A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 311

74. The Cloud Over My Heart Lifts (6)

Vincent Hiyama, the two-way ace of the Baltimore Orioles.

In the final game of the weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays, he delivered a flawless top of the first inning.

Strike!

Strike, batter out!!!

Three strikeouts, all he needed.

He threw only four pitches to the leadoff hitter, Mark Kohun, and struck out the next two batters in three pitches each.

It was no surprise that the broadcast booth was filled with excitement.

-Amazing! Absolutely incredible! Vincent Hiyama is pitching a near-perfect inning right from the top of the first!

The reaction wasn’t just because he finished the inning with only 10 pitches.

-What do you think? Does Vincent’s pitching pattern seem a bit different today than usual?

-Indeed. All the strikeouts were with curveballs. He hardly used that pitch since his minor league days… Wow, he’s showcasing a new weapon here!

Hiyama! Hiyama! Hiyama!

The Baltimore ace returned to the dugout amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the home fans.

His teammates and coaching staff, even the manager who rarely showed emotion, patted him on the shoulder.

“Vinny, great pitching. The Major League pitch value rankings might be changing by tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Manager.”

At this moment, the star of Camden Yards, the Baltimore Orioles’ home field, was undoubtedly Vincent Hiyama.

Everyone’s praise was focused on him, but Vincent’s own expression wasn’t so bright.

‘…This confirms it.’

Sitting with a large towel over his head, he rested his chin on his clasped hands.

‘Today, the Tampa Bay players didn’t have curveballs on their minds. They came to the plate without knowing what my key pitch was.’

For now, it was good news.

You could say the plan was a success.

Having completely caught them off guard, he would have the upper hand at least until the batting order cycled through once.

This was truly welcome news for Vincent, who needed to pitch well today.

However, a lingering question remained in his mind.

‘Why?’

The Baltimore GM said he leaked the information to gain an advantage in the contract extension negotiations.

The Tampa Bay front office must have known that the curveball was the key pitch today.

But why didn’t they-

‘Tell the players that information?’

* * *

During the bottom of the first inning, Vincent Hiyama struggled to concentrate on the game.

He kept getting distracted by the Tampa Bay Rays’ strange choice.

Why didn’t they give the players the information? What was the reason and intention behind it?

‘Was there some trouble in the process of delivering the information? Or did they decide from the start that it was unreliable information…?’

In his last appearance, the Kansas City Royals were clearly looking for his key pitch from the first inning.

Considering that, the Tampa Bay Rays’ actions were even harder to understand.

He was tilting his head and lost in thought when he snapped back to attention at the start of the second inning.

Clang!

The Tampa Bay’s cleanup hitter, Alex Montero, stepped into the batter’s box to lead off the second inning.

He pulled a somewhat lackluster curveball and created a strong hit.

It barely went foul, but it could have easily turned into an extra-base hit.

Vincent’s heart sank at the sound of the powerful impact, and he quickly composed himself.

‘Unexpected.’

Alex Montero was one of the most watched hitters in Tampa Bay recently.

Vincent had made sure to familiarize himself with information about him.

‘According to the data, he has a very cautious style. I heard he almost always takes the first pitch, but why did he suddenly swing from the start today… Hmm?’

At that moment,

Vincent’s expression changed.

The Tampa Bay cleanup hitter was holding the bat very short.

Gripping the bat more than a fist’s length shorter than usual, and burying his chin into his left shoulder.

Vincent, as a pitcher of his caliber, couldn’t possibly not know why he would suddenly take such a batting stance.

‘Are they starting their own strategy?’

It was a textbook response for a hitter when a pitcher comes out with an unexpected pitch.

Hold the bat short to maximize contact ability, and fix the head to accurately see the movement of the ball.

In fact, it was a rare sight in a stage as meticulously analyzed as Major League Baseball.

Alex Montero might have tried this in his amateur days, but he was looking at the pitcher with a very serious expression.

‘This is going to be annoying.’

That was Vincent’s inner thought.

‘There are many hitters who just swing wildly hoping for luck when the scouting report is off, but Tampa Bay is coming at me like this starting with their cleanup hitter?’

He gritted his teeth.

‘I need to break their momentum. Giving this kind of hitter an opening will make things difficult down the road…’

Tuk, tuk, tuk.

The Baltimore Orioles’ ace tapped the rosin bag on the back of his hand.

Then, he tossed the rosin bag away and slowly began his windup against the backdrop of billowing white rosin smoke.

What followed was the overwhelming pitching of the best pitcher in Major League Baseball this season-whoosh- boom!

Whoosh- boom!

Contrary to Vincent Hiyama’s expectations, the Tampa Bay hitters’ momentum was not easily broken.

It wasn’t that they weren’t striking out. Rather, their bats repeatedly swung at air in front of the big-breaking curve.

Nevertheless, no player looked embarrassed or angry. They simply quietly stepped out of the batter’s box and whispered something to the next hitter.

“…”

Vincent could easily guess what they were doing.

‘They’re gathering information.’

Collecting, accumulating, and sharing information.

They passed the information gathered at the plate to the next hitter, and the next hitter went back to the plate to find out new information.

One hitter, one hitter. And again, one inning, another inning.

‘What a waste of effort…’

In the early innings, Vincent had only considered it a bothersome act.

He was confident that his curveball wouldn’t be easily figured out.

However, the Tampa Bay Rays lineup was slowly tightening its grip on him.

Tap!

The bats that had been weakly swinging at air at first began to graze the ball little by little as time passed.

Thud!

From the middle of the game, there were occasional foul balls hitting the backstop.

“Vincent, the hitters seem to be adapting faster than expected. Maybe we should change the pattern of throwing the curveball… What do you think?”

“Yes, I think that would be best. I’m concerned about the foul balls going behind the catcher.”

So, he decided to change the curveball pattern and went to the mound in the top of the 7th inning.

The score was 1-0, with the Baltimore Orioles leading by just one run.

Vincent chose a curveball at a 1-1 count, and the pitch boasted the best break of all the dozens of curveballs he had thrown that day as it flew toward home plate, but-

“?!!”

At that moment, what came into Vincent Hiyama’s view was the Tampa Bay hitter confidently swinging his bat, unlike anything he had seen so far.

And what followed was-

Crack!

The first solid hit of the game.

-That’s deep! That ball is very deep! Where to, where to, where to… It hits the wall directly and falls to the ground! Extra-base hit!

Wow!!!

Amidst the home fans’ screams, the Baltimore outfielders scrambled to retrieve the ball.

They did their best to defend, but they couldn’t stop the Tampa Bay runner from reaching second base.

A leadoff double in the top of the 7th inning.

It was the first time the Tampa Bay Rays had reached second base that day.

“Uryaaaaaak!” [A Japanese-style yell of excitement or triumph.]

The Tampa Bay hitter roared like a gorilla as soon as he was called safe by the umpire.

As Vincent watched with a bitter expression, he heard someone calling, ‘Hey, Hiyama!’

It was the Baltimore pitching coach.

“You’ve done well.”

He came up to the mound and held out a hand as big as a pot lid to Vincent.

“Let’s leave the remaining innings to your teammates.”

“But Coach, I can hold them down until this inning…”

He was the starting pitcher who had kept them scoreless until the 7th inning.

He hadn’t faced any significant crisis yet, and he didn’t feel particularly tired.

So, he wanted to pitch a little longer if possible.

However, the pitching coach shook his head with a wry smile.

“No, it’s too much. In fact, the manager will get an earful tomorrow just for letting you pitch this far.”

“…Excuse me?”

“What, didn’t you know?”

The pitching coach pointed to the scoreboard.

“You’ve thrown 117 pitches so far.”

He continued.

“You’ve already exceeded the pitch limit.”

* * *

In fact, the reporters who visited Camden Yards that day seemed to have been lying in wait.

Vincent Hiyama, one of the most watched players in Major League Baseball, and a two-way ace who expends a lot of energy.

They were there to ask why he was allowed to throw as many as 117 pitches.

However, as it turned out, the Baltimore manager didn’t have to answer that question.

The bullpen pitchers who took over the mound after Vincent Hiyama left ended up setting the game on fire.

Crack!

The bullpen pitchers blew the lead that the team’s ace had protected for nearly two hours in just a few minutes.

When the score clearly changed from 1-0 to 5-1, Vincent Hiyama couldn’t watch any longer and left the dugout.

“…Damn it.”

Returning to the clubhouse, Vincent couldn’t help but curse.

He thought he was overwhelming the opponent, but in retrospect, it was a complete defeat for him.

He had only given up two hits, but his pitch count exploded without him realizing it, and he failed to pitch a long inning.

In the end, he had 6 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, and 11 strikeouts. It was definitely a good performance, but it felt unsatisfactory considering he had brought out a key pitch in preparation for the postseason.

“Hoo.”

Filled with deep disappointment, Vincent Hiyama didn’t even think about going to see the trainer and slumped down on the sofa.

It was at that moment that a familiar face appeared before him.

“Oh, Vincent?”

“Ah, Mr. Morris.”

It was Jimmy Morris.

A veteran pitcher who joined the team before this season.

He always greeted him with a bright expression, but something felt strange about him today.

He couldn’t make eye contact with Vincent and was hesitatingly pacing around.

“What’s wrong?”

Vincent asked, unable to watch any longer.

“Is there something you want to say to me?”

“Ah, well, that’s…”

It was at this moment that Jimmy Morris opened his mouth with a troubled expression.

“I overheard some team staff members whispering earlier that information about your key pitch had been leaked to the Tampa Bay guys?”

“Ah, that.”

Frankly, Vincent didn’t care at this point.

What if they noticed, and what if they didn’t use it again?

The score was already 5-1, and the possibility of a comeback had disappeared considering the Tampa Bay bullpen.

However, Jimmy Morris, unaware of his feelings, opened his mouth with a deep sigh.

“That, well… I think it might be my fault.”

“Excuse me?”

Vincent looked up.

“The day before yesterday, I had a drink with a close friend. But it just so happened that he’s a Tampa Bay team employee…”

Jimmy Morris waved his hand.

“O-Of course, I didn’t say anything! I don’t even know what your key pitch is in the first place.”

“That’s right. That’s true.”

“But that friend is such an observant guy, so if he figured out information about your key pitch, I think it might be him…”

I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.

As Vincent watched Jimmy Morris apologize repeatedly, he chuckled inwardly.

‘He’s more innocent than I thought.’

The information leak was led by the Baltimore GM.

It was unlikely that information was leaked through Jimmy Morris, who wasn’t even that close to him.

‘Well, it’s possible if it was through a team employee who went with him…’

But what good would it do to go over it all now?

Vincent Hiyama decided to ease this innocent senior’s mind.

“No, you don’t need to apologize.”

Vincent said.

“It’s true that information leaked to the Tampa Bay side. I heard it from my agent too. But for some reason… the Tampa Bay players didn’t know anything about my key pitch today.”

“What?”

Jimmy Morris’s eyes widened.

“The information leaked, but the players didn’t know? Really?”

“Yes, Mr. Morris, you saw it too. Even for me, I can’t strike out 11 batters against players who are looking for the curveball.”

“Hah, I guess so?”

Then that’s a relief.

I feel a little relieved.

Vincent Hiyama had expected that kind of answer from this veteran pitcher.

But surprisingly, Jimmy Morris’s next reaction was to smack his lips with a very troubled expression.

“Damn it, this is going to be a problem…”

“Excuse me? What is?”

“Well, after hearing that information had leaked to the Tampa Bay side, I called that friend and gave him a piece of my mind on the way here.”

Wasn’t that too much?

How could you do this?

It was roughly that kind of protest, he said.

“Honestly, I wasn’t angry about the information being leaked. Honestly, I went out to get information about their starting pitcher too.”

“…”

“But that bastard flatly said that they weren’t interested in that kind of information!”

“They weren’t interested?”

“Yeah, he said they knew what key pitch I was going to use, but they didn’t notify the players.”

Jimmy Morris pouted.

“I thought that friend was lying. I thought he didn’t trust me and was just making excuses. I thought so and just yelled at him…”

Damn it, that was real.

Jimmy Morris’s face was filled with a troubled expression, but rather, a subtle curiosity was rising in Vincent Hiyama’s eyes.

“What was the reason… he said?”

“Hmm?”

“The reason why they didn’t use the information they got. The reason why they didn’t tell the players even though they knew all about the key pitch.”

The question that had been filling Vincent Hiyama’s head since the beginning of the game.

Jimmy Morris’s answer to this was as follows.

“Well… what did he say? A realistic reason? A decision made in preparation for the postseason? I think he said something like that, but I just brushed it off at the time.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Just as a slight disappointment was about to rise at the somewhat unclear answer.

Jimmy Morris turned to Vincent and opened his mouth.

“Hey, Vincent. If you’re really curious… why don’t you come with me to meet that friend?”

“Excuse me?”

“I think I need to apologize to him before the day is over anyway.”

A bashful smile was blooming on the veteran pitcher’s face.

“If a player like you is by my side… I think he’ll quickly let go of his anger.”