A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 530

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good 530

112 The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (3)

A pitching prospect that Manager Cheon Jin-woo and Coach William Doran have been carefully nurturing.

Ji-seop entrusted the initial review of him to Deputy General Manager Pablo Rodriguez, nicknamed ‘Silver Fish’.

He was known as the fastest worker at the Tampa Bay Rays, with excellent data analysis skills.

Of course, to utilize his talents, Ji-seop had to endure some rather pointless stories.

“Oh, what a shame.”

That was Pablo’s opening remark as he typed away at his keyboard when Ji-seop entered the office of the Future Strategy Planning Department.

“I thought today was the day you’d finally make a decision… Are you really not considering escaping the burden of the General Manager position and enjoying a leisurely life?”

“Nope, not at all. Brian Spann has been the General Manager for over 20 years. It wouldn’t be fair if I stepped down after only five, would it?”

Ji-seop only indulged him to that extent before plopping down on the old sofa in the middle of the office.

“So, did you do the review? The prospect that Manager Cheon raised.”

“Yes, as you said, he does have an ‘edge.’ Even his name is extraordinary.”

Johannes Van Benschoten.

Pablo displayed the player’s name on the main screen, chuckling.

“Wow, his name is 23 characters long, including spaces! Isn’t this enough to make him the player with the longest name in Tampa Bay history?”

“Heh heh, I guess so. It looks like we’ll have some trouble embroidering his name on the uniform later.”

Such a long name would be difficult to embroider on the back of a uniform.

It would probably fill the entire back.

Ji-seop imagined the rather comical uniform and continued.

“What else?”

“To be blunt… well, I’m against the acquisition. I can see why San Diego released him.”

Pablo turned to Ji-seop.

“First of all, isn’t he too short? For a pitcher, 6 feet… no, you prefer the metric system, right, Kim?”

“The metric system is the international standard, you know?”

Ji-seop replied indifferently, and Pablo pouted, starting to tap on the calculator.

“Anyway, he’s… 178cm? Too undersized for a pitcher. That’s barely enough for a shortstop, right?”

“Hmm.”

“And his average velocity is 93 miles per hour? 149km/h is ambiguous, even considering he’s a starting pitcher. And it’s not like his spin rate is exceptionally high either.”

Pablo leaned back in his chair, tilting his head to one side.

“The only thing that’s somewhat decent is his changeup for getting strikes… well, I don’t get it. What strengths did Manager Cheon see in this player?”

In fact, when Ji-seop was first introduced to him, he had the same thoughts as Pablo Rodriguez.

A pitcher with ambiguous physical attributes. A pitcher with ambiguous velocity. Even the breaking balls he has are slightly ambiguous.

However, according to Manager Cheon Jin-woo’s explanation, this pitcher with the long name of Johannes Van Benschoten had one clear merit.

That merit was-

“High fastball.”

Ji-seop pointed to Van Benschoten’s data on the sub-monitor.

“Even if everything else is lacking, he said the four-seam fastball that comes into the high zone is amazing.”

“Four-seam fastball?”

Oh, come on.

Pablo Rodriguez shook his head, starting to type on the keyboard.

“A high four-seam fastball is an effective pitch, but doesn’t it need velocity to back it up? It’s virtually impossible to get a batter to swing at a 149km/h pitch [approximately 93 mph].”

The Deputy General Manager of the Future Strategy Planning Department slammed the enter key on the keyboard, as if to conclude the discussion.

However, the moment Van Benschoten’s data appeared on the screen, Pablo Rodriguez’s eyes changed.

“Hmm? What’s this?”

He narrowed his eyes.

“No, why is the swing rate so high on his high fastball? The data isn’t sufficient, but this is almost at the level of Victor Johnson’s sweeper [a type of breaking ball]…”

Pablo Rodriguez looked at Ji-seop, as if needing an explanation.

Ji-seop loosened his tie knot slightly and opened his mouth.

“I don’t know if you remember… but a few years ago, there was a discussion about the angle at which the ball enters the strike zone during our team’s internal seminar, right?”

“You mean the entry angle of the pitch?”

Pablo asked back, and Ji-seop slowly nodded.

“Right, and I think there was also a discussion about how the entry angles of recent major league pitchers are almost the same. They’re formed within a certain range.”

“Well, isn’t that a natural conclusion? These days, every team prefers players with good physiques, and they teach similar pitching methods to pitchers with similar physiques… Ah?”

Pablo was quick on the uptake.

With just this much explanation, he seemed to have grasped the general gist.

“Wait a minute, Kim! So, Manager Cheon tampered with that entry angle?”

“That’s right, that’s it.”

Ji-seop nodded.

“Van Benschoten is a short pitcher. That alone creates a difference in the entry angle compared to other pitchers. But Manager Cheon has made this difference even greater through adjustments to his pitching form.”

The balls thrown by most pitchers come in with a feeling of pressing down from above.

However, Van Benschoten’s ball felt almost parallel, with no change in height.

Especially when thrown as a high fastball, the effect was even more powerful.

Anyway, if they could get their hands on this kind of ball, the benefits would be enormous.

“You can deceive the batter’s eyes!”

Pablo clapped his knees.

“Because it comes in with a completely different feel than what ordinary pitchers throw!”

He jumped up from his seat.

“It’ll be hard to time, and if they’re worried about that ball, their ability to react to other balls will also decrease… Hmm! Good! He definitely has an ‘edge’! This type of pitcher is almost impossible to find in our team, let alone in the major leagues!”

“Hmm, is that so?”

A relaxed smile finally appeared on Ji-seop’s face.

“But what we’ve discussed so far is only theoretical… I’m thinking of going to check it out in person sometime next week. What do you think?”

“Next week?”

Oh, what are you saying!

Pablo jumped up from his seat.

“What if another team snatches him while you’re taking your time! How about meeting him the day after tomorrow, no, just tomorrow?”

And then, one more word.

“If Kim gives me permission, I’ll contact him right away!”

* * *

At the very same time that Ji-seop and Pablo Rodriguez were discussing the new type of pitcher.

Far away in a small nursing home in Louisiana, a young man’s cheerful voice could be heard.

“Oh, Grandma! Don’t you worry! Your grandson is a well-known pitcher in the industry, you know!”

In front of his grandmother, who was lying weakly in her hospital bed, a young white man was spreading his arms wide and talking loudly.

Although he was quite short for a pitcher, his face was full of confidence.

“I told you last time I came, right? The manager from Korea thought very highly of me!”

“Did he? But I heard that manager left the team? The nurse told me this morning.”

At his grandmother’s words, the young man glanced slightly outside.

But only for a moment, he clapped his hands and continued.

“That’s right, he quit being the manager. But Grandma, that manager was a veeeeeery famous baseball player in Korea, you know?”

“Oh my, really?”

“Yes, he was like the Mike Piazza of Korea! He hit… like, almost 3,000 hits? Anyway, he was an amazing player!”

Grandma, think about it.

He was like Mike Piazza [a famous baseball player].

The young man continued in a very subtle voice.

“With just one phone call from that manager, I can play in Korea! Grandma, you know Korea, right? You’ve heard of it, right?”

“That… the place with the chubby dictator?”

“No, that’s the North! I’m talking about the South! You know, those Asian singers that Lisa used to like? They’re from Korea.”

“Oh, they have a baseball league there too?”

“Of course! The treatment is amazing! They give you a big house, a driver! And, and… that’s right, those famous singers sing in person every time I play!”

The other people in the room were giving him strange looks, but the young man didn’t seem to care at all.

“So really, truly, you don’t have to worry about anything! Grandma, you just focus on getting better… Hmm?!”

And just then, the young man’s cell phone, which he had put in his back pocket, rang.

He took out his phone, checked the screen, and brushed his hair back, making a bothered expression.

“See, Grandma! It’s my agent calling. Anyway, people just won’t leave me alone! I just want to stay by Grandma’s side and eat oranges for the rest of the season!”

“Oh, but you can’t do that.”

His grandmother quietly chided him.

“Don’t do that, go answer the phone. You have to answer business calls right away, your father has told you that several times, right?”

“Yes, Grandma.”

The young man nodded.

“Then I’ll just answer the phone and come right back! Even if you’re bored, just wait a little bit… okay? Okay?”

“Okay, okay.”

As his grandmother nodded almost imperceptibly, the young man grinned and hurried out of the room.

Thump, thump! As he went outside with a loud noise, another old man lying in the next bed spoke to her.

“Mrs. Benschoten, it seems your grandson is quite a successful baseball player? His voice is full of energy.”

“Haha, is that so?”

As his grandmother smiled and pulled up the blanket, a caregiver standing across the bed chimed in.

“But… is it true? Do famous singers come and sing in the Korean professional baseball league?”

The caregiver seemed interested in that.

“If I know them, they’re very famous singers, and for those people to come to the baseball stadium and sing…”

“Oh, Anna! You should only believe half of what that kid says. Believe half and let half go… that’s the secret to talking to him.”

“Only believe half?”

As people tilted their heads, the grandmother gave a wry smile.

“Yes, I don’t know if it’s because he’s worried I’ll be too worried… but he’s been like that since he was little. Half is true and half is a tall tale.”

I can’t figure it out.

The grandmother continued.

“Whether the manager from Korea really likes that child, whether he really received his recognition, whether he can continue to play baseball in the future…”

I feel sorry for him, I feel embarrassed, and I feel like I don’t need to worry so much.

As the grandmother fiddled with the end of the blanket with a complicated heart, the young man’s voice was heard from outside.

“Ooh!!! Is that really true?! Even tomorrow?!”

The voice was so loud that it echoed through the hallway.

At that voice, the grandmother sighed very slightly.

“Oh dear… what kind of tall tale is that kid going to tell this time.”