The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 334

Big League’s Best Hitter (1)

Right now, I’m definitely the best player in Major League Baseball.

I broke the consecutive game hit record after 87 years.

With the first half of the season over, my batting line is .411/.464/.874 with 33 home runs. On top of that, I have 6 wins and 3 losses in 16 games with 101.2 innings pitched, and an ERA of 3.72. And to top it off, I pitched a perfect game.

Looking at batting stats alone, my first-half OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging, a key measure of offensive output] is a whopping 1.338, and the only person in the last 50 years with a higher OPS was Barry Bonds. More than anything, maintaining a .400+ average at the end of the first half is very encouraging.

However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any other stars comparable to me. Baseball is a very old sport, and naturally, many of its fans are older. And, although Disney would hate to hear it, there’s a growing sentiment in American society that people are tired of reverse discrimination.

In that sense, it’s understandable that there’s been a surge in support for Alex, who seemed poised to become the icon, replacing Shohei Ohtani, who had reigned as the face of baseball for the past decade. Plus, judging by how things are going, the media and the league office seem to be intentionally emphasizing the rivalry between Alex and me.

But that doesn’t mean Alex gained popularity solely through image or manipulation. He hit a whopping 37 home runs in the first half alone. That’s a record held by only about ten players in league history. And he even swept the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game MVP at this year’s All-Star Game. Yeah, he definitely proved that he deserves to be called my rival through his own merit.

[The second Subway Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. Game 1. We’re here at Yankee Stadium.]

[After a fierce first half, the four-day All-Star break has flown by. In fact, our Yankees’ road schedule in the first half was quite tough. But our record was excellent at 53 wins and 35 losses.]

[Thanks to the efforts of many players, the support of our fans, and, above all, the amazing performance of Choi Su-won, who you see on the screen now.]

[Yes, he’s won Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month for three consecutive months, right? And he’s currently on a 66-game hitting streak!! It’s no exaggeration to say that almost everything this player is doing is unprecedented in the league’s 170-year history.]

[Our hard-working GM [General Manager] Cashman really hit the jackpot in his later years.]

[Uh, um······.]

[Michael, what’s wrong all of a sudden?]

[No, it’s just that until last year, you were cursing Cashman every time you saw Ohtani······.]

[Hahaha, that’s all in the past. I’m a very forward-looking person. Anyway, today is the first game of the second half!! Our ace, Domingo Rodriguez, is on the mound.]

Domingo hasn’t looked too good lately, but he looks much better after resting well during the All-Star break.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!!”

[Juan Romero. First pitch, swing and a miss. Domingo Rodriguez’s pitches are looking really good today? They’re really exploding out of his hand.]

[The velocity was a bit slow at 94.7 mph, but the movement is definitely there.]

[Okay, pitch number 2.]

-Clang!!!

[He hits it!! But it’s a foul ball!! It flies all the way into the infield stands.]

[The count is 0-2. Pitch number 3!!]

Changeup.

Considering Domingo’s personality, he’s likely to throw a circle changeup here to get the strikeout. The problem is that the opponent knows that too. So, a surprising different pitch? No, no. If it’s Domingo, it’s a changeup here.

-Whoooooosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

The umpire makes a clean strikeout call.

Three-pitch strikeout.

Domingo on the mound coolly turns around the infield and snatches the baseball that comes back to him.

The last pitch was definitely a circle changeup.

The batter at the plate knew it, the pitcher throwing the ball knew it, and I watching knew it. But the batter couldn’t hit it.

Is it because Juan Romero is just an average hitter?

No. If I remember correctly, his on-base percentage before today’s game was 0.403. He’s one of the top leadoff hitters in the league. The fact that such a hitter was helpless means that Domingo’s circle changeup is just that powerful.

And in that sense······.

-Thwack!!!

[Ah!!! Alexander McDowell!! He hits the third pitch to the opposite field!! It’s going, going, going!!]

[To right field!! To right field!! Right fielder Tyler Veit is chasing after the ball!! But!! It’s gone.]

[Top of the 1st. Alexander McDowell’s leadoff solo home run. The score is 1:0. Alexander McDowell hits his thirty-eighth home run of the season against Domingo Rodriguez in his first at-bat of the second half.]

[Wow. That was a really great changeup that broke away perfectly, but he managed to muscle it over the fence.]

Just like Juan Romero’s swing and miss wasn’t because he was an average hitter, Domingo’s changeup wasn’t bad either. Alex was huffing and puffing as he strode towards first base.

I remember that guy being a great player, but not this great. But right now, it’s like he’s already stamped his name on the home run king title.

Domingo on the mound looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

Yeah, as a fellow pitcher, I can totally understand that feeling. Honestly, even if I think about facing him on the mound right now, I’m like, “Wow, what am I supposed to throw?” It’s really frustrating.

‘Maybe I should just go with an intentional walk······.’

Ah, but once I thought that far, I realized it wasn’t really my problem to worry about. First of all, if I were the pitcher on the mound right now, the dugout would have given the signal for an intentional walk. And besides, the Mets are only playing a two-game series this time, and we won’t be meeting them again this year.

If we do meet, it’ll be in the World Series. We might make it, but the Mets in the World Series? Hmm······. I don’t know about that.

1:0.

Domingo got the 3rd and 4th batters out in a row, and the Mets’ attack in the top of the 1st ended with the Mets leading by 1 point.

The pitcher on the mound for the New York Mets today is their ace, Spencer Cano.

A young pitcher who is 28 years old this year, debuted in the big leagues with Cincinnati at the age of 21, and was traded to the Mets in the summer of ’26. Last year, he signed a whopping 9-year, $320 million contract, making him a super ace.

Of course, whether he’s living up to that $320 million contract is another question, but a pitcher with an average annual salary of $35.55 million is a good pitcher, even if he’s not quite living up to the hype.

-Clang!!!!

Second pitch.

Anthony perfectly pulled the inside pitch.

A ground ball that flew like an arrow.

But unlike the $320 million pitcher who isn’t living up to his contract, Jeremiah Wilde, the $210 million third baseman who is just living up to his contract, did his job once again.

He caught the ball in a half-slide, then sprung up like he had a spring attached to him and threw the ball hard to first base.

-Boom!!!

The sound of the catch from the first baseman’s mitt was, to exaggerate a little, like a cannonball. 95 mph? No, maybe even more.

“Out!!!!”

[Ah, Anthony Volpe. That was a pretty good hit. Too bad.]

[Now, at the plate is our number 2 hitter. Choi Su-won. Choi Su-won is coming up.]

[If the Mets have Alexander McDowell, we have Choi Su-won. He’s played in 66 games in the first half, getting a hit in every game. He has 111 hits in 270 at-bats out of 303 plate appearances, with a current batting average of .411. And with 33 home runs, his current OPS is 1.338. He’s comfortably ahead of Alexander McDowell’s 1.217, who is number 1 in the National League, maintaining his overwhelming lead in both leagues.]

[However, the only disappointing thing is that this player’s OPS was 1.402 at the end of last June. His OPS has dropped by a whopping 0.064 in just seven games in July.]

[Okay, Sterling. If you say that, people might misunderstand and think that Choi Su-won has been in a slump.]

[Misunderstanding? Honestly, he has been in a slump, right? 10 hits in 7 games. What else would you call a batting line of .345/.375/.414 if not a slump?]

[Yes, that’s how great Choi Su-won is. He’s still performing above the league average in the last seven games, but his rate stats have dropped so much. But Yankees fans who are watching YES Network [Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network] right now, you don’t have to worry. Choi Su-won may have been “slumping” to the league average level at the end of the first half, but it’s okay. He’s already gotten back into shape during the All-Star break. As you all saw in the All-Star Game, Choi Su-won had 2 hits and 2 home runs in 3 at-bats.]

It’s been a while since I’ve been at home.

The number 0 is increasingly noticeable on the uniforms of those who came to the stadium. Just a while ago, there were more 99s or 11s. No, I think even if you add up 99, 11, and 2, it’s still less than 0.

The eyes of those who came to the stadium are on me.

Alex in the outfield also lowered his stance slightly and glared at me.

I casually tapped my helmet and tapped the home plate with my bat.

Spencer Cano wound up.

First pitch.

Outside.

-Wham!!!

It’s a ball.

“Strike!!!”

Huh?

The crazy umpire clenched his fist.

Inhale, exhale. Deep breath. Deep breath. Relax. Relax.

Okay, it’s okay.

2 seconds.

I quickly perform my routine.

I stood at the plate and looked at the pitcher.

Spencer Cano prepares for the second pitch with a blank expression.

The second pitch came.

Also outside.

Did he see some success and now he’s trying to milk it?

No, it’s not.

It’s subtly different.

Shohei Ohtani said.

‘Your gut feeling is the manifestation of your overall cognitive ability. Believe it. Be confident.’

I don’t remember exactly because we talked so much, but anyway, I remember it being something like that.

-Wham!!!

Two-seamer.

And it was a two-seamer with considerable horizontal movement.

Even the umpire who made a terrible call on the first pitch doesn’t call this one a strike.

Third pitch.

Inside.

Also a fastball.

It was a slightly ambiguous course.

Uh······. But this.

I pulled my right armpit in tight.

Quick torso rotation.

The ball comes in deeper than my four-seam fastball.

The third type of fastball that Spencer Cano throws.

The cutter.

Yeah, it was definitely a cutter.

-Clang!!!!!

A solid hit.

The ball soared quickly.

‘Ah······.’

I ran to first base with all my might.

Damn it······.

I thought it was a cutter, but it was just a fastball that was left hanging in the middle.

I guess Shohei Ohtani’s words aren’t always right······.

“”Waaaaaaah!!!””

The moment I stepped on first base, I heard a tremendous roar.

I knew instinctively.

This one went over.

Yeah, it’s my 34th home run of the season.

As if I knew it was a home run from the beginning, I ran towards second base at a moderate pace.

Of course, I didn’t forget to give Alex, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression right in front of the fence, a cool smile.

1:1.

The game is back to square one.