On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 70

“They didn’t score, but the fact that rookie Song Seok-hyun got a hit off Beron is quite enjoyable news for the Gote fans.”

It was a change of offense and defense.

As Song Seok-hyun entered the dugout, Kim In-hwan approached and put his arm around Song Seok-hyun’s neck.

“Why are you so out of it, not like you?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t concentrate.”

“Everyone’s like that when they first debut, but I didn’t expect it from you.”

“I think I’m finally getting my bearings now… Ha, today is really hectic.”

“Good job. It’s your debut day, first at-bat, first hit.”

At that moment, the battery coach approached and handed Song Seok-hyun a ball.

Song Seok-hyun blinked, not understanding.

“Keep it; it’s the ball from your first hit.”

“Ah.”

Song Seok-hyun accepted the ball with both hands.

“Congratulations on your debut, and congratulations on your first hit.”

Song Seok-hyun bowed.

“Thank you, Coach.”

Song Seok-hyun raised the ball to eye level.

A scarred baseball.

A common baseball that he had seen countless times.

Song Seok-hyun gripped the baseball tightly.

“There’s no commemorative ball for the second hit, right?”

Kim In-hwan laughed at Song Seok-hyun’s question.

“Where would you get that? Unless it’s your first home run?”

Catching Success

Against the Phoenix (3)

Gote’s starting pitcher came to the mound.

“Han Min-seok is coming up.”

“His recent performance isn’t very good, is it? His ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] has been in the 7s for the last three games.”

“Gote ambitiously signed him as a free agent, but his performance since then has been a bit disappointing.”

“A left-handed power pitcher. They say you’d bring him even from hell. He played a significant role as the ace of the Busan Foxes, but his ERA has been in the 4s since coming to Gote.”

“Lee Chang-hoon, who is the same age, was also signed as a free agent, but Lee Chang-hoon is playing the role of Gote’s ace, so it’s even more contrasting.”

“Lee Chang-hoon is a model FA [Free Agent] case. He’s maintaining an ERA in the 3s, but more than anything, he’s playing the role of an innings eater. On the other hand, Han Min-seok’s control issues from his Busan Foxes days haven’t been fixed, and his ability to digest innings has also declined. A starting pitcher needs the ability to fill innings, even if they give up runs.”

Phoenix’s leadoff hitter, Kang Young-ho, came up to bat.

Song Seok-hyun took out his notebook and pen and looked at the field.

Jeong Yong-wook is the best all-around catcher, but Park Shin-eon is not far behind in terms of defense.

A fast ball with poor control for the starting pitcher.

His condition hasn’t been good recently either.

It’s an opportunity to watch and feel how the catcher manages the game from the side.

Bang!

-Strike!

“He misses the first pitch right down the middle.”

“That’s Han Min-seok for you. Aggressive, isn’t he? Since he has a fast ball, it’s good to take the game quickly in the early innings.”

Tap.

“Foul! The pitcher makes it 2 strikes with two pitches.”

“Kang Young-ho is good at defense, but unfortunately, his hitting doesn’t quite match his defense. The Gote battery [pitcher and catcher] is actively taking advantage of this.”

“Third pitch! Strikeout! Han Min-seok gets a swing and a miss with a slider!”

“Good. A breaking ball after 2 strikes. You know it’s coming, but you can’t help but swing.”

“Gote gets off to a good start.”

The second batter was Kim Jin-pil.

He was a batter whose hitting stats ranked second or third in Phoenix.

Han Min-seok threw a slider on the first pitch this time.

“First pitch strike! He’s aggressive from the first pitch.”

“It was almost right down the middle, wasn’t it? The batter’s timing was off.”

“Han Min-seok is aggressive today, isn’t he?”

The second and third pitches were balls.

The fourth pitch was a fastball on the outside corner for a strike.

2-2.

Han Min-seok struck him out with a breaking slider.

“Strikeout! Two batters in a row struck out!”

“His slider is breaking well today. Usually, it would be flat and lead to big trouble, but it’s different today.”

Song Seok-hyun took out his pen and wrote.

-If the batter is weak, attack aggressively by utilizing the pitcher’s strengths.

-If the batter is strong, prioritize exploiting the batter’s weaknesses.

Textbook ball distribution.

Song Seok-hyun closed his eyes for a moment.

If he were Park Shin-eon, what kind of ball distribution would he have called for?

Except for the first-pitch slider he called for against Kim Jin-pil, it was almost the same as Park Shin-eon’s signals.

Song Seok-hyun’s heart pounded when he realized that his ball distribution wasn’t much different from that of a top-class catcher.

Song Seok-hyun is a catcher himself, but the areas he is least confident in are ball distribution and framing.

The best way for a catcher to improve in ball distribution and framing is to gain experience by playing a lot of games.

Even ball distributions that don’t make sense when watching on TV can be understood when seen in person.

The catcher changes the ball distribution to match when the umpire’s zone is different from usual or when the pitcher and batter’s conditions are different from what they appear on TV.

-Strike! Out!

“Han Min-seok! Three batters in a row struck out!”

“Han Min-seok is on fire today. This is the Han Min-seok we know.”

“Han Min-seok, who was called the crown prince in Busan Fox, has regained his old form in Daejeon today.”

“That’s Han Min-seok. Even if his control isn’t good, his charm is overpowering with his strength.”

Song Seok-hyun got up from his seat and greeted the seniors coming into the dugout.

The Gote players’ faces were also filled with smiles at the three consecutive strikeouts.

“Alright, alright. Focus. Let’s earn points one by one.”

The hitting coach clapped his hands and encouraged the players.

The starting pitcher’s strikeout show refreshed the atmosphere, which had been dampened by failing to score in the top of the first inning.

The game tends to go smoothly when you score points when the atmosphere is up.

-Out!

-Out!

-Out!

“Beron gets three batters in a row out on ground balls.”

“The Gote players aren’t able to attack Beron’s fastball.”

“The starting pitchers of both teams are doing great today, aren’t they?”

“Both starting pitchers are power pitchers. Beron is a pitcher who throws up to 155 km/h [kilometers per hour] at his fastest, and his ball is getting better as the weather gets hotter these days. On the other hand, Han Min-seok’s top speed is 148 km/h, which is slower than Beron, but he’s a left-handed pitcher and his pitching form is good, so batters can’t easily attack him.”

“Will the game turn into a pitching duel then?”

“I think the batting order has to go around once. Beron was hit by Song Seok-hyun earlier. The fact that Song Seok-hyun got a hit even though his bat timing was late could mean that Beron’s stuff might be weaker than we thought today.”

As the commentator predicted, the early part of the game turned into a pitching duel.

People say that the virtue of a pitcher is control.

You shouldn’t dismiss the importance of a fastball as secondary to control.

A fastball is a difficult ball to attack until you get used to it.

Top of the 4th inning.

Kim In-hwan came up as the lead batter.

‘Slider, outside.’

The catcher moved his mitt to the outside.

The pitcher breathed heavily and shook his head.

Catcher Kim Chang-hyun frowned.

‘Fastball, outside.’

The pitcher shook his head again.

The catcher sighed.

He’s insisting because he doesn’t know Kim In-hwan’s power properly.

Kim In-hwan is a player who hits home runs by pushing the ball to the opposite field in Jamsil [a baseball stadium known for being difficult to hit home runs in].

There were widespread rumors that a major league scout gave Kim In-hwan a perfect score for his power when he was in high school.

Even if the rumors weren’t true, the American players who came as foreign players praised Kim In-hwan’s power, saying it was hard to see even in the major leagues.

The pitcher doesn’t have a good sense of what kind of hitter Kim In-hwan is because he hasn’t been in the first team recently.

‘Slider, down.’

If he doesn’t want to compete on the outside, he should drop the ball down.

The pitcher shook his head again.

“Ah! The battery’s signals are getting longer.”

“The fact that the pitcher keeps shaking his head is ultimately because of his pride.”

“Does that mean he’s going to challenge Kim In-hwan directly?”

“Beron’s ball is good today. He wants to compete.”

“But Kim In-hwan’s power is recognized as the best of all time, isn’t it?”

“He has the disadvantage of not having good plate discipline, but his power alone is the best that can’t be compared to anyone. He’s a hitter you don’t need to challenge.”

“Eventually, the umpire warns them to continue the game.”

“The catcher is going to the mound. He must be frustrated.”

As soon as Kim Chang-hyun went to the mound, the pitcher started talking without even covering his mouth.

“Why are you avoiding him? Does my ball look weak? Is that bastard so good that I can’t even throw a strike!”

When the translator conveyed it in a softened tone, Kim Chang-hyun narrowed his eyes.

“Let’s go easy. It’s better to avoid him. Let’s send him to first base and go for a double play. Your ball is the best today. You could even try for a shutout on a day like today. I’m not avoiding him because I’m afraid of him; I’m saying this for your record. You have innings in your options too, right? Let’s go efficiently, efficiently. The fourth batter is a rookie. Today is his first debut game. With your ball today, a double play is nothing.”

Kim Chang-hyun was also a catcher.

The role of a catcher is to appease and coax pitchers who are more selfish and picky than anyone else.

As a catcher with a long career, he had the know-how to lead the pitcher in the direction he wanted without hurting the pitcher’s pride.

“……Hoo.”

Beron knew Kim Chang-hyun’s intentions, but he didn’t insist anymore.

Kim Chang-hyun’s words made sense.

He also took care of his pride.

Above all, he was tempted by the suggestion to create a double play against the batter who had hit him earlier.

“Okay. But if you keep doing this to the next batter, I’ll be in trouble too.”

“Okay, okay, let’s send him out first and go for a double play.”

The catcher came down from the mound.

Beron kicked the mound and glared at Kim In-hwan.

The fact that he had to avoid a head-to-head match with the opposing batter even though he was in his best condition hurt the pitcher’s pride, but he couldn’t insist any further.

Even if a pitcher is the most selfish position, he is a member of the team.

The catcher has boosted the pitcher’s pride, so he has to pretend to lose once in a while to have a smooth team life in the future.

“Walk. He’s giving a walk.”

“He’s avoiding a match with Kim In-hwan.”

“He avoided Kim In-hwan and challenged Song Seok-hyun in the first inning. It’s déjà vu.”

“He got a hit earlier, though.”

“He got a hit, but it wasn’t a solid hit. Even if he got a hit, wouldn’t Song Seok-hyun, who is having his first debut game today, be a more manageable opponent than Kim In-hwan?”

“0-0. Rookie Song Seok-hyun comes out at a tense moment when the pitching duel continues.”

“It’s rare for a player who came in as an undrafted player to be the 4th batter in his first debut game, but it just so happens that he’s coming out at such an important chance.”

“The fact that he was pushed to the 4th batter in his first debut game means that the team trusts him that much, right?”

“He repaid the trust with a double earlier, so I’m curious to see what kind of match he’ll have this time.”

Song Seok-hyun took a step back from the plate and took his position.

Kim Chang-hyun scanned Song Seok-hyun, who was getting ready.

The stride isn’t wide.

The hitting position isn’t high either.

It’s an open stance, but only half a foot is open.

Judging by his stance alone, you could say he’s a 1st or 2nd batter.

“Song Seok-hyun, now that I see it, his batting form is interesting, isn’t it?”

“What’s interesting about it?”

“Look at that batting form. It’s a stance that’s far from a 4th batter and only suitable for a leadoff hitter. But he didn’t just wrap the knob of the bat; he also gripped it down to the end. The grip is a grip suitable for a slugger. The batting form and grip are contradictory.”

“Why does he stick to that batting form? Is there a reason?”

“Well, I don’t know if that’s his original batting form, or if he’s thinking about getting on base rather than hitting a long ball because it’s a scoring opportunity. I don’t really understand the situation.”

Song Seok-hyun cocked his bat.

The catcher pondered for a moment while looking at Song Seok-hyun’s stance.

It’s a stance that focuses on contact.

Let’s reason it out logically.

The opposing bench would have signaled him to push the ball to the outside with getting on base in mind.

With the opponent aiming for the outside, should we deliberately give him a bad ball on the outside to aim for a double play, or should we give him a ball on the inside as usual to aim for a double play?

The catcher made up his mind after looking at Song Seok-hyun’s bat.

‘Fastball, inside.’

It’s obviously a heavy and long bat.

He went into an outside match earlier and gave up a hit.

That was possible because the batter had good power and a heavy bat.

Conversely, he could be slow to respond to the inside because the bat is heavy.

‘Okay.’

The pitcher nodded coolly.

Head-on match.

It’s time to show the punk his power properly.

“The signal exchange is over.”

“I’m curious to see what he’ll choose for the first pitch.”

“The pitcher throws!”

Song Seok-hyun deliberately took more strength out of his shoulders.

Power doesn’t come from just giving a lot of strength. You have to take the strength out of your body for the rotational force of your lower body to be transmitted to the bat.

You create power with the weight transfer of your lower body and create speed with the rotation of your shoulders.

Whack!