I'm just gonna post these because I fear I've been rotating them in my brain all day, so here are some Pitcher!Brad and Catcher!Ray blurbs!
(Disclaimer: I am not super knowledgeable about MLB and all the rules/positions. I'm getting most of my info from my bf who used to play and the fact that I grew up privileged enough to go to MLB games multiple times a season.)
• Catcher!Ray who had a good rookie year in the MLB, not too shabby at bat but a perfectionist behind the plate. Never let a single out of control pitch get away from him. The other players on his team definitely underestimated the rookie but by the end of the season his stats spoke for themselves.
• Catcher!Ray who quickly built a reputation amongst the league of being a little shithead behind the plate. Along with being a professional baseball player he's also a professional yapper and would run his mouth to hitters about all sorts of things. How many zyns he could fit in his gums, why their batting stance looked stupid, why he thought wearing five chains was the reason they struck out every time they were at bat. And of course. Anything and everything he could think of to say about their wives/girlfriends/significant others. He's definitely gotten into 9th inning fights about that particular topic. Thank God for the catchers mask.
• Pitcher!Brad who had watched Ray play from the little TV in the bullpen while he was warming up could see he was good. Better than maybe anyone in the league at the moment. He just needed experience and most importantly, an experienced pitcher
• Pitcher!Brad who, upon seeing the end of season highlights of this scrappy little tweaker of a catcher, just confirmed what he already knew. That he wanted Rat to replace his catcher who had been traded away at the end of the season. It took some string pulling to get his shit-for-brains coaching staff to agree to a catcher like Ray, but with his stats and Brad's sway over the team, it didn't take too long. Before spring, Ray was signed and on the way to Arizona for training.
• Pitcher!Brad and Catcher!Ray who after the months of spring training are basically a bonded pair, pls don't separate thank you very much. At first no one can understand why a starting pitcher with a reputation of being stone cold on the mound would want a mouthy 22 year old behind his plate, calling his shots. But it works, like really well. Ray learns everything about how Brad operates on the mound knows exactly when to challenge him; calling pitches Brad almost forgot he had in his arsenal. And damn him, it's always the right call for the strike out.
• Catcher!Ray who has learned and memorized every aspect of Brad's pitch to the point where he can tell exactly when he starts to get tired. His outside form remains perfect, but Ray knows better. He doesn't need the speedometer on the outfield wall to tell him Brad's pitches are slowing down. He can feel it in the way they hit his glove.
• Pitcher!Brad who, unbeknownst to the cameras and commentators, calls Ray every insult in the book when he jogs up to the mound to suggest they call in the relief pitcher in the top of the 6th. It's quite the picture: Brad, all of 6'4 and then some on the elevated mound, right up in his catcher's face and Ray, mask pushed to the top of his head, eye black smeared down his cheeks, just letting Brad get it all out because yes, he knows Brad thinks he has another inning in him, but Ray knows better and in the end, Brad relents. He tells himself it's to escape the rage from their head PT. But the rest of the team know better. No catcher has ever been able to make Brad leave the mound of his own volition like that. Interesting.
• Catcher!Ray who is just slightly less familiar with the relief and closing pitchers to really show who his favorite is. Of course, neither one of them can see how deep that favoritism runs, but the bullpen and the rest of the team isn't blind.
Aaahhh! I have many more of these rotating around in my brain so let me know if y'all want a part 2! Thanks @ableedingpen for immediately seeing the vision lol
Figure 97 — descending spiral; figure 98 — nose dive; figure 99 — spinning nose dive. Practical Aviation for Military Airmen, James Andrew.
They brought him to Banika instead. Not as long a trip as the Kid's insanely conceived flight home, but it would get him there eventually. The Kid's war was over. He would go home, and, probably, regain his sanity when he got there. The unbearable pressure will be off. — Helmet for My Pillow, Robert Leckie.
Actually when I say “fuck all billionaires” I particularly mean Taylor “having my wedding in the middle of the busiest city in the world on the busiest weekend in the world in the part of the city the majority of commuters need to get through because fuck working people” Swift
have you ever spent 500 dollars of your own money fixing up the humvee with your rto, who's exceptional skills you make sure are appreciated by your mutual friends and constantly needed him by your side, smiled at all of his dumb jokes and sung love songs with him but also had to check that he hasn't overdone it on the ripped fuel and shouted at him when he's reckless and because you're with him so often you notice when he's being unusually quiet and had to make sure he's okay, including running to his side when he walks off in tears after a fight or are you straight
More baseball thoughts bc I had worm time about the different defensive positions. In the grand scheme of the game and also the show canon, Brad might actually be more like the Catcher! (They’re usually managing the team, tuned into the Ump and calling the plays for the pitcher)
So like WHAT IF Ray is the !surprise! Closer pitcher for the team (aka the pitcher who cleans up at the end of the game when their team is kicking ass). Like secret weapon- ?short? Pitcher? Tall catcher?? What is this! (Anyway…. It’s fun to read about team dynamics in the field)
OOOOO OMG YES I LOVE YOUR BRAIN!! Yes team dynamics are so interesting, I have many thoughts for the rest of the genkill peeps in the baseball au... Maybe someday I'll fully flesh those out lol.
Honestly the reason this whole au came about was that I was at an mlb game and noticed that most pitchers average around 6'2-6'5 and most catcher's are like the shortest on the team. Then I watched a catcher go up to the mound for a mound visit and his pitcher TOWERED over him and I said um. Yes. That's Brad and Ray right there. Also when a team wins a huge game and the catcher runs up to the mound and jumps all over their catcher. Um yes.
BUT!! I do love the thought of Catcher!Brad and scrappy little pos Ray being the closer and therefore the best pitcher on the whole roster and Brad just being like, this guy is our closer?! Yes. And he leads the league in strikeouts thank you very much Bradley.
