The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 11

11. Baseball is a Game for Those Who Excel (4)

“What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with him?”

In high school baseball, the skill gap between players is significant, and it widens the further you get from prestigious programs.

Frankly, calling Central High a baseball powerhouse is a stretch. They had a brief period of strength about 20 years ago, but that was it. The strongest the Central High baseball team has been in the last decade is right now, with Choi Su-won as their ace.

Sure, he tends to load the bases and occasionally ignite those loaded bases spectacularly, but a pitcher who throws 150 km/h [approximately 93 mph] is practically an absolute ace at the high school level. And usually, such an ace would almost always pitch the maximum of 105 pitches allowed by high school regulations in a weekend league game, unless it’s a tournament where they might need to pitch again in a few days.

“Well, I don’t think so…”

“What do you mean, no? Why are they replacing the pitcher? He’s only thrown eighty-four pitches.”

“If it were an injury, he’d have to leave the game entirely, but the substitution slip says it’s a first baseman change…”

“What? First baseman?”

***

Baseball gloves are broadly divided into two categories:

Mitts and gloves. Of course, if you look at the details, the shape varies greatly depending on the position, and there are some customizations for each player, but at the high school level, most players use off-the-shelf products, so there are rarely any unique shapes tailored to individual players.

Oh, but why am I suddenly explaining gloves?

“This is so uncomfortable…”

That’s because what I’m wearing now is a mitt, not a glove.

I’m a pitcher. There’s no way I’d have a mitt that only catchers and first basemen use. In other words, this mitt belongs to senior Gyu-hyeok, who’s sitting in the dugout with a grumpy expression.

So, what happened was that the story started when I went to the coach after the 4th inning.

“Coach, my shoulder feels a bit stiff when I throw.”

“What? Where? Here?”

There are scouts from ten clubs watching the game.

No sane pitcher would fake an injury.

The coach didn’t doubt my words at all.

“How uncomfortable is it? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No, it’s not that bad. But didn’t you tell me to say something if I felt uncomfortable? It was okay when I was batting, but I feel a bit stiff when I throw.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

Let me say in advance that this wasn’t me saying I wanted to keep batting.

It was just… well, it’s not that it hurts a lot. But I don’t want to throw. It was a kind of appeal. Besides, if it was just bearable, I wouldn’t mind throwing one more inning. I just needed to make these appeals frequently so they wouldn’t push me too hard in tournaments like the King of Champions later on.

But the coach’s choice was far beyond my expectations.

“Then… okay, let’s do this. Su-won, your batting is too good to take you out, so let’s have Gyu-hyeok come out and you go to first base.”

“Pardon?”

“Why are you so surprised? You’ve practiced infield defense from time to time anyway.”

“Well, yes, but… I need a mitt to play first base. I don’t have one prepared.”

“Gyu-hyeok, give Su-won your mitt.”

Dad, how much money did you give the coach that he’s making such ridiculous choices…?

Senior Gyu-hyeok handed me his mitt without a word at the coach’s words.

He clearly didn’t say anything, but his bulging muscles, which weren’t even hidden by his baseball uniform, were strangely intimidating. This senior is 10cm [approximately 4 inches] shorter than me, but he weighs almost 20kg [approximately 44 pounds] more. Mungae isn’t that scary even when he frowns.

Wow, this senior is a bit scary…

Anyway, I ended up putting on Senior Gyu-hyeok’s mitt and going to first base.

***

“To eliminate the designated hitter here, Central High’s coach is quite bold.”

“It’s still high school baseball. Besides, Baek Ha-min is only targeting Choi Su-won right now. And maybe the pitcher coming up to the mound for Central High is a better hitter than the first baseman who just went down.”

“Well, that could be the case. Usually, they put talented players in as pitchers.”

Like all old things, baseball rules are very complicated.

It can’t be helped. The rules, which were simple at first, have been patched up over time, becoming tattered, and those tattered rules are respected under the name of tradition. The rules regarding designated hitters were the same.

In the beginning of baseball, there was no such thing as a designated hitter.

It was natural for all players to participate in both defense and offense. But 52 years after the American League first introduced the designated hitter system in 1973, the only league that doesn’t use a designated hitter is the Central League in Japan, across the sea.

Anyway, according to the current KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] and the high school baseball league regulations that are influenced by it, it is possible for the starting pitcher to play as a designated hitter. However, in this case, when the pitcher is replaced, the replaced pitcher must also go out as a designated hitter.

According to the old rules, it is impossible for a starting pitcher who was playing as a designated hitter to abandon the pitcher role and continue playing as a designated hitter.

“Still, if it were the American rules, Choi Su-won wouldn’t have had to play first base.”

“The Ohtani Rule?”

“Yes.”

“Stop it. Stop. That’s not something a human should do.”

“But thanks to that, there are some pretty good two-way players coming out in the minors recently.”

“Instead, far more promising players are being ground down. There’s a reason why they haven’t been able to do it for over a hundred years. Modern baseball is tough enough for a pitcher to have a long career, but you’re going to have them do both pitching and hitting? If you do that in a place like the KBO, where the talent pool is already small, you’ll grind all the kids down at the high school level.”

Baseball is a game for those who excel.

And if you let the good ones keep playing, all the promising ones will be ruined early. That’s why the KBO hasn’t adopted the Ohtani Rule, even though it’s been three years since it was established in the Major League.

***

I made eye contact with Mungae.

Mungae, or Ahn Byeong-yeong, was a fairly well-known prospect until his third year of middle school. Well, he wasn’t good enough to go to international competitions, but he was still a pitcher who could throw fastballs in the late 120s and curveballs and sliders into the zone.

But the problem is that his growth has stopped.

He says his height in middle school is his current height, but frankly, 173cm [approximately 5 feet 8 inches] is too short for a pitcher. Of course, there are pitchers who throw fastballs despite being short, but Mungae is not one of them.

He recorded his highest speed of 132km/h [approximately 82 mph] in his first year of high school, and his highest speed is still 132km/h.

Of course, does that make Mungae a bad pitcher? Well, not really.

He’s good enough at the high school level. He knows his speed isn’t great, so he puts more effort into his breaking balls, and now he can put sliders and curveballs in and out of the zone as well as fastballs. And sometimes, on good days, it’s almost 100%.

The first batter from Cheonnam High came to the plate.

It was his third at-bat this game.

Mungae’s face is full of determination. Well, it’s obvious that he has some expectation that he might catch the eye of the scouts in this game.

‘Sigh…’

I hate him, but I feel sorry for him for having such impossible expectations. I always get soft-hearted in these unnecessary situations.

He wound up big.

A smooth pitching form.

It was a slider that slightly missed the outside of the zone.

-Clang!!

The batter’s bat connected.

Towards first base. Towards me.

The ball, with proper spin, bounced near the line and bounced high. The final landing point is outside the foul line.

But this is a fair ball. And it’s a very difficult ball to handle.

“Ah!!!”

Yes, if I were just an ordinary fill-in first baseman. I have a whopping seven seasons of experience playing first base in the KBO. And I have five Golden Gloves among them.

Of course, I was judged to be a useless player who couldn’t play first base in the Major League… What was it? My body is too clumsy and lacks flexibility? But I’m 40kg [approximately 88 pounds] lighter now than I was then, and my range of motion is much better than it was then.

Ah… but now that I say it, it’s not that I’m slim, but that I’m almost starving…

Anyway, I strode to the expected landing point and stretched out my mitt to catch the falling ball. The mitt was a bit stiff, so the ball spun inside the mitt, but it wasn’t enough to bounce out. I lightly caught the ball and threw it accurately into the glove of Mungae, who came out to cover!!

-Bang!!

“Out!!”

Ah, right. It wasn’t accurate. It was a little off. But still, this is a near-perfect defense.

Anyway, he definitely has a good shoulder. Even a casually thrown ball flies like lightning and sticks.

Was it because the defense was impressive?

No, maybe it’s just because I showed such an impressive performance today…

The scouts stirred again.

“What, he handled that so easily? Has that guy played infielder before?”

“No, even if you look at the King of Champions records, he hasn’t.”

“Middle school records!! Look at the middle school records too. If possible, all the practice games.”

Of course, first base has the lowest defensive weighting among all fielders.

Based on common stats, if you subtract 1.75 from WAR [Wins Above Replacement] when playing as a designated hitter for a full season, you subtract 1.25 for first base. For reference, the guy sitting there catching the ball adds 1.25.

Anyway, the defense of the first baseman is the easiest of all fielders to be evaluated in that way. It’s also a good position to bulk up. It’s no coincidence that powerful hitters go to designated hitter or first base at the end of their careers.

But even so, a fielder is still a fielder. It’s not easy to show this kind of defense without any practice. Perhaps the scouts’ heads have become quite complicated? He throws 150, hits home runs like that, and even plays first base well?

Ah, but it seems that the most complicated person in this place right now is not the scouts.

Ahn Byeong-yeong.

Look at that Mungae bastard. Look at his complicated eyes. He’s angry that I’m still the main character even though he’s on the mound, but he can’t say anything about the nice defense I showed. Is that it?

Mungae’s mouth opens.

Yes, that’s it. Hurry up and praise me. Praise me and thank me for the nice catch. You Mungae bastard.

“Hey, Choi Su-won. Can’t you throw properly?”

“…”

Ah…

Oh, um…

Okay. I’ll admit this coolly like a man. Even I couldn’t have imagined this far. What a crazy bastard. To surpass my imagination so much.

Okay, good. This is what it takes to be the first villain in Choi Su-won’s life.

Top of the 5th inning, one out, no runners.

Mungae’s pitching continued.