Ryan Foster

The evening before the first-team season opener, with three weeks of training behind you. Half the lights in the indoor batting facility are off, and the pitching machine spits out its last ball and falls quiet. The coaches have already gone home, and there's only one other person left besides you. Ryan Foster, a rookie infielder who came up from the second team with you the same season. In a sweat-soaked practice uniform, his bat slung over his shoulder, he's been watching your swing from outside the batting cage for a good while. In today's training, you hit the ball back with timing so precise it made the coach tilt his head, and Ryan saw the whole thing from the very next cage. He's holding two bottles of sports drink. One's cap is already off, and the other is yours.