觸我了，來看看我的肉體新不新鮮…..”

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 174 pounds, Ball will turn 19 later this month.
Ball is what scouts like to refer to as projectable.
His fastball travels into the low-to-mid-90s. Ball's changeup is a plus pitch.
The curveball is a work in progress, but has promise, according to scouts.

6呎5吋，174磅，這個月將滿19歲。Ball是那種球探認為可以好好雕琢的珍寶。速球大概
low-to-mid-90s，變速球不錯，曲球正在練，但是很有希望練成。

"Right now, I feel like my fastball is my go-to pitch," said Ball. "I need more
development work with my changeup and my curveball. I've only been throwing a
curveball for about a year and a half now. My father had restricted me on
throwing a curveball to preserve my arm, so I didn't have to risk that injury.
I see myself working on the curveball a lot, improving that."

“現在速球是我的武器，變速球跟曲球都要再練練。但曲球我才練1年半而已…因為我有個
好爹地，他以前不准我投曲球，所以我的手臂應該很新鮮吧!!”

Major League Baseball invited a select group of prospects to attend this year's
Draft live in Secaucus, N.J. As much as Ball appreciated the invite, he decided
to stay home with his family.
Given the way the night transpired, Ball was thrilled with his decision to stay
home.
"Not all of my family could have made it," Ball said. "I just wanted to spend
that moment with my family at that instant moment. They had been with me ever
since growing up and they had been supporting with me ever since, so I wanted
to share that moment with them."
It was a packed house.
"We had 30 here," Ball said. "All sets of my grandparents, my uncles, my aunts.
My friends, my girlfriend and her family. I had everyone."

Hopefully someone in Ball's family had a video camera rolling during the moment
the Red Sox selected him.
"We were all surprised. Once they read the name, everyone erupted and everyone
was yelling and screaming," Ball said. "I hugged my mom first and that was a
moment I'll never forget."

MLB曾邀請他到選秀會現場，但他選擇在家當宅男。”我的家人是如此的支持著我，我要跟
家人分享這個光榮時刻!!”

“我邀了30多人，完全塞爆我家，我朋友家人什麼的當然很重要啦，但最重要的是我馬子也
來了!! 耶” (小弟弟要專心打球喔!!)

“當宣布的時候我家簡直炸開了!! 但我是個孝順的小孩，我先跟媽媽來個愛的抱抱 ><”

The Red Sox hope to be as successful with Ball as they were after taking a high
school lefty named Jon Lester back in 2002. Fittingly, Lester was on the mound
for the Sox on Thursday, taking a no-decision on a game his team won on a
walk-off homer by David Ortiz.
"Hopefully he's excited," Lester said of Ball. "I remember the day well. A lot
of emotions obviously, for yourself and for your family. It's every kid's dream
to not only get drafted, but hopefully get to the big leagues. Hopefully he's
feeling a lot of excitement. Maybe we can get him signed and get him moving."

襪襪希望他是下一個Lester，兩人都是高中生就被選，也都是左投。


The pitcher Ball models himself after is strike-thrower extraordinaire Cliff
Lee.
Ball clubbed 10 home runs in his senior year of high school. As a pitcher, he
was 6-0 with a 0.76 ERA.

Ball 一直拿Cliff Lee 當目標，高中的時候，他打了10發HRs，還投出6-0, 0.76 ERA 的成
績!!


Boston's other selection on Day 1 was Teddy Stankiewicz, a right-hander out of
Seminole State Junior College in Oklahoma. He was taken out of high school by
the Mets last year.
A power pitcher, Stankiewicz is working to improve his secondary stuff.
Day 2 of the Draft continues with Rounds 3-10, streamed live on MLB.com on
Friday, beginning with a preview show at 12:30 p.m. ET. And Rounds 11-40 will
be streamed live on MLB.com on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
MLB.com's coverage includes Draft Central, the Top 100 Draft Prospects list and
Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable
database of Draft-eligible players. You can also keep up to date by following
@MLBDraft on Twitter. And get into the Draft conversation by tagging your
tweets with #mlbdraft.
In the pipeline
Ball and Stankiewicz give the Red Sox a couple of big power arms in the lower
Minors, joining lefty Henry Owens as pitchers who could play big roles in the
Majors at some point. Boston also has a few pitchers in the upper Minors to be
excited about, including Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster, Matt Barnes and
Anthony Ranuado.

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我從來不曾抗拒你的魅力 雖然你從來不曾對我著迷

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