Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 99

#98. The Pitcher Must Feel Wronged

The Kim Dooyoung I know was a thirty-year-old veteran who appeared on a TV show helping amateurs challenge the pros, coolly correcting the pitching forms of the applicants.

A late-blooming left-handed specialist.

That Kim Dooyoung was traded to the Warriors in his early twenties and stood on the first-team mound a little earlier than his original fate.

-You have to bring in a left-handed pitcher who throws fastballs, even if you have to go to hell.

It’s not clear exactly who said those words first, but it’s an aphorism that everyone in baseball knows.

Anyway, we brought Senior Kim Dooyoung from the Magicians, not hell.

Does that mean the Magicians are hell?

Whatever.

All I knew about Kim Dooyoung was that he was a player who would definitely break out someday.

Originally, Kim Dooyoung, who used a three-quarter form to throw a fastball and cut fastball close to 150 km/h [approximately 93 mph] for the Magicians, had been remodeled into an overhand pitcher with three types of breaking fastballs.

Generally, three-quarters is actually more advantageous for controlling pitches and increasing the angle of breaking fastballs. In my opinion, it’s highly likely that this form suited Kim Dooyoung the best after trying various things.

Thwack!

Senior Kim Dooyoung struck out Ahn Taegyu, Suwon’s number one hitter, and grounded out Choi Yeonwoo, the number two hitter, but then allowed a huge double to Kang Taeyong, the next batter.

The cut fastball, which was intended to induce a ground ball, didn’t break well, and the center of the bat made contact.

But the pitcher’s reaction is interesting.

When a pitcher who comes on in the top of the 8th inning with the score tied 8-8 allows a double, they usually turn pale as a sheet.

But there’s no change in his expression at all. Or, to be precise, he’s wearing a slight smirk.

Is he mentally strong, or is he the type who doesn’t show his emotions?

Either way, he’s no ordinary player.

Thwack!

“Out!”

Kim Dooyoung, who didn’t waver at all even after allowing a runner on second base, perfectly completed his mission by catching Pio Fernandez’s fly ball to right field.

The Warriors fans, who had been watching the game with sweaty hands against Suwon’s top hitters, erupted in tremendous cheers.

“Waaaaah!”

“Kim Dooyoung! Kim Dooyoung! Kim Dooyoung!”

Senior Kim Dooyoung, as if it were nothing, casually raised his hand to the fans and went into the dugout.

Not nervous at all in his first first-team appearance?

Suddenly, I get this thought.

Depending on the situation, I wonder if we should use that pitcher as a double stopper along with Senior Yang Gicheol.

* * *

“Hey, Taegyu. What’s up with him? His pitches are really weird, aren’t they?”

“I don’t know, damn it. His pitches are really dirty.”

“They all look like fastballs, but there aren’t any actual fastballs.”

“The pitches themselves aren’t that great, but it’s so hard to hit the center.”

“Senior Taeyong, how did you hit that earlier?”

“I just swung at it. It’s one of three anyway. Two-seam, cut fastball, splitter. I just thought it was a splitter and swung with all my might, and it hit.”

“What is that! Ah, strangely, those Warriors guys, every time we meet them, it feels like they’re pulling out something they’ve been hiding?”

“If you think about it, our win rate has dropped as much as we couldn’t exploit them this year compared to last year when we were exploiting them.”

“Okay. Everyone, stay sharp and let’s stop this inning. They’re starting with number one too.”

“Yes, captain.”

The Suwon hitters, who were helpless against the pitcher named Kim Dooyoung, whom they were seeing for the first time, put on their gloves and ran out to their defensive positions.

Before they knew it, the game was in the bottom of the 8th inning, and Suwon’s catcher, Jeong Daehan, had a serious look on his face.

Last season, Suwon had an absolute advantage against the Warriors with 14 wins and 2 losses.

But the Warriors have changed so much.

Not to mention the completely improved batting lineup, they built a decent 4-man starting rotation with two foreign players, Lee Mansik, and Cheon Sangjin, and then added a strange curly-haired closer who came out of nowhere.

And it didn’t end there. They strengthened their internal stability by turning Choi Jeongsu and Hong Youngshik, who were in charge of the closer role, into setup men, and now even a left-handed specialist reliever, who was their only weakness, has appeared.

What’s interesting is that all of these players were insignificant.

Cheon Sangjin, who was stuck in the Warriors’ second team, Yang Gicheol, who was kicked out of the Titans, and Kim Dooyoung, who was sold after failing with the Magicians.

This is like some kind of misfit team, where players who have been abandoned from everywhere gather one by one and create synergy.

“Please take good care of me this at-bat, senior!”

“…Yeah, I like how energetic you always look.”

“Well, me, haha.”

Is it just the pitchers?

Seo Hyeongju acts like he’s been in this business for over 10 years. This guy also came from Daejeon.

Just last season, the Warriors’ leadoff hitter was Jeong Giho. And behind him was someone like Song Gitae.

It was really easy to deal with them. If you slowly provoked them, their faces would automatically turn red, and they would swing three times and go back to the dugout.

Seo Hyeongju, a troublesome rookie, has taken that spot.

Thwack!

“Foul!”

“Too bad.”

The well-hit ball slightly deviated from the third base line and became a foul.

You can tell that this guy is a good hitter just by looking at his expression right now.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, with the score tied 8-8, the leadoff hitter doesn’t get excited at all even though a ball that could have been a double becomes a foul.

Until recently, he was treated like an outcast in Daejeon; in the first place, he was just a high school student until last year, but he can maintain such composure.

You should never underestimate a first-year rookie. Jeong Daehan decided to approach the game with the mindset of facing Lee Chanho, the league’s best leadoff hitter from the Fighters.

But.

Thwack!

Seo Hyeongju hit a changeup that came into the low outside course.

The ball, which hit the bottom of the bat and spun, bounced high and flew towards the third baseman.

Thwack

The third baseman, jumping slightly in place, picked up the ball and threw it to first base with all his might.

“Safe!”

“Why is that safe!”

A safe call was made by a narrow margin, and the Suwon dugout used their last video review chance.

– Commissioner, the timing was a bit ambiguous, wasn’t it?

– Ambiguous? It’s definitely safe.

– Yes?

– Suwon’s coach Choi Yongshik probably knows it too. That it’s safe. He’s just trying to briefly break the opponent’s momentum and give the pitcher some time to catch his breath.

– Ah, as I’m saying that, the original call is upheld. Seo Hyeongju raises his arm high at first base!

– What did I say? I told you it was safe, didn’t I? Now, it’s the Warriors’ dugout’s turn to move. In the bottom of the 8th inning, with the score tied, a fast runner is on first base, right? This creates several options.

– Sacrifice bunt, hit and run, full swing, is that how we should see it?

– Broadly speaking, yes. But actually, we should take out the sacrifice bunt right now. Telling Han Suhyeok to bunt? You’d be called crazy.

– Hmm, then it’s either hit and run or full swing.

– That’s right. Today’s game is really interesting. Let’s all watch what choice Warriors’ coach Lee Daejun will make here.

* * *

Whoosh

“…Don’t do it.”

Whoooosh

“…I said don’t do it.”

“What am I doing?”

“Don’t scare the pitcher like that, you bad guy.”

“Hmm.”

I’d rather he just swear at me outright so I can strongly retort.

When Jeong Daehan acts like that, I’m only human, so my heart softens.

Yeah, anyway, the pitcher’s face is pale—no, it’s turned blue—what’s the point of scaring him more here?

I stopped the swing I was doing in the air and took a full batting stance.

Bottom of the 8th, tie score, no outs, runner on first.

Just in case, I glanced slightly towards the dugout.

As expected, there’s no sign. The head coach’s hand is moving busily, but it’s actually a fake sign with no meaning at all.

If I had to interpret it, it would be something like, let’s win the game quickly and go eat something delicious.

Professional baseball players usually have a light meal before the game starts.

And after the game, they have a formal dinner together in the cafeteria.

Today, braised beef short ribs are being prepared in the Jamsil Baseball Stadium cafeteria.

It’s a special meal prepared by the club for the players who are gradually losing their energy these days.

If we go to the trouble of preparing beef and lose the game, we’ll be called fools. If we’re going to eat, we should eat in a good mood.

Thinking about the price of the beef that Ahn Chiwook will devour, my fighting power suddenly…
Hmm.

“Safe!”

Suwon’s pitcher, whose face is so pale that he reminds me of a Smurf, kept throwing pickoff throws to first base.

In fact, Suwon also knows. There’s almost no chance that Seo Hyeongju will run here.

There’s no reason to attempt a steal when the team’s best hitter is at the plate.

But Seo Hyeongju was annoyingly continuing to take a stance as if he was about to run at any moment, and the Suwon pitcher, who was half out of his mind, was playing along with him.

“Don’t you need to go to the mound [to calm the pitcher down]?”

“……”

He seems to be in a bad mood. Jeong Daehan, who usually answered my words without fail, closed his mouth tightly and said nothing.

The difference between 2nd place Suwon and 3rd place Warriors is 3 games.

While Suwon, which had been building a solo lead together at the beginning of the season, was faltering, 1st place Incheon ran far away, and the mid-ranked teams below were chasing right behind them.

If they get swept, their ranking will be reversed immediately.

As the team’s captain and the starting catcher who takes care of the pitchers, he would absolutely want to prevent such a situation.

“Ball.”

Suwon’s pitcher’s first pitch contained such a will.

He’s willing to give up a walk, but he’s determined not to give up a good pitch.

If they walk me here, it’s runners on first and second with no outs. But since the next hitter is Senior Jo Seongo, number 3, there’s no calculation for a sacrifice bunt.

Maybe closer Park Doyul will come up at that timing. Suwon has other good middle relievers who can take on the closer role besides him.

When the opponent tries not to give you a good pitch like this, you narrow the zone as much as possible.

In the past, I would have forced myself to swing at bad pitches. There was a kind of obsession that I was the only one who could score.

But now it’s a little different.

Even if I don’t hit, I have faith that Senior Jo Seongo, Walter Smith, Ahn Chiwook, and Senior Jang Deoksu, who will come out after me, can bring me home.

That’s why I narrow the hitting zone a little more than usual.

“Ball.”

“I also welcome an intentional walk, senior.”

“……”

He must be really sulking. This is the first time I think this person has ignored my words this much.

What’s needed here is a bit of acting.

Regardless of the fact that my true identity inside is a thirty-five-year-old big league veteran, the appearance on the outside is just a first-year rookie who just graduated from high school.

No matter how deeply Jeong Daehan and the Suwon bench have studied me, that essence is not something that can be easily denied.

That’s why I act.

Whoosh

“Strike!”

“Ouch!”

I deliberately swung at the ball flying to the high outside course. Then, I also let out a sigh as if it was a pity.

It doesn’t feel too bad to play the role of a rookie who is eager to hit.

Jeong Daehan, who is sitting behind me, may have realized that this is acting.

But it doesn’t matter. My goal is to make the Suwon bench think about various options.

Two balls and one strike.

If another perfect ball comes in here, I’ll just give up and walk to first base. That’s proof that Suwon has completely given up on the match with me.

But, if by any chance, a hittable ball comes in, I’ll hit it no matter what, even if it’s not a perfect course.

Whoosh

Like this ball right now.

Thwaaaaaack!

I swung at the low outside course, a ball that was about half a ball out of the zone.

The ball, which hit slightly off the center of the bat, flies like a clothesline towards the right fielder.

– Ah! The ball hit by Han Suhyeok! Towards the right fielder! Is it foul, fair, foul, ah! It hits the right foul pole! Home run! A two-run home run here! His 32nd of the season! Another home run record is added to Han Suhyeok’s first half!

– Amazing! That ball just now wasn’t actually a ball that would go over… Haa, I’m a former pitcher, so it’s terrible just to watch. If a ball hit like that goes over, the pitcher has no pitches to throw.

– Catcher Jeong Daehan goes to the mound and comforts the crying pitcher.

– He must feel wronged, really wronged. This isn’t the major league, and that’s definitely not a ball that would go over. But what can you do? There’s a hitter in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] who can hit that ball and send it over.

– In the end, Suwon’s pitching coach goes to the mound. It looks like there will be another pitching change. 10 to 8, the Warriors are leading by two points, and the bottom of the 8th inning continues. This is Jamsil Baseball Stadium.