The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 301

Look Over There (10)

The Yankees’ catcher, Jose Trevino, was a veteran.

He had played in the minors for four years and was in his 11th year in the big leagues. Over that time, he had worked with countless pitchers.

And based on that experience, he could say with certainty that the pitcher on the mound right now was unlike any other big league pitcher he had ever encountered.

How should he put it?

Well…

‘Still needs some tempering of his mentality in the minor leagues, this kid?’

Oh, of course, if you only consider the pitches he throws, he’s more than qualified to play in the big leagues. Even with the average velocity in the big leagues having increased, a 103-mile fastball with control is enough to secure a spot as a big league bullpen pitcher.

But even a pitcher like that, if he’s playing in the big leagues, usually spends at least one season grinding in the minors. And those players who were once kings in high school leagues, college leagues, or even some league in South America, inevitably experience ‘frustration’ that they can’t overcome with talent alone as they move from rookie ball to AAA [Triple-A, the highest level of minor league baseball].

Of course, there are so many ego-filled guys among the starters that they vehemently deny ever having experienced such a thing. But you can tell when they’re really in a crisis. You can tell if that guy has faced despair or not.

A major league pitcher who doesn’t know what it’s like to experience an insurmountable wall of talent.

That’s why Choi Su-won on the mound feels even more unbalanced. The very guy who has inflicted such despair on countless pitchers at the plate.

Back when he was grinding in the minors for four years, he saw so many pitchers with the same expression as Choi Su-won on the mound right now. And in those situations, the reactions they showed were largely divided into two categories.

They either run away.

Or they confront it head-on.

It wasn’t necessarily that one was the right choice. Whether they chose the former or the latter, there was a next step for each. But statistically speaking, those who chose the former were more likely to move on to the next level. Jose Trevino thought that in order to play in the upper leagues, you needed to learn ‘how to give up’.

But unfortunately, among these ‘starting pitchers’ in the minor leagues, there are more who choose the latter. Like that kid on the mound right now.

They struggle to step up, reaching beyond their talent. They rush in with the kind of spirit you only see in Japanese manga [Japanese comics or graphic novels], believing they can overcome their limits.

And most of them

-Snap

Break.

Anger was visible on Choi Su-won’s face on the mound.

Was that really anger? Or was it the false anger of a frightened animal?

Will he charge in here one more time?

Or will he run away?

Jose thought.

Probably, Choi Su-won would be the type to charge in here one more time.

Because he was too great as a hitter.

The hitter Choi Su-won might be a talent who doesn’t even have to experience frustration at the major league level. Therefore, even if his skills and talent as a pitcher don’t match those of his hitter persona, his attitude can’t be any different.

Choi Su-won on the mound expressed his intention.

‘Inside.’

As expected.

Jose nodded. He’s not running away after all.

And… it’s a choice he likes.

Of course, if you only consider the probability of success, running away is often helpful.

But not in this situation.

In this face-off between a mere twenty-year-old two-way prodigy and a twenty-year-old home run king who is showing the fastest home run pace in history, running away wouldn’t fit.

What suits this moment is that choice that most often -snaps and breaks.

And perhaps that path is the one that most of the 141 players who have left their mark on major league history throughout its 150-year history, beyond just surviving as players in the major leagues, the players who have their faces engraved on plaques in the museum in Cooperstown, New York, have chosen.

The Yankees’ veteran catcher, who didn’t have much time left before retirement, was very excited by the fact that this moment would be a very important page in the sport of baseball, in which he had spent his entire life.

And the pitcher on the mound thought.

‘Ah, Fxxx. It looks like if I throw the same thing again, I’m just going to get hit.’

Jose Trevino realized that Choi Su-won had never experienced frustration in the face of overwhelming talent. But he couldn’t have guessed his experience that transcended age, and his flexible way of thinking that led him to quickly switch to being a hitter instead of clinging to being a pitcher in the face of the despair of a shoulder injury, and ultimately find success.

Choi Su-won chose.

A high inside fastball.

Alexander McDowell prepared to hit.

‘Is he… crazy?’

It was like a ball flying straight at his head.

Having just witnessed a pitch that seemed like it would shatter his shoulder, he was a little more sensitive. That made Alexander McDowell quickly back away.

-Thwack!!!!

The Mets players were already ready to jump out.

If another beanball [a pitch thrown intentionally at the batter’s head] came in right after a pitch that almost hit his shoulder, especially to the team’s most important hitter, then everyone should run out and beat up the opposing pitcher.

But even with Alexander McDowell’s retreat from the batter’s box, none of the Mets players could run out.

“Strike!!!!”

Because Choi Su-won’s pitch clearly passed through the zone.

[High inside!! That was a curveball, right?]

[Yes, the velocity was 89.7 miles per hour!! Wow, that’s a pretty fast curveball. And the horizontal movement is considerable too.]

Su-won didn’t intentionally tilt the axis of rotation. It’s just that, due to the three-quarter delivery, the axis of rotation naturally deviates slightly from the horizontal when the elbow and wrist are relaxed. He just threw the fastest curveball he could in that state.

However, given that it could have been another beanball if the spin hadn’t been as good as he thought, there was definitely something to praise about Su-won’s guts.

‘Alright. 1-1. Not bad.’

He encouraged himself. In fact, this was closer to a kind of self-hypnosis to keep his spirits from being broken by Alexander McDowell’s performance at the plate today.

Alexander McDowell stepped back into the batter’s box.

He didn’t look angry. He didn’t look resentful from the unexpected surprise either. He just had an expression that seemed to say, ‘Not bad?’

And the moment Su-won saw that expression, for some reason, he thought of Baek Ha-min from three years ago.

Yeah, looking back, it was a bit of a sorry thing to do.

Even though he had returned to the body of a scrawny high school student with the fraudulent ability of regression, he mercilessly beat up a guy who was only a senior in high school, even though he was being called a super high schooler, after being an MVP-level hitter in the big leagues.

Of course, in absolute terms, Alexander McDowell now is a much stronger hitter than he was three years ago, when he weighed less than 80kg. Frankly speaking, the presence that Alexander McDowell is showing right now is not much less than his prime.

But in relative terms?

To a high school senior pitcher, he would have been more overwhelming than Alexander McDowell is now.

‘Did Ha-min hyung [older brother or male friend] cry back then?’

Yes, he cried.

To be honest, because that guy was so handsome, even his crying looked good, but if he had been an ordinary high school student with acne like Ahn Byeong-yeong, it would have been a moment that would have remained a black history for the rest of his life.

But Baek Ha-min, who was crying so bitterly, didn’t give up until the end.

And that’s the same now.

Choi Su-won gripped the ball.

He recalled Baek Ha-min, who had been hit with consecutive home runs and raised both hands in the air after finally catching one fly ball in the outfield.

Third.

Even after seeing the ball coming towards his head twice, Alex was still close to the plate.

[Pitcher winds up!!]

High inside.

The fastest ball.

Should this be called stubbornness?

No, Choi Su-won was instinctively feeling it. That what Alex wanted right now was a ball that ran away to the outside. And if it was that kind of ball, that guy would definitely hit it over the fence.

-Thwack!!!!

“Strike!!!”

Su-won’s hunch was right.

Alexander McDowell didn’t swing.

The number on the scoreboard was 102.9.

Unlike the first pitch that flew towards his shoulder, it was a perfectly controlled high inside pitch that precisely grazed the border line. He could have touched it, but it was a pitch that he wouldn’t have been able to make a good hit out of even if he had touched it.

[Choi Su-won!! A perfectly controlled 102.9 mph fastball!! Wow, even the best major league hitters have a hard time hitting a pitch like that. The count is 2-1. Excellent!! He’s doing a great job of putting pressure on Alexander McDowell, who hit consecutive home runs in the previous at-bat.]

Has Alexander McDowell read Choi Su-won’s not-running-away heart with this much?

Jose Trevino swallowed hard.

Fourth.

Outside.

It was the outside ball that Alexander McDowell had been waiting for so long.

‘Curveball?’

It’s okay.

I can hit it. I felt like I could send any ball flying far away with my current self.

Alexander McDowell’s bat followed.

A full outside course.

But it didn’t go out any further.

Instead, the drop was enormous.

‘I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.’

Many people say this.

A curveball is a breaking ball that relies on the player’s feel.

Through this game, Choi Su-won gradually strengthened the horizontal movement of his curveball. The curveball that took the first strike against Alexander McDowell a little while ago was the extreme of that horizontal movement.

And now.

He slightly narrowed the angle of his elbow.

The axis of rotation is as close to horizontal as possible.

Choi Su-won’s curveball plummeted vertically as if it would hit the ground.

“Is he a crazy monster?”

And Alexander McDowell’s bat finally caught up with Choi Su-won’s curveball.

-Clang!

Unbelievable agility, coordination, and balance.

But that was it.

He was a 20-year-old prospect who was accumulating home runs at the fastest pace in history, but he was by no means a monster like Barry Bonds.

“Out!!!”

Ground ball out.

Choi Su-won clenched his fist.

Just like in the old days. Like when Baek Ha-min caught one of Choi Su-won’s fly balls in the outfield and raised both arms high into the sky.

Bottom of the 6th, one out.

Choi Su-won, who had put all his strength into the match against Alexander McDowell, finished the inning with one additional run allowed after giving up a random home run.

“Ah… Don’t tell me we’re going to go with the San Wang ending here?” [referring to a situation where a team collapses after a strong start, named after a baseball team known for this tendency]

Choi Su-won, who came down from the mound, expressed his anxiety. It was a valid anxiety. It was a situation where the Marines would have been able to allow a comeback.

But the Yankees were different.

They took the first game of the series.

***

[Yankees win Game 1 of the series in the 11th inning with a score of 12:11!!]

[Choi Su-won extends his 10-game hitting streak with a home run!!]

[Home runs number 9, 10, and 11 of the season!! Let’s find out about Alexander McDowell’s fastest home run pace in history!!]

[Choi Su-won 6 innings, 4 runs allowed!! Even his first multi-home run!!]

[How long are you going to force him to take a day off? Yankees manager Jeff Clark’s incomprehensible decision!! Choi Su-won excluded from Game 2]

[ESPN live viewers 4.2 million!! Breaking the highest record in the 2020s excluding the World Series!!]

“What? The reaction in Japan is good? Why? Aren’t the relationship between Korea and Japan similar to the relationship between India and Pakistan?”

“Ah, well. It seems that the baseball side tends to be less so when a player is active in the major leagues, and it seems to be a bit because of that Raul Jimenez.”

“Ah… A foreign player who played in the NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball, the highest level of baseball in Japan] until last year is active. Is that what it is?”

“Yes.”