Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 174

#173. An Unexpected Crisis

“Hehehehe….”

“Honey…?”

“Ehehehehe!”

“Honey!”

“Ah, sorry. Did I wake you?”

“…What are you doing at this hour? Baseball? Don’t tell me you’re watching baseball again at this ungodly hour?”

“Ah, sorry. It’s just that this is an important game I have to watch. Okay, I’ll watch quietly, so go back to sleep.”

“…You should wrap it up soon and come to bed. You have an important meeting tomorrow, remember?”

“Yeah, thanks. Good night.”

In a small residential area on the outskirts of Seattle, a man was sitting in the living room of a modest but well-kept house with an impressive garden.

It was past 3 AM, heading towards 4 AM. The man watching a baseball game taking place in a country far away in Asia, not even his own, was named Daniel Mitchell.

That’s right.

He had been staying in Korea until recently, following Han Su-hyeok around, but he had been called back to the United States by the president [of the baseball operations].

Around this time last year, when he argued that they should offer Han Su-hyeok $5 million, no one listened to him.

Seattle, having signed a long-term contract with Ryan Thibodeau, the best pitcher in the United States, and declared a win-now strategy, began to generously offer packages to immediate contributors as well as promising prospects who could be expected to perform in a few years.

The $3.5 million signing bonus offered to Han Su-hyeok was also possible thanks to that.

Of course, that recruitment ultimately failed.

Han Su-hyeok suddenly declared that he would remain in the Korean league instead of coming to the US.

To change his mind, Daniel demanded a raise in the signing bonus from the general manager.

He argued that even $5 million wouldn’t be too much for a player like him.

However, that request was flatly rejected by the general manager, and Han Su-hyeok eventually stayed in Korea.

And then that happened.

The Korean team’s WBC [World Baseball Classic] victory, with Han Su-hyeok tearing apart all participating countries and becoming the tournament MVP [Most Valuable Player].

Only then did Major League clubs, finally realizing Han Su-hyeok’s true worth, dispatch scouts to Korea.

Branches that had only been in Japan were newly established in Korea, and some clubs even sent scouts dedicated solely to Han Su-hyeok.

In the meantime, many things had happened in Seattle as well.

Despite having the best pitcher in Ryan Thibodeau, the Mariners finished third in the American League West.

The enraged owner fired the general manager, and Daniel Mitchell, who was in charge of the scouting team, is now considered one of the leading candidates for the next general manager.

His eyes are glued to the laptop on the living room table.

[Swing! Out!]

– Amazing! Truly amazing! Han Su-hyeok strikes out three batters in a row in the third inning, following the first and second innings, recording nine consecutive strikeouts!

“Heh heh, heh heh, hehehe….”

Daniel, who was about to burst into laughter without realizing it, pressed his lips shut, remembering his wife’s angry face.

Nevertheless, laughter kept leaking through his fingers.

Han Su-hyeok, chosen as the starting pitcher for Game 1 of the Korean Series [championship series in the KBO, Korean Baseball Organization] despite not being in perfect shoulder condition, unveiled a new weapon that he had been hiding all along in the first inning.

In fact, Han Su-hyeok hadn’t so much hidden it as simply forgotten about it because it wasn’t really necessary, but that’s how it looked from the outside.

A knuckleball.

As of 2027, it’s a magical pitch that almost no pitchers in Major League Baseball know how to throw properly.

Of course, the knuckleball isn’t a panacea [a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases].

Ultimately, the speed aspect cannot be ignored in order to discuss the power of a pitch.

Knuckleballs are slow.

Also, mistakes are easy to make.

If even a little bit of spin is applied, it immediately becomes a hittable ball.

But Han Su-hyeok was not one of those.

He was a monster who could throw a four-seam fastball over 100 miles per hour.

Although it was a little slower than usual, the four-seam fastball still flew into the catcher’s mitt at over 100 miles per hour, and in between, 70-mile knuckleballs and 80-mile changeups messed up the batters’ timing.

That alone was amazing enough.

Goodness, a knuckleball.

That pitch was the last resort for pitchers who had exhausted all other options and could no longer throw fastballs due to injury or age, in order to extend their careers.

Even then, there was almost no chance of mastering it properly.

But a twenty-year-old kid who can throw a four-seam fastball at a maximum of 105 miles per hour throws a perfect knuckleball.

It’s absurd.

But the surprises didn’t end there.

When the opposing team’s batters started focusing on only two timings, fastballs and slowballs, and tried to increase the pitch count, Han Su-hyeok changed his pitching pattern once again.

The speed of the knuckleball changed. A fast knuckleball, and a slow knuckleball.

Not only that. This time, there was a change in the four-seam fastball as well.

A fast four-seam fastball, a slow four-seam fastball.

The pitches he threw were only three types.

Four-seam fastball, changeup, and knuckleball.

But when he added changes in speed to that, it became a situation where the batters were facing five types of pitches.

A fast four-seam fastball, a slow four-seam fastball, a fast knuckleball, a slow knuckleball, and a changeup.

The result is this.

Facing 15 Incheon batters through the top of the 5th inning, he struck out 14 batters, with the exception of one ground ball to first base.

“Good heavens….”

In a few hours, an emergency meeting convened directly by the president will take place.

It’s an important meeting where several important issues will be discussed, including Daniel’s appointment as general manager.

But what’s on Daniel’s mind right now isn’t whether he’ll become general manager.

It’s the Seattle club’s decision on the amendment to the integrated posting system between the United States, Japan, and Korea, which is being promoted by the Major League Baseball Secretariat.

If that amendment is passed, the current restriction of 7 seasons for Korean professional baseball players to advance to the United States will be lifted.

Just like in Japan, overseas advancement will be possible immediately if the affiliated club agrees, regardless of the number of years.

‘This must be passed….’

There will be various opinions for the benefit of the Seattle club, but Daniel’s thought was only one thing.

It must be passed.

And he must bring him in at all costs.

For Seattle’s first World Series appearance, and to reach the top.

To do that, Han Su-hyeok is essential.

Daniel’s bloodshot eyes were filled with determination.

* * *

Whoosh

Boom!

“Swing! Out!”

“Wooaaaaah!”

“It’s over! We won! We won!”

“It’s the first win of the Korean Series! Wooaaaah!”

– Swing! Out! Game set! The game is over! Yang Gi-cheol shuts down the inning, and the Warriors win Game 1 of the Korean Series 5-0!

– Ah, it was a really great game. Don’t you think?

– Yes, I feel like I’ve had an awakening about baseball. How should I put it, I feel like I’ve glimpsed a new realm?

– The spectators who watched today’s game live are really blessed. It was a game where the ticket price wasn’t a waste.

– I agree. Han Su-hyeok, who started for the Warriors today, struck out eighteen batters, with the exception of two ground balls and one left fielder fly, becoming the player with the most strikeouts in a single postseason game.

– It was a truly perfect pitching performance. He only threw three pitches that didn’t strain his shoulder, and he changed the speed of those pitches, completely fooling the Incheon batters. And the pitch he threw to the last batter in the 7th inning….

– It was 168 km/h [kilometers per hour, approximately 104 mph]. Honestly, I was shocked.

– That’s right. Han Su-hyeok, who we thought couldn’t throw fastballs because of his shoulder, proved that he wasn’t unable to throw them, but that he wasn’t throwing them, by throwing 168 km/h to the last batter in the 7th inning. Can I be honest with you?

– When haven’t you been honest? Just talk comfortably.

– For Incheon, it’ll be easier to just give up the two games that Han Su-hyeok starts. They can’t hit him. How can you hit something like that? Now, no one will be able to say that the Warriors are at a disadvantage in this Korean Series.

* * *

In hindsight, Commissioner Go Dong-sik’s words were half right and half wrong.

Han Su-hyeok, who brought out a new weapon called the knuckleball, a pitch he had actually forgotten about because he didn’t need it, completely dominated the Incheon batters in Game 1.

Thanks to Han Su-hyeok’s 7 innings of no-runs, 18K [18 strikeouts] pitching, Kim Du-yeong’s hold, Yang Gi-cheol’s perfect save, and Jang Deok-soo’s pinch-hit grand slam, the Warriors won Game 1 of the Korean Series 5-0.

Many experts, who had initially predicted Incheon’s advantage due to their superior objective strength and Han Su-hyeok’s shoulder injury, which accounted for half of the Warriors’ strength, hurriedly changed their positions.

It was because of Han Su-hyeok, who showed off his health by showing a four-seam fastball reaching 168 km/h, even if it was just once, not to mention the knuckleball with adjustable speed.

Some fans were already getting excited as if the Warriors had already won the championship, and Min Ye-rin began practicing the choreography, saying that she would prepare a congratulatory performance for the Korean Series championship.

But,

the world, no, the god of baseball, did not easily favor the Warriors.

The Warriors, with their momentum on the rise, aimed for a winning streak by starting their foreign ace Ryan Stark in Game 2.

Incheon countered with Mike Clark.

In a match between two foreign players with similar season records, and the Warriors batters with their momentum on the rise.

The Warriors suffered an absurd defeat in that game, where they were expected to have a slight advantage of around 6 to 4.

[Korean Series Game 2, Incheon Rangers win a big 10-4 victory, returning the series to square one with 1 win and 1 loss]

[Ryan Stark forced to leave the mound in the 2nd inning due to a fingernail injury, and the middle relief pitchers, who were not fully warmed up, explode]

[The Warriors’ weak middle relief is proven once again, likely to be a problem throughout this series]

Foreign player Ryan Stark, who had confidently taken the mound for the team’s victory and his own goals for next season, was forced to leave the mound after only 2 innings.

There was a problem with the nail on his right index finger, which he needed to grip the ball.

Fortunately, it wasn’t completely broken, but he couldn’t pitch any further.

Kang Dong-ha, who was brought in from the Fighters to prepare for this situation, hurriedly took the mound, but the Incheon batters swung their bats fiercely.

Following Kang Dong-ha, four pitchers, Hong Young-sik, Choi Jeong-soo, and Lee Young-joo, caused a chain explosion, and the game ended as it was.

Han Su-hyeok, who hit a two-run home run in the last at-bat in the 9th inning, broke that bat himself, expressing his anger.

Series record 1 win and 1 loss.

Everything was back to square one.

After a day of rest, the two teams moved the stage to Incheon and played Game 3.

A match between Warriors’ left-handed foreign player Brooks Parker and Incheon’s ace Lim Jun-yeong.

As in his last playoff appearance, Lim Jun-yeong’s speed did not exceed 150 km/h.

Nevertheless, he did his best to stop the Warriors’ strong batting lineup.

The tense game continued 0-0 until the 5th inning, and eventually Brooks was the first of the two pitchers to collapse.

Incheon leadoff hitter Kang Woo-chan’s three-run home run.

Lim Jun-yeong’s face, who was panting with exhaustion, began to brighten, and he eventually left the mound after holding the Warriors’ batting lineup scoreless until the 7th inning.

Incheon fans shed tears and gave their ace a standing ovation.

Final score 4-2.

In an interview after the game, Han Su-hyeok said this.

“In baseball, what one player can do is limited. That’s why I chose to pitch and hit for the Warriors’ victory. But today, I think Lim Jun-yeong showed the greatest play a pitcher can make. We lost. But we will never lose tomorrow.”

[Incheon Warriors, who won Game 2 and Game 3, only need 2 more wins to win the Korean Series]

[Incheon fans give their ace a standing ovation for his fighting spirit, Lim Jun-yeong pitches a perfect 7 innings without allowing a run]

[Incheon, the absolute powerhouse of the postseason, is ahead in both experience and skill]

[Seoul Warriors, pushed to 1 win and 2 losses, announce left-hander Cheon Sang-jin as the starting pitcher for Game 4]

[Rookie Kim Yong-jae, who was converted to a starter in the second half of the season, “I will inherit Lim Jun-yeong’s will and throw with the determination to die on the mound.”]