The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 67

67. Flaw (4)

Jack Washington, the younger brother of the Washington brothers, was greatly surprised by the two pitchers from Korea.

“Oh my god······.”

And if you were to ask whether that surprise was positive, unfortunately, it wasn’t. It was closer to the opposite.

“6-2 and 183lb? And 5-9 and 163lb?”

In centimeters and kilograms, that’s 190cm and 83kg, and 175cm and 74kg.

“I felt like they were a bit weak, but I didn’t think it would be this bad······.”

“Ah, well, it’s probably because they played games continuously for about two weeks in the scorching sun in the middle of summer······,” Choi Su-won said, trying to excuse them.

Of course, Baek Ha-min, who didn’t understand Jack Washington’s words, kept poking Choi Su-won in the side, asking, “Is there a problem? Did they find a disease or something? But they only measured our weight and height, how is that possible?”

“Then, what were they like before the tournament?”

“Um, I think I weighed up to 85 kilograms.”

“85kg is about 187lb. Let’s start by gaining weight. I’ll make you a diet plan, so eat accordingly. Ah, and Baek, how much did you usually weigh?”

“Ha-min hyung [older brother], he’s asking how much you usually weighed before this tournament.”

“Weight? Usually around 77 kilograms?”

Jack Washington’s eyes widened.

“No, you lost about 7 pounds in just a two-week tournament? Looking at your pitching records, there weren’t many days when you threw a lot.”

“Ha-min hyung said he usually maintains his weight by eating a lot, but the food here doesn’t suit his taste, and he couldn’t digest well because of the heat, so he didn’t force himself to eat to manage his condition······.”

“Oh my god, no, even so. Shouldn’t the coach or manager have provided special meals? They were national representatives! This won’t do. I’ll make you a diet plan, so make sure to eat it regularly, and it’s okay to eat more.”

Both of them knew they were lacking in terms of weight, so they nodded without saying anything.

“Both of you have very good physiques. Wingspans of 6-5 and 6-3. Especially Baek, even the length of his fingers is very good.”

Wingspan refers to the length when you spread your arms to the left and right. For most people, height and wingspan are similar. However, in some cases, the wingspan is longer than the height, and while acquired influences play a small role, congenital factors such as genetics and race are more significant.

“What is he saying now?”

“He says our arms are long and good.”

“Really?”

Su-won’s arm was about 9 centimeters longer than his height, and Baek Ha-min’s was about 11 centimeters longer. Considering that the average deviation in the NBA is about 5 centimeters, both of them had very long arms compared to their height. In particular, Ha-min’s fingers were also very long, and Jack Washington seemed to like that part especially.

“However, both of you have a bit more left-right imbalance compared to your age. Well, baseball is a unilateral sport, so it’s unavoidable, but considering the risk of injury, it’s better to balance it as much as possible. In the pros, the number of games increases and the time for training decreases, so the probability of this imbalance worsening is high. The exercises related to this part cannot be done in a short period, but I will teach you carefully, so make sure to do them consistently even after the training at our center is over.”

Su-won nodded.

Baek Ha-min also nodded, seeing Su-won nod, even though he didn’t know exactly what Jack Washington was saying.

In fact, what Su-won expected from the NBM Center was coaching on pitching skills, not physical aspects.

“Of course, everyone’s body is different. Even the same person is slightly different every year. What we should pursue is not fitting the player’s body into an ideal pitching form, but finding the most ideal form for that player’s body. Our goal is to maximize the player’s potential without injury. In that sense, it is also very important for players to maximize their physical potential that they were born with.”

Jack Washington’s story continued for a while, and then…

-Knock knock knock

A hurried knock.

And the door burst open before they could answer. The protagonist of that meaningless knock was William Washington, the eldest of the Washington brothers.

“Why is it taking so long!! We were only supposed to measure body sizes for now.”

A flushed face.

William Washington, who had insisted that he was just happy to make money before they arrived, proved with his whole body that it was a complete lie.

“Okay, let’s check the basic pitching motion first. This is a motion sensor, an electromyography sensor [measures electrical activity of muscles], and a muscle reaction force sensor, but well, you don’t need to know these technical details, and I’ll just tell you the results later.”

After taking off his top and attaching various sensors to his body, he held a glove and ball and went up to the makeshift mound.

A few light warm-ups.

William Washington watched it and nodded.

“Okay, let’s start now.”

Ten full-power fastballs.

And immediately followed by five sliders and five curves. In Baek Ha-min’s case, he showed fastballs, sliders, high-speed sliders, and curves.

“Good job. Then, Jack, go help with the cool-down and check their athletic ability while you’re at it.”

The results came out immediately.

What remained was William’s job to interpret them.

Choi Su-won and Baek Ha-min followed Jack Washington and performed a few familiar and a few unfamiliar movements.

And William appeared with a meaningless knock, just like when he first appeared.

***

“What? They didn’t return home?”

Incheon Airport.

The number of reporters was quite large. Considering it was only U-18, and they didn’t even win, it was an unusual number.

And what most of that unusual number wanted was, of course, Choi Su-won.

The Marlins and the Phoenix.

The battle between the two teams was tight. The Marlins, who had won the first game, did not concede defeat in the second game. Thus, they proved that they were not a pushover team that would allow the Phoenix, which already had a record of 18 consecutive losses, to renew it and go on to an unprecedented 19 consecutive losses.

That day, the Phoenix was clearly weak, but the Marlins were even weaker.

1 win and 1 loss.

The Phoenix’s great challenge stopped at 18 consecutive losses. However, what Phoenix fans were most concerned about was not the fact that their great challenge ended with the same 18 consecutive losses as before, but the fact that their winning percentage was tied with the Marlins.

Winning percentage 0.303. 33 wins, 76 losses, 1 draw.

And the biggest beneficiary of this fierce battle between the two teams aiming for a 20% winning percentage was, of course, Choi Su-won. Now, mainstream media outlets were openly using the term ‘Choi Su-won League’ along with the two teams’ great challenge.

“Choi Su-won and Baek Ha-min are going to receive training at a pitching lab in New York?”

In such a situation, this was truly a great news story.

In a situation where there was already a lot of noise about excessive batting practice and overwork, the player who had been the most active in the team chose to stay in the United States instead of returning home together. And even with Baek Ha-min, who was drafted first overall by the Marlins in this draft?

“Hey, did Baek Ha-min sign a contract with the Marlins yet?”

“No, not yet. The tournament was right after the draft······.”

“What about the other guys? A lot of first-rounders attended this tournament. Are there any of them who haven’t signed a contract yet?”

“Well, that is······. Jo Gyu-chan!! Jo Gyu-chan hasn’t signed a contract yet.”

“So, you’re saying everyone except Jo Gyu-chan has signed?”

“Yes.”

Is it simply because they are the first and second overall picks, so they are still adjusting the conditions?

Or is there a special reason why Choi Su-won and Baek Ha-min stayed in the United States, and it’s not just a simple pitching lab training? Moreover, in a situation where attention is focused on issues related to overwork, what does it mean that two players who could be given a pass for this final defeat are missing?

The public inherently loves gossip.

And for most media outlets, the public’s love and attention is the goal itself.

Various speculative articles poured out.

From articles about Baek Ha-min and Choi Su-won being in contact with American teams to stories about discord with other players in U-18. The story that the Marlins had almost completed a contract with Baek Ha-min and sent him to the United States for training, and that Choi Su-won, who will be picked in the first round next year, was also going with him.

It was an unbelievable amount of traffic for articles that poured out in just one day.

There were two teams challenging the great record of a 20% winning percentage. Basically, there was talk of a Choi Su-won League, but apart from the Marlins and the Phoenix, they were one step away from it.

But thanks to this huge flood of articles, at least fans who are interested in professional baseball could not help but know the name ‘Choi Su-won’.

And most of those who read such articles could not help but wonder how great Choi Su-won was to cause such a fuss.

Basically, not all KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] fans know baseball deeply. In the first place, even if you know OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging] or WAR [Wins Above Replacement] properly, you are a fan who knows quite a lot about baseball, and only one or two out of hundreds of fans properly know words like IsoP [Isolated Power], wOBA [weighted On-Base Average], or wRAA [weighted Runs Above Average].

What they like are not such numbers, but just hitters who swing their bats coolly and pitchers who throw the ball coolly. A runner who runs with all his might and an amazing defense that seems to be possessed.

And in that sense, Choi Su-won was a truly absurd player.

It was not difficult to find information about him. There were even highlight videos on YouTube. It was a video that collected only Choi Su-won’s performances from high school league and King of Kings matches to recent WBSC [World Baseball Softball Confederation] U-18 Baseball World Cup games.

-Thwack!!!

The ball on the inside went over the fence.

-Thwack!!!

The ball on the outside went over the fence.

-Thwack!!!

The ball that was out of the strike zone went over the fence.

-Thwack!!!

The one-bounce ball flew deep into the outfield.

Even up to this point, fans would have been sufficiently impressed by the player Choi Su-won.

-Boom!!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

A 154km/h fastball cleanly struck out the batter looking.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

An American hitter of ridiculous size struck out swinging at a 156km/h fastball and shook his head as he left the plate.

It didn’t take long for the name Choi Su-won to top the real-time search rankings and for his highlight video to be uploaded to YouTube’s trending videos.

And one more thing.

“See? I told you this would be a hit.”

“Oh, Gyeong-ah PD [Producer]. I know you have a good eye. That’s why I pushed it with a two-part series. Right?”

Choi Gyeong-ah of the educational broadcasting documentary channel approached the director.

“So, Director, let’s shoot another sequel.”

“Huh? A sequel? But aren’t the high school tournaments all over for the time being?”

“Oh, who’s going to shoot that? Actually, the popularity now isn’t the popularity of the Jungang High School baseball team. As you can see from the number of views, it’s Choi Su-won. His highlight clips, in particular, are a huge hit.”

“Is that so?”

“But where is Choi Su-won now? Isn’t he at a pitching lab in the United States?”

“Gyeong-ah, you don’t mean······. Hey. No way? Hey, you know. Our production budget these days.”

“I know it well. That’s why I’m going to make our director shout loudly when he gets the next budget. So, send me to New York. Attach two, no, three cameramen.”

“Thre······, three?”

“Yes. Three.”

Airfare.

Accommodation.

New York’s murderous prices.

The head of the educational broadcasting documentary department’s head started spinning rapidly.

***

Jack Washington was greatly surprised again.

This time, it wasn’t the same negative meaning as when they measured their height and weight.

“What kind of athletic ability is this······.”

Agility and coordination. And dynamic visual acuity.

Jack Washington thought.