The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 271

271. Legend of a Bygone Era? (7)

[2 Hits, 1 Home Run in 3 At-Bats. The overwhelming skill of a 20-year-old prospect from across the Pacific!!]

[He showed us more than we expected from a Korean prospect!!]

[Prospect? No!! Swan is already a top-tier Major League hitter.]

[No more proof is needed for his hitting!! Now, only the question marks about his pitching remain.]

The articles that came out after the exhibition game against the Atlanta Braves were surprisingly full of praise. Oh, of course, I’m not talking about the Korean articles. The Korean articles had already gone beyond praise into the realm of adulation. Surprisingly, these compliments were written by the New York reporters who had been heaping criticism on me every day.

“It’s probably because the opponent was Max Fried.”

“Right. As far as I know, Max Fried’s home runs allowed were in the single digits last year.”

“Right. 9 home runs in 163.1 innings.”

Josh and Donald, who had bothered to show me the articles about me, were talking to each other.

“Don’t you both have games today?”

“Swan, even if you’re the first to finish everything and leave, aren’t you a little too uninterested in us?”

“That’s right. We both pitched just yesterday. I struck out one, and Donald did a good job of holding them scoreless for 0.2 innings.”

No wonder. The away game bus was about to leave soon, but they were both so relaxed. I actually wanted to get a feel for it while I was at the plate. But the coaching staff thought a little differently.

“But then, Swan, are you going to rest tomorrow and pitch again the day after? Or are you going to play as a hitter tomorrow and pitch the day after?”

“Well, I’m supposed to talk to the manager later. He said we’ll decide after looking at my physical condition.”

“Yeah… They’re going to manage you thoroughly like a special prospect. Aren’t there inning limits this season too?”

“No, we haven’t talked about that yet. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to play as a starter in the first place.”

“From what you’ve done so far… Domingo, Cole, and Dylan are confirmed as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd starters. Isn’t Swan ahead in the competition for the remaining two spots?”

“Does it look that way to you guys?”

“Yeah, I think Swan is way ahead, like Donald said. Well, if you look purely at the stats, there are some ambiguous parts… But one spot on the 26-man active roster is definitely yours. You’re a hot topic. And you’re only twenty years old.”

I actually agreed with Josh.

If we’re just talking about pure skill, it was hard to say that I was unconditionally in the top five. But originally, wouldn’t people prefer a better-looking persimmon [a type of fruit] for the same price? Besides, even if you’re not necessarily in the top five, you have to consider age and other things in this industry.

If there’s a twenty-seven-year-old player who barely shows the skills of a 5th starter and a player who’s a little worse but twenty years old, the latter usually gets to start. The former might be a little better right now, but the latter has a much higher potential for future growth, and that growth might even happen during the season.

But agreeing is one thing…

Honestly, I felt a little frustrated.

I focused on pitching during the winter and achieved some results.

My fastball is fast, and my curve is really good. My control is decent, but there’s still a big gap between me and the pitchers called ace-level.

‘Is my talent just up to here?’

I know very well how important talent is in baseball because I’ve hit Hall of Fame level as a hitter. It’s not something you can do just by trying. The more absurd part is that there are cases where you can’t do it even if you have talent. You can see that just by looking at Jjou-yu before my regression. He had such great physical talent, but he couldn’t even play properly on the pro first team stage and switched to being a pork tripe restaurant owner.

Of course, if you can throw a 102-mile ball into the strike zone, it’s not a problem to play in the Major League itself. But the problem is that my goal isn’t just to play in the Major League.

The two-way [playing both pitcher and hitter] is ultimately an expression of my desire to remain a greater player. But with this level of pitching right now, I might as well be a full-time hitter.

‘Is it because my body is younger and my skills are the same? Somehow, my hitting seems to have gotten better than before I came back…’

When I was playing in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], I was a little unsure, but after hitting even the ace-level pitchers in the Major League, I’m starting to feel confident. Even though this is with my optimal physical condition as a hitter still lacking 20kg. I can’t help but worry.

“Whoa, Swan. Don’t make that face. I’m not saying anything. In the first place, all those factors are the conditions of a big leaguer.”

“That’s right. Honestly, your popularity, and the fact that you came up to the big leagues at the age of twenty. Some people say that domestic draft players are being discriminated against, but the overseas prospect qualification is actually a shackle for a player like you. Alexander McDowell of the Mets is the same age as you, but he already debuted two years ago and even won the Rookie of the Year award last year.”

Did Josh think that my silence was because of his story? Josh offered me comfort that wasn’t really comfort.

“Thanks. In that sense, I should repay you a little.”

“Repay? Hey, are we that kind of relationship? Of course, if you’re going to buy us meat again, I’m not going to refuse…”

“Then are we going to go eat meat again after training today?”

“No, meat is good, but. I’ll help you with training today.”

“Training?”

“Yeah, I can’t teach you anything about pitching. But I can tell you anything from a hitter’s point of view. I’ll give you both a live pitching session each. Let’s go.”

***

George M. Steinbrenner Field.

A middle-aged man with a moderate belly was watching the players who were working hard in training from afar.

‘Hmm…’

A pitcher with a height of nearly 2 meters and a thin body that didn’t match it threw the ball. The ball, drawn from an arm as flexible as a whip, was quite powerful, unlike its smooth form.

96 miles? Or 97 miles?

Based on his era, it was the league’s top speed. No, considering that it’s early March now, it’s a very fast ball even by today’s standards.

-Clang!!!

But the opponent was not good.

The batter at the plate hit the ball as if he were hitting a batting ball, and out of the 20 balls he had thrown so far, 11 of them were line drive hits that stretched far into the outfield or even beyond the fence.

The next pitcher was about 180cm tall and ordinary, but because the previous guy was too tall and thin, he looked relatively short and solid.

‘No, no. That guy’s arms are a little short for his height.’

A considerable disadvantage for a pitcher.

In fact, despite having a very dynamic form compared to the previous guy, his speed was very lacking. But the fact that he remained in the Major League spring training with that body means that he has other skills to make up for the lack of speed.

In fact, even though the short-armed guy’s speed was a little slower than the tall guy’s, the result was rather better, with nearly 10 ground balls out of 20 balls and only 7 line drive hits.

‘But is the modifier ‘only’ appropriate when there are 7 out of 20?’

Of course, the modifier ‘only’ is never appropriate in front of 35% of line drives. But if the hitter is the famous ‘Asian Home Run King,’ then the story is different.

Choi Su-won approached the two pitchers who had just finished live batting and talked to them. He didn’t bother to bring an interpreter, so it didn’t seem like there was a problem with his conversation.

That’s a good thing.

It’s a bit embarrassing to have an interpreter between you when you’re talking.

He walked towards Choi Su-won.

“Huh?”

The first to recognize him was not the player.

Was his name Nick Masset?

The man who is currently the Yankees’ pitching coach had played in the same division as him about 20 years ago. Even if that wasn’t the case, he had occasionally run into him when he came and went to Yankees events, so it wasn’t too strange that he recognized him.

Was it because Nick Masset recognized him?

The players’ eyes were fixed on him.

‘Who the hell is that middle-aged man?’

‘Is he an acquaintance of Nick Coach?’

‘No, but I think I’ve seen him somewhere before?’

And among the players looking at him like that was Choi Su-won.

Yes, Choi Su-won.

That two-way genius was the reason why he bothered to come here today. However, the unexpected part was that Choi Su-won recognized him right away.

“Kuroda Hiroki?”

“Oh, you knew me? I didn’t think I was that famous. I feel kind of proud.”

“Oh my god…”

Kuroda Hiroki.

He was never an ace who dominated the era.

If you were to talk about his skills, he was a decent ace of a weak team, or a 2nd starter of a contender team? No, to be honest, Kuroda Hiroki in his prime was clearly half a step below Max Fried.

But if there was a player who symbolized the word ‘romance’ in baseball, Su-won would put that middle-aged man with a belly in that spot without hesitation.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Choi Su-won gladly nodded at Kuroda Hiroki’s request.

“Yes.”

***

Let me say in advance that I don’t really like Japan. No, to be precise, I hate it. Frankly speaking, I think it’s impossible for a Korean who has received a normal education to like the country of Japan.

However, if you ask whether this feeling about Japan is connected to individual Japanese people, that’s not the case. When I was playing in the Major League before my regression, there was even a guy who I became closer to because he was Japanese. What should I say? The consensus that we were both Asians became stronger than my dislike for Japan?

Kuroda Hiroki was a very respectable senior in the industry in that sense. If you only look at his skills, he was a so-so ace of a weak team, or a 2nd starter of a contender team, but each of his actions was full of romance.

To compare it to me, he stayed with the Marines, who couldn’t win the championship, even though he was only receiving 30% of the salary of a championship-winning team as a free agent. After entering his mid-30s, he went to the Major League for the reason of ‘I want to test my skills.’

And from his mid-30s to just before he turned forty, he showed off his skills as a 2nd starter, and then he rejected the Major League’s $20 million offer and returned to the Marines for $4 million. He is such a character who finally wins the regular season championship for the first time in 25 years just before his retirement.

Frankly, I think that the middle-aged man with a belly should be recognized as the romance itself as a junior in the industry, regardless of nationality.

“I thought that someone born in ’08 wouldn’t be able to recognize me. I’m honored that you recognized me just by looking at my face.”

Ah, of course, the reason I recognized Kuroda Hiroki was not because of such romance, but because I had a few chances to meet him in the Major League when I was playing in the Major League before my regression, in a special broadcast about Asians who played in the Major League. In fact, I learned about those anecdotes at that time.

“You’re so famous. More than that, what brings you here?”

“I received an offer to be an advisor for the Yankees this time.”

“Oh, so you’re going to be working as an advisor for the club in the future?”

“No, I’m going to decline it. To be honest, I’ve only played for the team for 3 years, so it’s a bit… Besides, I don’t live in New York.”

“Then why?”

“I just happened to see your game and became interested. I thought I’d like to meet you.”