Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 152

#151. -2

The first-team roster expanded from 28 to 33 players.

In addition, several players were sent down to the second team due to injuries and exhaustion.

Consequently, nearly ten new faces populated the Warriors’ dugout.

Some were rookies experiencing their first season, others were veterans with limited first-team experience, and a few had been acquired during the recent WBC [World Baseball Classic] break.

In other words, about a third of the players were unfamiliar with the Warriors’ journey this season and could only judge based on current appearances.

“Another game on the bench. Why did they even bring me here?”

“Shhh, keep it down. And Choi Jin-cheol keeps getting chances. The outfield is just more competitive.”

“Even so, there’s no point in being traded if I’m just going to warm the bench like this.”

Some of the veteran players, acquired by the Warriors under General Manager Park Jae-cheol’s initiative, gathered and grumbled.

It wasn’t just them.

A strange look appeared on the faces of the rookies who had been with the team for one to three years.

The Warriors had been in last place until last season.

And except for a few players who are currently starting, not many have outstanding careers or exceptional seasonal records.

In other words, it was easy to fall into the illusion that ‘I can do as well as them if I get the chance.’

Of course, this atmosphere wouldn’t have arisen if all the veteran players had firmly held their positions.

Although Jo Seong-oh is quiet and gentle, he understands his responsibilities as captain, and Lee Man-sik, the most senior member of the pitching staff, is out of the first-team lineup for his own reasons.

Lee Chang-mo, considered the next senior among the fielders, never liked to interfere with other players, and Choi Min-seok hadn’t been with the Warriors for long.

Jang Deok-soo also wasn’t the type to embrace others, and Cheon Sang-jin, Kim Doo-young, and Yang Gi-cheol, who formed the backbone of the pitching staff, were too exhausted, both physically and mentally, to concern themselves with others.

This dynamic caused some friction within the Warriors, but what prevented them from collapsing was one particular player.

Thwack!

– Oh, that’s a big one! It’s huge! Will it go over? Will it go over? Oh! So close! The ball hit the very top of the fence and fell back into the field. Min Ye-rin, with her net, shows her disappointment! The runner on second scores, scores, scores! And the runner on first also scores! Han Su-hyeok to second! A two-run double to take the lead!

– Too bad. I thought that would be his 53rd home run of the season. But that’s okay! There’s still a lot of game left! There will be plenty of opportunities!

In the top of the first, with runners on first and second and two outs, thanks to walks by Choi Min-seok, batting second, and Walter Smith, batting fourth,

Han Su-hyeok, who hit a two-run double, calmly takes off his batting gloves on second base.

If that ball had cleared the fence, it would have been recorded as the third-most home runs in a single season.

Yu In-cheol, his teammate, today’s starting pitcher, and fifth batter, stared blankly at Han Su-hyeok, who didn’t seem fazed at all by missing such a valuable opportunity in just his rookie year.

He remembered an article he had seen in a sports news report recently.

[Warriors’ Four Rookies Unite with One Mind for Victory]

The article featured the four rookies playing in the Warriors’ first team this season: Han Su-hyeok, Seo Hyeong-ju, An Chi-wook, and himself.

His parents back home were very happy to see the article. They were saddened that newspapers were no longer widely published.

They probably wanted to keep a scrapbook of it.

But Yu In-cheol couldn’t be completely happy.

He had witnessed firsthand how those three teammates had grown this season and established themselves as key players.

An Chi-wook, initially considered a liability in both offense and defense and forced to play third base, had become a player who could now contend for a .300 batting average.

Seo Hyeong-ju, who was essentially exiled from Daejeon and came to the Warriors as if he were running from something, had established himself as a permanent center fielder based on his high on-base percentage, stolen base ability, and outstanding defensive skills.

Han Su-hyeok?

He wasn’t a player he could dare to evaluate.

But what about himself?

Until the middle of the season, he was guaranteed a fair number of opportunities, alternating between second base and shortstop, but his batting average still didn’t exceed .200, and he was relegated to a backup role.

Since Choi Jin-cheol, who arrived from Changwon during the WBC break, took over as the infield backup, even those opportunities had been steadily dwindling.

The only things he had in common with those three were that they were the same age and wore the Warriors uniform.

Yu In-cheol had also been a promising player in high school. At least, he was a more highly rated prospect than An Chi-wook.

But that’s all in the past.

Now, they had surged far ahead, and he was still standing still.

“In-cheol, aren’t you upset? Your teammates are doing so well?”

A player who was two years his senior in high school and had been called up to the first team during this expanded roster asked Yu In-cheol as if testing him.

He knew why he was saying that. He was trying to alleviate his own anxiety through Yu In-cheol.

Knowing that, Yu In-cheol simply smiled silently.

“It’s because I’m lacking.”

“Ugh, you’ve always been lacking in spirit, both in school and now…”

He let the senior’s words go in one ear and out the other.

Such petty jealousy and envy don’t benefit a player’s career.

He had to admit it.

His three teammates had become players that Yu In-cheol could hardly hope to surpass.

And he would have to live with them in the same uniform, being compared to them, for at least eight more years.

There was only one way to prevent those eight years from being remembered as hell.

Catch up somehow.

Even if his body breaks, even if there’s a risk of injury from excessive training.

To keep playing baseball with those guys, who are great but a little annoying, but still good friends in private.

He had to work his ass off. He had to run when they walked, and run faster when they ran.

“Coach, I want to try that switch hitter thing you mentioned last time.”

“Oh, really? Good. Then let’s start right after the season ends. But you’ll have to give up your vacation this year.”

“No problem.”

The Warriors’ first-inning offense ended.

Han Su-hyeok, who hit a two-run double, was smiling confidently as he went to the mound.

Even the players who had been complaining about the team’s usage until just now stared blankly at him.

Yu In-cheol thought that sight was dazzling.

Could I ever be like that? Could I become a player who can instill despair in the opposing team and hope in the same team?

Yu In-cheol couldn’t take his eyes off his back for a moment.

* * *

Whoosh

Crack!

“Strike!”

In the bottom of the second inning, with the Warriors leading 2-0, the Magicians were on the attack.

The moment Han Su-hyeok’s 154 km/h [~96 mph] high-speed slider hit the catcher’s mitt,

Kim Seong-soo couldn’t help but sigh.

‘How the hell are you supposed to hit that?’

In the last WBC tournament, Han Su-hyeok was the pillar and savior of the Korean national team.

Not only did he perfectly defuse a bases-loaded, one-out crisis in the preliminary game against Japan, which everyone thought would turn the game around, but he was also a monster pitcher who shut out the world’s strongest team, the United States, with a no-hitter.

And in the batter’s box, he was a destroyer who smashed the opposing pitching staff by hitting home runs every game.

That Han Su-hyeok is now wearing the opposing team’s uniform and slaughtering the Magicians’ batters.

Whoosh

Boom

“Swing!”

“Haa… this is driving me crazy.”

The words slipped out without me realizing it.

“Are you having a hard time?”

Jang Deok-soo, who had been playing as a designated hitter instead of a catcher in the last three games, asked in a voice that seemed to understand everything.

“Deok-soo.”

“Yeah.”

“Hit Su-hyeok once for me later.”

“Me?”

“Then who else is here besides you?”

“No way. I’d get beat to death.”

“Beat to death? You? By who?”

Jang Deok-soo, who topped the list of the most intense bench-clearing incidents of all time, surpassing Albert Belle, Rougned Odor, and Kyle Farnsworth, who had been the undisputed number one.

Who could possibly hit Jang Deok-soo?

Kim Seong-soo looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, and Jang Deok-soo pointed somewhere with his fingertip.

“Wooaaah!”

“Han Su-hyeok!”

“Su-hyeok oppa! I’m dying!”

“Hit a home run over here today!”

At the end of that finger were the Warriors fans, watching the game with bloodshot eyes.

The middle-aged fans were pressing their faces against the safety net to see Han Su-hyeok as closely as possible, and the female fans were holding up their large cameras and following Han Su-hyeok’s every move.

And in the outfield, centered around Min Ye-rin, was the net brigade.

“Indeed…”

“That’s what it is. You understand?”

“Okay. I understand. Then, after the game today, should we go eat ribs together?”

“Sounds good.”

The conversation with Jang Deok-soo, who was strangely endearing the more you got to know him, despite his huge size and menacing appearance, ended like that.

Strangely, as I approached my forties, I could feel the team juniors distancing themselves from me.

It’s like I’m becoming more of a coach than a player.

In that respect, I sometimes feel more comfortable with Warriors juniors like Han Su-hyeok and Jang Deok-soo.

Han Su-hyeok, who doesn’t seem to notice the age difference and says whatever he wants without hesitation, and Jang Deok-soo, who will listen to my stories all day long if I just buy him meat.

The last ball that Han Su-hyeok threw towards Kim Seong-soo, whose heart had softened a little, came flying in.

Whoosh

Boom

“Swing! Out!”

“Damn it…”

Kim Seong-soo, who made a ridiculous swing at the 95 km/h [~59 mph] slow curve thrown by Han Su-hyeok, tried to hide his reddening face as he returned to the dugout.

* * *

– It’s a tense moment! I don’t think there can be a more tense moment than this! Han Su-hyeok, who hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to increase his season home run total to 53, is at bat in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded and no outs.

– First of all, I want to commend Magicians manager Joo Seok-do.

– Yes? What do you mean?

– Recently, teams facing Han Su-hyeok have been blatantly avoiding giving him good pitches. In the last three-game series in Incheon, there were five intentional walks. Of course, it was under the direction of manager Hwang Byeong-ho, but even pitcher Im Jun-yeong did it.

– Hmm, Commissioner.

– Anyway, that’s the situation. To promote professional baseball, you need a superstar. The Korean single-season home run record is already 24 years old. Does that make any sense?

– That’s a good point.

– Yes, in that sense, I give this honor to the Magicians pitching staff and manager Joo Seok-do, who have been facing Han Su-hyeok head-on as much as possible during this four-game series.

– Yes? Honor? What honor are you talking about?

– Oh, I misspoke. I mistakenly thought that Han Su-hyeok had already achieved a new record, haha. It’s okay. Everyone, we’re almost there. That day will come soon.

– As we speak, the pitcher who has finished his practice pitches is facing Han Su-hyeok. He hasn’t even thrown a single pitch yet, but sweat is pouring down the pitcher’s forehead. Here comes the first pitch!

Thwack!

– Oh! That’s a big one! It’s going! It keeps going! It’s going! There’s nothing more to see! Home run! Home run! A massive grand slam that sails way over the left-field fence! Han Su-hyeok effectively decides the game and etches his name as having the second-most home runs in a single season in KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] League history!

– Kaaa! Amazing! It’s really amazing, I can’t express it in any other way! People of Korea! Han Su-hyeok is now only two home runs away from the all-time home run record!

– Not only that, but he is also likely to achieve a .400 batting average for the first time since the founding of professional baseball, and he is certain to break the all-time records in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Oh, and he pitched seven innings today without allowing a run, continuing his 40-inning scoreless streak in the second half of the season.

– What more can I say? Today is truly a day for Han Su-hyeok!