On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 256

“Then, let’s have Cheon-un fill Fish’s spot… Haa.”

Team Leader Ham Seong-hoon sighed deeply.

“The team atmosphere is terrible right now, isn’t it?”

“…It seems so, yes.”

“If it’s like this from the beginning of the season, it’ll be quite a sight every time we face Wales. Please, emphasize to the players to be careful not to get injured. There’s no way to deal with them if they deliberately act so dirty. We shouldn’t give them any excuse in the first place. I’m asking for your help.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Ham Seong-hoon stood up from his seat.

Losing Fish is painful, but the experience of rotating six starting pitchers last year has been a great help.

Jeong Cheon-un and Jeong Jin-oh were resources that could be in the top five starters on other teams.

In particular, Jeong Jin-oh showed decent performance last year with an ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of runs allowed per nine innings] in the 4-point range, despite pitching fewer innings.

If you exclude a couple of games with massive runs allowed, his stability is good.

If he settles in, he’s a resource that can be used effectively in the future.

“There’s no easy season, is there?”

Ham Seong-hoon clicked his tongue.

* * *

The second game against Wales.

Gote, led by ground baller McKinzie, and Wales, led by fireballer Duns.

Both were left-handed, but there was a difference of more than 10 km/h in velocity.

If McKinzie was a player who induced ground balls based on control, Duns was a player who could throw up to 155 km/h as a left-hander, although his control wasn’t very good.

The appearance of completely different types of players produced completely different results.

-Strike! Out!

[Inning over! Duns strikes out two in the first inning with his fastball. Gote fails to get any runners on base.]

[Looking at Duns’ record, I thought he had too many walks, but seeing him today, his stuff is really solid. His pitching form is tricky, and his pitches are so good that even pitches down the middle are hard to hit if he can just put them in the strike zone. That’s how good his pitches are.]

The top of the first was a complete victory for Wales.

The hitters who faced Duns’ pitches shook their heads.

In particular, left-handed hitters Lee Ji-seong and Kim In-hwan raised both hands and feet in surrender.

“Wow, someone like that failed in the majors? How is that even possible?”

“I don’t think I could hit it even if he gave it to me. It’s like the ball suddenly appears out of nowhere.”

Gote’s attack in the bottom of the first.

McKinzie, who had done his part as Gote’s second starter until last year, began to collapse from the first inning.

The pitches he threw to induce ground balls were all at the hitters’ belt height.

If they came low, they were bounce balls, so the hitters comfortably picked out the pitches and attacked.

Thwack!

[Four consecutive hits. The score is 2-0.]

[McKinzie isn’t looking very good today. He’s usually a pitcher with good control, but his control is off, and he’s allowing a lot of extra-base hits. When they hit it, it goes all the way to the outfield. I’m worried if there’s something wrong with his body.]

[Ah, the catcher is finally coming up. The catcher visits the mound from the first inning.]

“Are you okay?”

In response to Song Seok-hyun’s question, McKinzie nodded with a sweat-soaked face.

“I’m okay. The ball just isn’t gripping well in my hand.”

“It seems like low control will be difficult today, so try to focus on side control at least.”

“Okay. I’ll try that.”

Song Seok-hyun returned to home plate.

McKinzie’s slump was like a tax.

McKinzie was originally a player who pitched as a reliever in the major leagues.

His pitches were also monotonous, with cutters, sinkers, and changeups.

His control was good, and his record wasn’t bad, but he came to Korea due to his age, unstable position, and desire to start.

I heard that McKinzie was a finesse-type pitcher, but he wasn’t a pitcher with outstanding control.

Rather, he was closer to a player who threw based on his stuff.

The problem is that as he got older, his velocity remained the same, but his control worsened, and his stuff deteriorated.

Ground ball pitchers are said to have long careers, but there’s no answer when they lose their feel like now.

If his velocity was fast, he could push through with power even if his control was a bit off, but now it’s neither here nor there.

All we can do is wait for the pitcher to regain his feel.

“They’re both giving me trouble this year…”

Ham Seong-hoon clicked his tongue.

He wondered if he should have replaced McKinzie, but he shook his head.

Pitchers of McKinzie’s caliber are not common.

He’s a resource who can easily be a bullpen pitcher in the major leagues right now.

For foreign pitchers, replacement should be avoided unless they are clearly better.

For foreign pitchers, skill is important, but adapting to the league is also important.

What’s more?

Adaptation to Korean life and integration with the team are also important variables.

At best, there are only about four or five foreign players of McKinzie’s level per year.

Even if you pick them randomly, there might be one or two players better than McKinzie.

The chances of these players adapting to the Korean league, adapting to life, and integrating with the team are less than half, even if you look at it favorably.

If you judge rationally, you should definitely take McKinzie along.

Thwack!

[Hit! Hit! McKinzie continues to give up runs.]

[The Wales hitters are really holding back and hitting today.]

If you judge rationally, it’s natural for even pitchers called aces to ruin a few games a year, but today is painful.

Yesterday we lost Fish, and today McKinzie is struggling…

It hurts even more because they were the two players who reliably filled the starting rotation more than anyone last year.

The score in the bottom of the first was 5-0.

McKinzie returned to the bench, sweating profusely.

From the second inning, Gote began to counterattack.

The lineup of Song Seok-hyun, Yoo Seon-ho, and Kim Wook had the power to be a burden to any team.

Thwack!

[Three consecutive hits! The score is 5-2! Gote immediately counterattacks!]

[This is Gote’s power. From the 1st to the 6th hitters, there’s no room for pitchers to breathe. In particular, from 3rd to 6th, it’s safe to call them the best hitting lineup in the league.]

Gote’s counterattack was short-lived, and Duns hit Choi Jae-wan, who came out as the designated hitter, in the side with a 154 km/h fastball.

Choi Jae-wan collapsed, clutching his side.

As the two teams had been in a war of nerves since yesterday, Gote players immediately ran onto the field.

[Ah, this shouldn’t happen. It’s professional baseball. You have to show that level of class in professional baseball.]

[Both teams seem too excited. You have to solve it like gentlemen, not like this.]

Kim Na-young, who was watching the game on TV, frowned.

“They always take a both-sides approach whenever something happens. They started the trouble, and we’re the only ones who suffered, but why are they treating us as equals?”

The bench-clearing brawl was quickly settled with an apology from pitcher Duns.

Choi Jae-wan was gasping for breath with a flushed face because he was hit in the side while inhaling.

In the end, Choi Jae-wan was replaced by Kim Jeong-deok.

“This wasn’t intentional, was it?”

In response to Ham Seong-hoon’s question, defense coach Ahn Young-jae shrugged his shoulders.

It was an answer that meant what could he do even if it was intentional.

He’s a lower-tier hitter, not a core hitter, and a pitcher with poor control.

Objectively speaking, it was an incident that could have happened, and there was little reason to see it as intentional.

It’s ambiguous to get angry.

If Gote comes out stronger here, the situation could become ridiculous.

“I really don’t like that old geezer.”

The coaches flinched at the words that came out of Ham Seong-hoon’s mouth.

It was even more surprising because Ham Seong-hoon usually uses honorifics even with the coaches.

Gote scored 4 points in the top of the 2nd inning, but McKinzie gave up 2 more points in the bottom of the 2nd inning.

In the end, pitcher replacement.

Kim Jin-seok came up and put out the fire, but he gave up 2 more points in the bottom of the 3rd inning.

Ham Seong-hoon clenched and unclenched his fists several times before dropping his head.

“Let’s abandon the game. We can’t waste the bullpen here. Let’s have Jin-seok and Jin-oh finish today’s game.”

“…Yes.”

The game result was 14-8.

Gote’s lineup scored 8 points, but the runs allowed were more than that.

Unfortunately, Gote’s nightmare did not end.

The next day, starter Lee Chang-hoon was taken off the mound in the 3rd inning after giving up 5 runs.

Another early activation of the bullpen.

Gote could not avoid losing this game either, with a score of 7-5.

The reaction of Gote fans after the game was beyond imagination.

They lost ace Fish in the game against Wales, and the winning streak was broken, recording 2 losses.

Prospect Choi Jae-wan was unable to enter the game for the time being due to side pain, and shortstop Jeong Young-soo also suffered a shoulder injury from being scratched by an opponent’s spikes while stealing a base.

On top of that, the early activation of the bullpen caused a bullpen overload from the beginning of the season.

Not only were they fighting with Wales fans in every community, but they also cursed at the Gote players and even the manager for being naive and getting taken advantage of.

Ham Seong-hoon sent two outfielders to the minor league and called up two pitchers to the major league to replenish the lacking bullpen.

Just a few days ago, they were on a 5-game winning streak, saying that they couldn’t ask for anything more if they continued like this, but in just 3 games, the team atmosphere sank to the bottom.

Fortunately, a day of rest on Monday was waiting for them.

The team they met after a day of rest was the Daegu Scorpion.

From the first game, the KS duo’s back-to-back home runs exploded, resulting in a 9-1 complete victory.

On this day, Song Seok-hyun recorded 3 hits, 1 home run, and 5 RBIs [Runs Batted In, a measure of runs scored due to a batter’s hit], earning the Daily MVP award.

With a record of 7 wins and 2 losses, they were still tied for 1st place.

Only then did the Gote fans’ fierce reaction begin to subside a little…

Catching the Success

The Start Was Good (5)

“Wow, what kind of day is it today?”

Second game against the Scorpion.

Yoo Seon-ho shook his head as he returned to the bench.

The numbers on the scoreboard were 0-0.

The game was now passing the 5th inning.

“I know, right? Everything we hit is caught.”

“Even the ones that should go over don’t.”

“The pitcher is Kang Chan-yeol, this is driving me crazy.”

The Scorpion’s pitcher Kang Chan-yeol, who started today, was one of the pitchers who rotated as the 5th starter.

His velocity is fast, and his control is not bad, but he doesn’t have his own strengths or a finishing pitch, so his ERA fluctuates between 5 and 6.

If it was Gote’s lineup, which is said to be the strongest in the league, they would have taken at least 3 or 4 points by now, but luck was not on their side today.

“His changeup has gotten better.”

Kim In-hwan sighed at Song Seok-hyun’s words.

“Since his changeup has gotten better, it’s hard to time even the same fastball.”

“It always felt like something was 2% missing, but it feels like that 2% has been filled? But since that 2% has been filled, it feels like the level has gone up not just one, but two or three notches.”

“I feel that way too. It’s gotten kind of tricky.”

Yoo Seon-ho muttered.

“Is it because he has a baby? He definitely came out with his knife sharpened.”

Kim Wook said.

“Yeah, the baby buff is the best. All sorts of people tried, but it didn’t work, but it’s definitely different since he had a kid.”

The players couldn’t laugh even at Kim Wook’s joke.

If they were being beaten by a pitcher who was originally good, they would have no choice but to accept it, but they were helpless against an opponent they had looked down on.

Fortunately, both teams were scoreless, but even that balance was broken in the top of the 6th inning with Jo Yang-cheol’s three-run home run.

“Good job.”

Pitching coach Yeon Woo-sik went up to the mound and patted Jeong Cheon-un on the shoulder.

Jeong Cheon-un blocking 3 runs until the 6th inning was a better result than expected.

The disappointing thing was the lineup.

The lineup that had been beating up even the opponent’s aces was quiet today.

There is a cycle in the lineup, but the mismatch between pitching and hitting is disappointing.

[Jeong Cheon-un is coming down from the mound. If he had pitched until this inning, he would have recorded a quality start, but the bench’s decision was to replace him.]

[Jeong Cheon-un also threw a lot of pitches, and now is the right timing to replace him. It’s good to replace him now.]

[The score is 3-0. Gote’s firepower is not coming alive today.]

[Haven’t they been burning up all this time? There are days when they take a break.]

Gote scored their first and last point with Seol Jin-il’s solo home run in the 8th inning.

The game result was 4-1.

Gote played a game with a winning combination, even using the winning team Jeong Hong-min, but the bat that had cooled down once did not ignite again.

“Okay, okay, good job today. Rest well today without thinking about anything.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Ham Seong-hoon encouraged the players and dismissed them.

The game result is disappointing, but these games will be repeated several times throughout the season.

Even if it is the strongest lineup, it cannot score a lot of points in every game.

There is a cycle in the lineup, and if it pauses for a while, there is a timing when it ignites again.

A strong team depends on how well it can endure when the lineup is faltering.

The key is the losing streak.

If there is no losing streak, the team that will go up will go up.

* * *

Gote’s schedule was to play against the Scorpion at home and the Pegasus away.

Gote recorded 1 win and 2 losses in the 3-game series against the Scorpion.

Gote hitters recorded 8 points, but Jeong Jin-oh, who started as a substitute starter, committed a whopping 6 runs in 2 innings, and the mound collapsed.

In the 3-game series against the Pegasus, McKinzie, who had been sluggish in the first game, allowed 8 hits but recorded a quality start, and Gote won a close game 6-5.

They broke the losing streak, but then lost two more games in a row.

In the second game, starter Lee Chang-hoon gave up 5 runs in 5 innings and ended up losing 8-7.

On the last day, starter Han Min-seok showed the best performance with 7 innings and 2 runs, but Gote Jin-seok, who was believed in, recorded a blown save [when a relief pitcher allows the opposing team to tie the game or take the lead].

There was no long losing streak, but as the losing series was repeated 3 times, the ranking had already dropped to 4th place.