On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 117

I knew how to do squats, deadlifts, and bench presses, but my weightlifting knowledge was only superficial.

Thinking that Yu Seon-ho’s hitting prowess stemmed from his training, I felt a surge of confidence.

“Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”

While Song Seok-hyun practiced his stance, Lee Ji-seong jumped high, alternating his legs in one corner of the gym.

The way he performed jumping lunges with a barbell on his back was so unique that I stopped my own workout to watch him, fascinated.

“Senior, what kind of exercise is that?”

“This?”

Lee Ji-seong put down the barbell, panting slightly.

“It’s a slight modification of jumping squats. I guess you could call them jumping lunges. When you’re hitting, both legs don’t exert the same force. Since the back leg needs the power to push off, I’m doing this to train that leg specifically.”

“Has it been helpful?”

“I think so. I feel like my base running is better than before. It’s different from squats.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Do you want to try it?”

Before Lee Ji-seong could finish, Song Seok-hyun was already attempting the jumping lunges.

Even with just an empty bar, he quickly became breathless.

“Oh, you’re getting the hang of it? Then, should we add some weight?”

Lee Ji-seong added only 10kg [approximately 22 pounds] to each side, but Song Seok-hyun’s body faltered after just over ten repetitions.

Lee Ji-seong raised his voice, encouraging him to jump as high as possible.

“Haa, haa, haa. I feel like I’m going to die, haa.”

“It’s tough, right? I don’t do this a lot either. I don’t go too heavy because I’m worried about hurting my knees. I usually only do two sets of ten reps and then stop.”

“Do you do this every day, senior?”

“Yeah, I do power cleans and jumping lunges every day. But I adjust the intensity. It’s no joke if you go too heavy.”

“If you do this every day…”

Song Seok-hyun’s perception of Lee Ji-seong’s seemingly thin body changed.

He no longer looked light, but agile.

“If I add wind sprints on Sunday evenings, the week is perfectly rounded out.”

“Wind sprints?”

“Yeah, they’re so hard that I only do them once a week. I learned this from a friend who plays rugby. He said there’s nothing better for improving speed and stamina.”

“Could I learn that too?”

Lee Ji-seong grinned.

“You’re greedy, aren’t you?”

“I want to learn it if it’s helpful.”

“Really? Then, we can’t do it here. We have to go outside. How about it? Want to try?”

“Yes.”

* * *

Twenty minutes later.

Song Seok-hyun lay exhausted on the field.

Fifteen sets.

Each set consisted of sprinting 30 meters [approximately 98 feet] at full speed for one minute, followed by a rest period.

After fifteen minutes, he felt nauseous.

Lee Ji-seong, who had trained alongside him, also had his knees buckling and was panting heavily.

“You do this every week?”

“Yeah, it’s so hard that I can only do it once a week.”

“I don’t think I could do this even once a month.”

“Stop exaggerating. You’re keeping up well.”

“It’s really, really hard.”

“It’s hard. It’s normal for it to be hard. But if you don’t work this hard, how can you catch up to others when you fall behind?”

Song Seok-hyun listened intently to Lee Ji-seong’s words, catching his breath.

Lee Ji-seong had also endured a long rehabilitation period due to a wrist injury.

After returning, his old form was gone, and he was relegated to a backup or pinch-runner role.

Lee Ji-seong chose self-discipline over frustration.

With the diligence he had cultivated through rehabilitation, he trained every single day without fail.

His hitting hadn’t returned to its former glory, but he took pride in his improved stamina and speed.

The problem was that Lee Ji-seong, the pinch runner, not Lee Ji-seong, the former national representative, was only worth a trade card or so in the prestigious Scorpions team.

“You’re amazing, senior.”

“Amazing? Either way, we all wake up and get out of bed every day, whether we like it or not. What else is there to do if I don’t play? I don’t have anything else to do, so I just do it.”

“I think it would be hard if I had to do this every day.”

“No, it’s manageable once you get used to it. It’s hard at first, but the workout is over in 30 to 40 minutes. I don’t do much other weight training to save my stamina. If you think about doing this every day, it can get boring. Then, it’s easier to just clear your head and do it. I just do it. What’s the reason for doing it?”

Lee Ji-seong grinned.

Song Seok-hyun smiled back.

“Ha, even though I say this, I’m jealous of you. I wish I could hit even half as many home runs as you.”

“…Tch.”

“You should take good care of yourself from a young age. Especially be careful of injuries. It’s all useless if you get hurt. Rehab and comeback, 2-3 years go by in a flash. Then you’re treated like a has-been. Always protect your body. Take care of your health from now on.”

“Thank you for the advice.”

“The first step in health management is eating well and sleeping well. Eat good food and sleep at least eight hours a day. Sleep is the best medicine. It’s best to sleep a lot unconditionally. I sleep more than ten hours a day.”

After parting ways with Lee Ji-seong, Song Seok-hyun returned to the dorm.

When he was told to go to the minor league, he hadn’t given Lee Ji-seong much thought.

Only Yu Seon-ho.

He thought he would learn a lot from watching the best hitter, Yu Seon-ho, up close.

Certainly, Yu Seon-ho’s swing was at a high level.

His class was different.

But the person who stimulated him the most was Lee Ji-seong.

From diet management to training methods and health care, Lee Ji-seong was the epitome of a professional player.

“I’m glad I came.”

After that day, Song Seok-hyun trained with Lee Ji-seong and Yu Seon-ho.

As Song Seok-hyun engaged in different training regimens with Lee Ji-seong and Yu Seon-ho, other minor league players were inspired to join in.

Even though Yu Seon-ho and Lee Ji-seong had high name recognition, they were essentially foreigners, having played their entire careers for the Scorpions.

Until now, there had been some awkwardness between them and the Gote’s young players, but when Song Seok-hyun approached Yu Seon-ho first, other players naturally followed.

Yu Seon-ho, known for his affection and loyalty, generously shared his knowledge with the players who gathered to learn.

Yu Seon-ho’s other nickname was Mr. Videotape.

Yu Seon-ho had made it his life’s work to analyze and study the subtle habits of pitchers by watching game footage every evening.

Late in the evening, Yu Seon-ho would call his juniors to his room to review the game scenes.

“Okay, okay, look at this. Can you see this?”

Yu Seon-ho paused the scene and pointed to the pitcher’s hand.

“This guy is 100% throwing a slider today. Look.”

When Yu Seon-ho pressed the space bar, a slider indeed came in.

“Look at this. Do you know what’s different?”

Yu Seon-ho showed the fastball and slider scenes alternately.

The players tilted their heads, puzzled.

“Is the grip different?”

“How can you distinguish the grip between a fastball and a slider? Does that even make sense?”

“…”

“Aish, frustrating.”

Yu Seon-ho tore off a sticky note and stuck it on the monitor.

When he pressed the space bar again, Song Seok-hyun exclaimed, “Oh!”

“His hand goes up a little when he throws a fastball?”

“That’s right. You have good eyes. That’s right. His hand goes up a little when he throws a fastball, right? You have to watch this carefully. It may not seem like a big difference, but pitchers are human, so there are times when they can’t hide their tells [unintentional movements or habits that reveal what they’re about to do], right? You have to catch that to become a good hitter. Got it?”

The players glanced at each other and answered.

“…Yes.”

“There may be many pitcher tells, but there are three things you should focus on. One is this hand. You have to watch the hand carefully. You’ll learn how to spot the curveball, and even if it’s not a curveball, there are many guys whose hand height is different between a fastball and a breaking ball. There are no pitchers who are exactly the same. It’s just a matter of whether the difference is slight or more significant. You have to watch that carefully. Next is the mouth. It may seem stupid, but there are always guys who mumble what they’re going to throw. If you watch their mouths carefully, there are times when they suddenly move their lips. You have to catch that. Got it?”

The players looked around cautiously.

Yu Seon-ho raised his voice.

“Don’t you know?”

“Ah, I know.”

“And finally, the foot. Watch the foot carefully. Each pitcher has a different landing foot. Some guys spread their feet outward, and some put them inward. But if you remember the foot position well, and suddenly their foot goes out more than usual? Then there’s a high probability that they’ll throw a fastball or a ball that goes outside. Conversely, if they put their foot inside, they’re trying to throw accurately, or there’s a high probability that they’ll throw inside. Of course, this is just a general rule. It’s not always the case. It depends on the pitcher. So you guys have to watch the videos and record them every day. Memorizing all of this won’t turn a guy who hits .200 into a guy who hits .300 or .400, but it can turn a guy who hits .280 into a guy who hits .300.”

After Yu Seon-ho’s long speech, the players left his room.

“Did you see what was different?”

“No. I don’t know even if I look.”

“Can you even see that?”

“I don’t think I can see it no matter how much I look.”

The players were still too young and lacked the experience to absorb Yu Seon-ho’s know-how.

It wasn’t easy to create opportunities by distinguishing the subtle details of the pitcher’s movements.

Of course, not everyone was the same.

Song Seok-hyun returned to his room and pondered Yu Seon-ho’s words.

Park Shin-eon’s advice in his notebook and Yu Seon-ho’s words were in the same vein.

Find the small details.

Even if the results aren’t great compared to the effort, you can get one or two more hits out of a hundred.

Just one or two may not seem like much, but if that’s the game-winning hit, it’s a different story.

The more nervous a person is, the more their habits come out.

If you’ve learned the pitcher’s habits on a regular basis, you’ll see an opportunity at a crucial moment.

“As expected, legends are different.”

The saying that they hit .300 even if they hold the bat upside down isn’t for nothing.

It’s not just because they were born geniuses, but because they have studied every evening like test takers, without missing a single day, that the all-time on-base percentage leader was created.

Lee Ji-seong, who trains every day.

Yu Seon-ho, who studies every day.

Just watching the great seniors who have marked an era in professional baseball from up close was a stroke of luck.

I thought I was good enough, but there’s no end to learning.

My hands are already itching to get back in the game.

My return is just around the corner.

Success as a catcher.

Beginning of comeback.

* * *

Four days before the first team call-up.

Song Seok-hyun didn’t go into the dorm after finishing evening training.

He was holding a catcher’s mask in his hand.

“I didn’t ask you for a pointless favor, did I?”

“No. I was going to practice because I was nervous anyway.”

“I appreciate you thinking that way.”

The person Song Seok-hyun was talking to was Jeong Jin-oh.

A promising left-handed pitcher for the Gote.

A pitcher who had worked with Song Seok-hyun in the minor league.

Jeong Jin-oh was scheduled to be the starting pitcher, and Song Seok-hyun was scheduled to be the starting catcher in tomorrow’s scrimmage.

Jeong Jin-oh had asked Song Seok-hyun if he could catch his pitches today.

Song Seok-hyun, who had lost his feel for the game, gladly accepted.

Thump, thump!

“Okay, try throwing one to warm up. Save your stamina.”

“Okay~ I’ll show you what I’ve got.”

In Song Seok-hyun’s memory, Jeong Jin-oh was an unremarkable pitcher.

A colorless and odorless pitcher, except for the fact that he was left-handed.

He didn’t have outstanding velocity or amazing breaking balls.

He didn’t have the control to put the ball exactly where he wanted.

A pitcher with no major flaws but no major strengths.

Song Seok-hyun held out his mitt without much expectation.

“Hoo-ooh-ooh.”

Jeong Jin-oh took a breath and lifted his leg.

The ball flew with a sound that cut through the air.

Thump!

Song Seok-hyun smiled after catching the ball.

“Your ball has gotten really good. Your pitching form seems to have changed too.”

“Really? Does it look okay?”

“Yes, I can’t see your hand at all. I think it would be difficult for right-handed hitters to time it too.”

“Really?”

“The ball… the velocity is similar, but it feels like it’s digging in more.”

Jeong Jin-oh continued to throw fastballs in succession.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

After catching six or seven balls,

Song Seok-hyun stood up.

“But you don’t throw it sideways [referring to a slider or curveball]?”

“I decided to give up on trying to be too fancy. I can’t throw it sideways with my skills. So I’m only adjusting up and down.”

“Ah.”

“Why, you told me to make the rotation alive before, right? I got the idea from there and tried to maximize the number of rotations. So even with my ball, I got a high course swing. It’s amazing.”

“What’s your velocity now?”

“142~143km/h [approximately 88-89 mph]?”

“But the ball is good, so it looks like the number of rotations has increased a lot. It feels like it’s soaring upwards.”

“Do you want to see my curveball too?”

Jeong Jin-oh’s curveball was a knuckle curve.

A curveball that comes in the trajectory of a fastball and then drops sharply.

Thump!

As soon as Song Seok-hyun caught the ball, he exclaimed, “Oh!”

“It’s a knuckle curve, but the drop is no joke.”

“Right? I completely rebuilt my pitching form to save this.”

“Left-handed hitters won’t be able to get a sense of it at all.”

“Really?”