In ep. 3, in my opinion, Abe cried because he could relate his position with Mihashi. Mihashi worked so hard but was not appreciated by his former team and as did Abe. I mean, Abe does not seem to be the type to cry merely due to sympathy.

Mihashi appreciates Abe and that makes him so happy that later on he sincerely supports Mihashi to great lengths.

That is one of Ren’s more endearing quality is that he totally understands how important Abe is to him. I really liked how they bonded, I think in episode 03, when Abe discovered how hard Ren had worked. I think Ren appreciating Abe is only natural, as Abe was the first who respected him both as a pitcher and a person.

I am looking forward to seeing more development on their relationship ^^

Abe’s previous pitcher was the exact opposite of Mihashi in terms of personality and pitching style (very fast balls but poor control). Abe hated him so much that he built a concept of an ideal pitcher to be the exact opposite of his previous pitcher – which he will realize later that he himself actually does not want that.

Regarding Abe’s possessive and controlling nature – actually he just wants to be appreciated, as simple as that. (waaay further down the story, Abe was shocked to find himself crying from a simple “Thank you”.)

I think that being a catcher means that you are doomed to be in the shadow while the pitcher hogs most of the glory. Even in this first match we can see that other Nishiura members were showering praises to Mihashi but none bother to say “Nice lead” to Abe. Mihashi appreciates Abe and that makes him so happy that later on he sincerely supports Mihashi to great lengths.

I have read in a forum that I frequent that someone from Abe’s past will be showing up. That person would be Abe’s former pitcher.

I have yet to confirm this though, since I haven’t read that far into the manga. However, with that possibility of an ex-pitcher showing up, perhaps we will get to see how Abe became the catcher that he is.