The Cerulean Survivors: The Pitchers and Coaches

Yesterday, I introduced the position players for the Cerulean Survivors. The team's offensive combination of small-ball and power is definitely one of their strengths, but as the saying goes, "Good pitching beats good hitting." The team's diverse selection of power and finesse is also a key ingredient to their success, as are the team's cast of accomplished coaches. That said, let us proceed with the introduction of the pitching staff and the coaching team.

Starting Rotation

Takashi Takeda
Starter / Hitting Coach
The gargantuan Takeda, nicknamed "Jumbo," is one of the the most imposing figures on the mound. He stands at a full 6'10" and weighs in at almost 300 pounds. The former employee at a flower shop combines an explosive fastball that approaches 100mph with a hard, biting curveball to become a major strikeout threat, averaging over one strikeout per inning during his minor league career. He burst onto the scene during an Amateur League playoff game by pitching all 251 innings in an ultra-marathon while striking out 336 batters. Both of those figures are records for all tiers of Thingysland play. Since then, he has become one of the most popular players in the game. In addition to his pitching, Jumbo is also a potent offensive threat, never failing to finish among the top 5 in home runs and OPS on the team. He hits clean-up in each of his starts, and is frequently used as a pinch-hitter. He also doubles as the team's hitting coach, although he admits that his work in minimal.

Lloyd Irving
Starter
Lloyd is a dependable starter, and that goes well with his loyal personality. He goes into every start with the same intensity and focus that he puts into his other endeavors, as an engineer and as a companion to the Chosen in their journey of regeneration. He has an impressive array of pitches, from a fastball in the mid to upper 90s to a hard-breaking slider. He does have trouble at times finding the plate, thereby increasing his pitch count, but he is still a tried-and-true innings eater. While he doesn't have the offensive production of Jumbo, he holds his own with the bat, frequently helping his own cause with timely RBIs. And his quick reflex and steady hands make him one of the stronger defensive pitchers in spite of his violent delivery.

Minamo Kurosawa
Starter / Pitching Coach
"Nyamo," as Kurosawa is affectionately known, spent several years as an award-winning physical education teacher. She has a strong understanding of all things related to fitness and physical activity, as well as being a terrific teacher. These qualities add up to make her one of the top pitching coaches in the game. She knows just about all there is to know about pitching mechanics, and she has the ability and patience to teach them to others as well as correct mechanical flaws. Needless to say, she isn't one of those coaches who teaches what they can't do. Nyamo possesses one of the most diverse arsenals on the team. Although her fastball tops out in the high 80s, she mixes it up with curveballs, sliders, cutters, screwballs, and even changeups. All of her pitches are also blessed with loads of movement, making her one of the hardest pitchers to hit, and she gets her share of strikeouts too.

Sheena Fujibayashi
Starter / Pitching Coach
Sheena is one of the newest players on the team, having joined only a year ago in a public tryout. She spent several years meditating after completing the journey of regeneration, and that has helped her reach a higher level in her awareness. This newfound awareness paired with her prior training as a ninja in the village of Mizuho has given her the concentration and understanding of how to attack an opponent's weakness. Her array of outstanding off-speed and breaking pitches gives her the ammunition to hit those targets to deliver outs, while keeping her walk totals down. She is also great at the plate, being able to deliver base hits in key situations. While she has tremendous talent, she still suffers from a lack of self confidence at times, easily becoming unrattled after errors, increasing her unearned run average. She has nevertheless become one of the more popular players on the team, although some say it may be because of her voluptuous figure rather than her baseball skills.

Yanda
Starter
Yanda (real name Yasuda) is an extremely laid back fellow, and he takes this casual nature onto the mound. While he has a fastball that can go into the mid-90s, he prefers to go with his large, looping curveball and change-ups. This approach can be a curse as well as a blessing. When his stuff is good, he can be one of the most frustrating pitchers in the game. However, when his breaking pitches hang, he becomes one of the most hittable pitchers in the game. The unpredictability of his performance can be troublesome, but he is still a proven innings machine despite his scrawny build, and is suitable as a starter. He is well known for having a rivalry with mascot Yostuba Koiwai, and has used this to his advantage by clowning around with her on his off days.

While the starting rotation is full of pitchers with hot stuff, the Survivors bullpen is built primarily of soft-tossers. Manager Phoenix Wright has often been criticized for not having anybody in the bullpen that can put people away with 100mph fastballs, but he has often shrugged off these criticisms, citing the Daoist belief that the soft can overcome the hard. And they haven't failed the team yet.

Bullpen

Asagi Ayase
Reliever
The eldest Ayase sister, Asagi joined the team five years after her sisters in the same tryout that produced Sheena. While Asagi doesn't have Sheena's mental focus, she does share her repertoire of pitches. She has a dazzling array of change-ups and breaking pitches, and is able to reach back for a 90mph fastball in pressure situations. She exhibited supreme confidence and brilliant control during her one season with the Survivors, and has become one of the team's co-closers along with good friend Torako.

Maggey Byrde
Reliever
Maggey is a wondrous little bundle of energy. She tackles all of her endeavors with zest, and is never afraid to pick herself up after a failure, a trait she learned during her days as a police officer, waitress, and security guard. She owes her success on the mound to a powerful slider and an excellent change-up. She does have a bit of an unlucky streak, as the team makes an inordinate amount of errors when she is pitching, but she has the moxy to get out of these sticky situations.

Ayumu Kasuga
Reliever
The lovable Kasuga, dubbed "Osaka" by her teammates and most of her fans even though she was born in Wakayama and grew up mostly in Kobe, is one of the most frustrating relievers on the team. She throws only one pitch: a virtually unhittable knuckleball, which floats in an unpredictable direction due to the lack of spin on the ball. Analysts have stated that Osaka's knuckler is the closest to a true, spin-free knuckleball among all the knuckleball pitchers out there. Thankfully, catchers Gumshoe and Genis Sage are among the best ball-handlers out there. And yet Kasuga is one of the least athletic players on the team. She has difficulty performing the most basic of actions, including catching the ball, so the catchers must run and hand her the ball after every pitch.

Koiwai
Reliever
Koiwai is the father of mascot Yotsuba Koiwai and also good friends with pitchers Takashi Takeda and Yanda. His pitching style more closely mirrors that of Yanda, throwing largely off-speed pitches and breaking balls. He's served as a spot starter early in the team's history, although he pitches almost exclusively in relief. Nevertheless, he has the ability to pitch long relief when necessary.

Torako
Reliever
Torako is Asagi's best friend, and joined the team because of her presence. She has a cavalier attitude towards baseball, which frustrates many of her coaches. Her clashes with bullpen coach Franziska von Karma has become quite famous, especially regarding her habit of smoking, but it's hard to argue with her pitching. She is adept at late movement and changing speeds. She can hit the mid-90s on the radar guns with her fastball, while she can also throw 50-mph change-ups for strikes. She joins Asagi as the co-closer heading into the inaugural season.

Trucy Wright
Reliever
Trucy is manager Phoenix Wright's adopted daughter and a real magician, both in terms of her career and her pitching. She frustrates hitters with her collection of late-moving fastballs, cutters, and breaking balls. It's gotten so that the league appoints a real magician to sit in the stands at every game to check for foul play, although they have yet to find any. In addition, she handles the bat well. She and Koiwai are the only relievers to consistently get plate appearances. She has more career home runs (1) than Dick Gumshoe, and has a pair of series-winning walk-off hits. She is undoubtedly one of the most popular players on the Survivors.

Coaches

Phoenix Wright
Manager
A former popular ace attorney and world-renowed poker player, Phoenix Wright was voted as the player/manager for the Survivors in a team vote six years ago. While his career as a catcher never took off, he has become one of the game's most respected managers, winning the overall tier championship six years in a row. Although he confesses he knows little about baseball, he has a bright and quick mind and the stunning ability to think outside the box. He does anything for runs, using some wildly unconventional methods including letting his best hitters bunt in less than favorable matchups. He operates under the strategy that the game has 27 outs, and that anything can happen until all 27 outs are gone. As a result, the Survivors have become known for winning a lot of come-from-behind games, and they have become known as "The Turnabout Team." Perhaps it is fitting, as Phoenix is well known for winning cases he seemed almost certain to lose in his short but dazzling law career.

Mia Fey
Bench Coach
Through the magic of Thingysland and the powers of Evil Kessie, Mia, murdered several years ago by a vindicative CEO, returns from the grave to revive her career as an attorney. She was Phoenix's mentor and advisor early in his law career, and now reprises the role as the team's bench coach. Even though baseball was not her strong suit, her confidence and intelligence allows her to serve as a potent strategic advisor. Her tough but warm personality endears her to much of her team, but no more so than her sister Maya and cousin Pearl, both of whom had thought she would be gone forever.

Takashi Takeda
Hitting Coach
See above.

Minamo Kurosawa
Pitching Coach
See above.

Franziska Von Karma
Bullpen Coach
The Survivors bullpen is full of extremely laid back characters, from the air-headed Osaka to the cavalier Torako to the casual Koiwai. While the players have sufficient talent, the group may go into utter disarray in the lack of a guiding figure. And who better to be a guiding figure as the authoritative Von Karma, who had been a legend in the courts since her pre-teens, and who had served a stint as chief prosecutor before the attacks. She joined the coaching staff in the middle of the team's AAA years, and has whipped the team into shape, literally. Her whip has become a trademark, although the courts rule that she can't actually use it to whip people as she did during her law career. She is a strict and iron-fisted taskmaster, and even though this caused some friction among a few of the players, she has such a dominating presence that they can't help but respect her.

Raine Sage
First Base Coach
The role of the first base coach is still a little bit fuzzy for many people, but first base coaches are responsible for much of the communication that goes between a runner on first base and the manager. They usually make the judgment as to whether or not to steal, or to go to second on a hit. Raine was one of the brightest minds in Sylvarant, and has a long career in teaching with a lengthy journey of regeneration in between. Although archaeology is her love as opposed to baseball, she still agreed to join the coaching team at the encouragement of her brother Genis and former students Lloyd and Colette. She is also one of the steadiest batting practice pitchers.

Miles Edgeworth
Third Base Coach
Edgeworth was a cutthroat but highly successful and award winning prosecutor before moving on to other endeavors. He maintains a tenunous friendship with Phoenix Wright, as well as a more complicated relationship with catcher Dick Gumshoe. It is these connections that convinced him to join the team, albeit only as a coach. Still, his steady judgment is helpful for a criticial position as the third base coach. Under his guidance, the Survivors has had one of the lowest percentages of runners thrown out at the plate. Edgeworth is curt and a bit of a recluse, which is often mistaken for arrogance, but he can be a warm fellow. He is deathly afraid of earthquakes.

The Survivors aren't all about the players and the coaches. One thing that separates a Major League team from a team in the amateur tier is that it takes a lot more people to run the team. Here are some key members behind the scenes for the Cerulean Survivors.

Misty
Principle Owner
The team has come under the ownership of the Cerulean City Mat 4 Cheap, one of the most profitable retailers in all of Thingysland, during its second year in the AAA tier. The principle owner of the Mat 4 Cheap is none other than Misty, one of the most powerful figures in all of Thingysland. She was an instrumental part in working with the Commissioner of the Thingysland Baseball League, the Ex-Gravedigger, in getting the league to expand for the first time in thousands of years. Since she is one of only a dozen people in all of Thingysland to know Multiplicity, Misty is able to run the store on her own while also having the freedom to dedicate herself to public service and Pokemon training, as she still serves as the Cerulean City Gym Leader. She admits that the Cerulean Survivors places rather low on her list of priorities, but she is glad for the team's success, as the Survivors have become emblematic of the resilience of the people in Thingysland. It is a well-known fact that the Ex-Gravedigger has a massive crush on Misty. Some argue that this relationship would lead to bias towards the Survivors, although the Ex-Gravedigger has denied all allegations.

Brock
General Manager
Brock is the former Viridian City Gym Leader and aspiring Pokemon breeder. Although he does not know Multiplicity, he still does his best to be everywhere at once to welcome new members into Thingysland. It is through this that he has come to become familiar with almost everybody on the team. For example, he accompanied the Tales of Symphonia characters in their journal outside of Thingysland; he transferred into Yukari's school at the inception of the Azumanga Daioh, and he joined Phoenix, Maya, and Pearl during their Pokemon journeys. However, he has a reputation of being a womanizer, which many feel is the real reason for his association with the team. In fact, he did serve two years in prison for child abduction and harrassment after taking Pearl on her Pokemon journey. Nevertheless, he was offered the position of General Manager and accepted it.

Yotsuba Koiwai
Mascot
Yotsuba is the green-haired, ever-sunny bundle of joy who dances around in the middle of the game to entertain the crowds. She was a former outfielder for the team, but was cut after the arrival of Sheena. She performs every activity with gusto, living life to the very fullest. She had always brightened the team with her infectuous energy, and by making her a mascot, she is still able to be a critical part of the team. She is incredibly popular among fans, and Yotsuba dolls are incredibly hot sellers.

Apollo Justice
Bullpen Catcher
Apollo is a former attorney working for Phoenix and Trucy's half-brother, a fact he didn't realize until it was almost too late. He is a relatively smart fellow, graduating from law school at the tender age of 21, but he is lacking in self-confidence, and is very much a go-with-the-flow sort of person. He had served as the third-string catcher behind Gumshoe and Genis, but with his inability to call games competently and with the lack of much athletic ability, he eventually lost his spot on the roster, but he remains on the team as the bullpen catcher as the relievers warm up.

Chiyo Mihama
Team Physician / Trainer
Chiyo was a child prodigy, entering a prestigious high school at the age of 10, and becoming a full-practicing medical doctor in her early 20s. She had been a student of Yukari and "Nyamo," and also best friends with Osaka and Yomi among others. She had worked in family medicine, but was convinced to join the team as a trainer and a team physician by her old friends at the formation of the team. She took a few years to complete her orthopedic surgery rotation and also did a sports medicine fellowship for two years before joining the team in the previous season. She is a highly intelligent and highly humble physician who earns the respect of everybody on the team.