The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 143

“Ah, damn it. I knew it from the moment I passed on Choi Su-won and went with Noh Hyung-wook. Passing on a rookie for an 11 billion won [approximately $8.3 million USD] hitter? And against a guy who just hit a home run in the previous at-bat and is riding high on momentum? Seriously.”

“Well, to be honest, Choi Su-won was worth passing on. Look at his current home run pace. Only five guys have hit more home runs than him so far.”

“Huh? What nonsense are you talking about? Isn’t Choi Su-won number one in home runs right now?”

“Five teams are ahead of us: Dolphins, Marines, Blaze, and Jaguars.”

“Damn… suddenly I understand why they passed on Choi Su-won for Noh Hyung-wook. What the hell is that guy? Still, lucky for our team. We’ve hit more home runs than Choi Su-won.”

“But if Choi Su-won hits two more home runs in today’s game, he’ll be tied with our team.”

“……”

The Braves fans felt more and more absurd as they discussed the current situation.

They clearly wanted to criticize the decision to pass on Choi Su-won for Noh Hyung-wook, but it was turning out that it wasn’t such a bad choice at the moment.

“No, then they should have walked Noh Hyung-wook too, even if it meant giving up a run, and ended it with a double play against Lee Gyu-man. Everyone knows Gyu-man is good at hitting into double plays.”

“Well, Cho Chang-hyuk probably tried it because it was him.”

“Sigh… 6:0. Should we just leave?”

“Hey, it’s only the bottom of the 3rd. We still have seven more at-bats left. And Choi Su-won is overwhelming as a hitter. As a pitcher, well…”

“160?”

“Chang-hyuk also throws 160 [kilometers per hour, approximately 99 mph], but look at his current state. Besides, he cleaned up his stats with 5.1 innings of scoreless pitching in the last game, but in his first appearance, he had 5.2 innings with 3 runs allowed. He’s a bit inconsistent, about Chang-hyuk’s level around twenty years old. Plus, the Marines’ bullpen is terrible except for Han Myung-hoon.”

“Well… that’s true.”

-Thwack!!!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

The number 159.8km/h [approximately 99.3 mph] on the scoreboard caught their eyes.

“So, clearly our Chang-hyuk was doing just as well when he was twenty, right?”

“T-twenty-one? Or twenty-two?”

“You crazy bastard!! When Chang-hyuk was twenty-two, he was completely broken out and consistently pitching 7 or 8 innings, allowing 1 or 2 runs at most!!”

***

Maybe it’s because I saw Cho Chang-hyuk pitching with brute force earlier? I’m doing something similar without realizing it. But what’s amazing is that it’s working quite well.

-Clack!!

Of course, I get hit sometimes.

But it’s not easy to make solid contact.

[A fastball escapes between 1st and 2nd base!! Jung Ji-woon!! Ah…]

[The ball deflects off the glove and rolls on the ground!! Jung Ji-woon can’t catch it easily.]

“Safe!!”

[In the meantime, the runner is on 1st base.]

[That was a slightly disappointing defense. Actually, the turf at Gocheok [a baseball stadium in Seoul] is artificial, so the ball speed is a bit faster, so this kind of thing can happen, but it’s a shame he didn’t pick up the ball a little faster.]

“Ah!! This is driving me crazy. Don’t the Marines have any infielders? Why are they putting a guy like that at second base? Our Su-won’s perfect game is ruined!!”

“Is this the time for slapstick comedy? Why can’t he pick up a ball that’s clearly rolling on the ground and fumbles with it?”

“That slick bastard. He only knows how to drink at Seomyeon [a district in Busan known for nightlife] every day. He’s staggering because he’s not doing his lower body exercises properly.”

“The atmosphere was so good just now. Ah…”

Harsh curses erupted from all over the stadium.

Jung Ji-woon’s face turned red. It would be one thing if he just missed it, but he fumbled with the ball that hit his glove and fell right below it for so long, so he knows that it will be broadcasted looking incredibly ugly, and it will be a scene that will be mocked and cursed at as a meme for a long time.

I understand. No, really.

Honestly, when it comes to turf, Gocheok is the worst for infielders to play on. This isn’t because the Braves don’t spend money on the turf, but rather because Gocheok is the only professional baseball stadium that uses artificial turf due to the inherent limitations of a closed dome stadium. Artificial turf has gotten a lot better these days, but I definitely feel that it’s inferior to natural turf after continued use.

Before I went back in time, I made a similar mistake when I was playing first base here. For reference, that footage was later used as a representative meme by haters who mocked me when I was deemed ineligible to play first base in the majors, saying, ‘You can only play as a designated hitter because you defend like that.’

Every time I was in the running for MVP in the majors, it circulated with the title ‘The decisive defense that prevented Choi Su-won from winning MVP,’ so Jung Ji-woon’s clip will probably be used for a long time too.

I fully understood his future pain, so I just nodded my head once.

Anyway, at best, it’s one out with a runner on 1st base.

I just shoved a fastball high and inside…

Ah…

It was a bit too centered.

-Clack!!!

[Shin Hee-sung hits it!! But it’s a badly hit ball!! Right to the shortstop!! Kang Ra-on catches it and throws to 2nd base!! Jung Ji-woon catches it easily and throws back to 1st base!! At 1st base!!]

“Out!!!”

[Double out!! A clean double out!! Good defense by Kang Ra-on. In an instant, the Braves’ attack in the bottom of the 3rd ends.]

[Wow, in this case, Choi Su-won ends the 3rd with just six pitches. So, his total number of pitches so far is…]

[Wow, only twenty-seven. He struck out five in the 3rd, but his pitch count is very low, isn’t it?]

[It seems that Choi Su-won is pitching a bit aggressively today. There are hardly any balls going outside the zone. But because his stuff is so good, he’s consistently getting ground balls and fly balls.]

[At the plate, 2 at-bats, 1 hit, 1 home run, 1 walk. And on the mound, 3 innings, 5 strikeouts, no runs allowed. Wow… it sounds too absurd even when I say it myself.]

[Now, the top of the 4th. The Marines’ attack resumes. The game continues.]

***

He gave up 6 runs as a starter.

Usually, if not always, he would be taken out. But Braves’ manager Park didn’t take Cho Chang-hyuk out.

Clearly, Cho Chang-hyuk was a human being with personality problems. But how many people in the baseball world aren’t like that? What’s important in this world isn’t personality. It’s skill. In that sense, Cho Chang-hyuk was a reliable pitcher.

His overwhelming fighting spirit and competitiveness didn’t subside in the situation where he gave up 6 points, but rather burned even more fiercely. Moreover, as a result, he gave up 6 points, but his stuff didn’t drop at all. It’s just that Choi Su-won and Noh Hyung-wook hit too well.

-Thwack!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

A powerful fastball exceeding 159 [kilometers per hour, approximately 99 mph] tied up Marines’ 5th batter, Lee Gyu-man. It took him only 6 minutes to retire the Marines’ attack in the top of the 4th.

Choi Su-won, who went back to the dugout and only took a short break to catch his breath, came back to the mound.

But Cho Chang-hyuk also didn’t get a proper rest either.

Choi Su-won’s pitching continued at a fast pace, as if he was going to return what he had received. It was a different form from the past two games. Choi Su-won had overwhelming stuff and his pitching timing was also quite fast. But if you ask if that pitching was that of a power pitcher, it was a bit ambiguous.

Rather, it felt like an old pitcher who had experienced all kinds of hardships, deceiving the opponent as if he were a power pitcher, subtly taking counts like a raccoon, and getting swing-and-miss strikeouts with curves.

But today’s game was a little different.

It was a reckless pitch that said, ‘Try to hit it if you can.’ But even if you were only conscious of the fastball, the curves that came in between were too powerful. And the changeup that he only threw three times in this game.

Braves’ manager Park thought that this changeup was the problem.

If you ask if it’s incredibly powerful, it’s not. But that’s why it’s more of a problem. A changeup of around 140 [kilometers per hour, approximately 87 mph] is clearly a ball that can be easily attacked if you aim for it.

Fastballs and curves that are difficult to properly attack. And a changeup that can be easily attacked.

That’s why the batters can’t easily erase it from their minds, even though they hardly threw the changeup.

And that was the same for Braves’ shortstop Jang Chan-min, who went up as the second batter in the bottom of the 4th.

-Clack!!!

The ball that he swung out of necessity in a two-strike situation hit the top of the sharply falling curveball. The fact that the count was so high in the first place was because he was conscious of the changeup.

A ball that hit the ground hard and headed straight for the pitcher.

Choi Su-won on the mound handled the ball in his position.

“Wow… look at his reaction speed? He just catches it before he even finishes throwing the ball and gets into position.”

“Ah, but isn’t that a bit dangerous? He should just let the infielder behind him handle that. What if he gets hurt doing that…”

As a result, it took only 25 minutes to retire the 4th and 5th innings.

Again, the top of the 6th.

Cho Chang-hyuk wiped the sweat from his forehead and went up to the mound. His gaze glanced at the waiting batter’s box.

The batter holding the bat there was none other than Choi Su-won.

He was not practicing hitting, even though he was in the on-deck circle.

It was understandable. He had just thrown the ball for a whopping 2 innings at a fast pace without hardly resting. He couldn’t rest there and stood in the on-deck circle again. Even Cho Chang-hyuk himself was quite exhausted. Would Choi Su-won be any different?

Lee Jung-hoon was at the plate.

His third at-bat of the game. He recorded one hit in the previous at-bat.

But he wasn’t a batter that needed to be guarded against that much. Cho Chang-hyuk had been hit three home runs today, but he felt like his condition had improved even more.

First pitch.

A low, inside fastball.

-Clack!!

Lee Jung-hoon swung at the first pitch as it was.

The velocity was still good. 158.4km/h [approximately 98.4 mph]

But perhaps because of the effect of throwing nearly 100 pitches, his grip loosened and the ball floated a little. But that doesn’t mean it was a perfectly hit ball either. A ball flying quickly towards the 2nd and 3rd base direction.

[Lee Jung-hoon!! Hits it!!]

‘Damn it, Jang Chan-min!! Do your job!!’

As if he heard Cho Chang-hyuk’s inner cry?

Jang Chan-min threw his body as if he was in his prime, before his hamstring was completely gone.

Thus, before the ball touched the ground.

His glove received the ball a step earlier.

[Jang Chan-min!! Super catch!! Jang Chan-min steals the leadoff hitter Lee Jung-hoon’s hit!!]

[In a situation where a very high-level pitching battle is going on, this kind of super catch can definitely change the flow of the game. The Braves are in a situation where they are behind by 6 points, but their concentration is very good. Good offense comes after good defense. Today’s game is progressing very interestingly.]

Choi Su-won came to the plate.

Cho Chang-hyuk briefly took off his hat and wiped the sweat flowing from his forehead.

The Braves’ dugout did not move.

Anyway, the score is 6:0.

There were no runners, and in the previous at-bat, he intentionally walked him and allowed Noh Hyung-wook to hit a grand slam. Above all, the pitching that Cho Chang-hyuk showed after that home run was too good.

Cho Chang-hyuk on the mound prepared the ball.

‘Damn it…’

The repertoire was drawn in his head.

Okay, I admit it. He’s a great hitter that’s hard to believe is a rookie. So, I’ll use the splitter that I haven’t taken out yet because it’s still a bit incomplete as a finishing pitch.

First, I’ll get the count a little with fastballs and sliders…

-Clack!!!

Choi Su-won, who had been showing clear signs of exhaustion until he swung the bat, swung at Cho Chang-hyuk’s first pitch as it was.

“Ah…”

And he naturally threw down his bat and slowly ran towards 1st base.

With this, everyone who came to the stadium knew.

That the Braves’ dugout’s choice to walk Choi Su-won in the top of the 3rd was not wrong.

7:0.

Thus, the number of home runs left for Choi Su-won to catch up with the Braves’ team home runs was only one.