On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 281

You can throw curves and sinkers here. [Referring to the unpredictable nature of the game.]

There are too many variables to aim for something, and the ball is too good to hit while watching.

Dilemma.

If there’s no way, you have to create one.

If there is a way……

-Thwack!!

[It’s high!!]

The ball, soaring high, flies into the night sky and disappears into the lights.

A ball so high it’s almost out of sight.

The ball passed the foul pole.

[Foul ball. Foul. But it was a huge foul homerun.]

[That was a really thunderous swing.]

“Whew.”

Kim Young-hoon smiled.

Full swing.

Just now, he swung the bat so hard that his body staggered.

It’s different from Song Seok-hyun usually.

It wasn’t Song Seok-hyun who looks at the ball, picks it, and goes out on a walk if a good ball doesn’t come.

It’s not Song Seok-hyun who hardly ever swings and misses.

A home run with one swing.

A full swing that doesn’t care about strikeouts.

A swing that looks like it will break the ball if it hits, not just go over the fence.

I remembered Song Seok-hyun’s nickname that I had forgotten for a while.

The main character of Jamsil’s outside-the-park home run. [Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, known for its large outfield.]

A batter who hits it out of the park if he hits it.

Before Hulk Kim In-hwan, there was Song Seok-hyun, the man of outside-the-park home runs. [Likely a reference to a famous power hitter.]

“Interesting.”

Kim Young-hoon’s third pitch is a slider.

It was Song Seok-hyun who would have watched it if possible, but this time he swung with all his might.

-Strike! Out!

[Strikeout! It’s a strikeout! Song Seok-hyun struck out on three pitches.]

[He showed a tremendous foul homerun, but the accuracy is very disappointing.]

[It will be even more difficult to get past Kim Young-hoon’s wall.]

When Song Seok-hyun returned to the bench, Kim In-hwan handed him a water bottle.

“Your back will break.”

“Thanks.”

Song Seok-hyun drank water and exhaled.

“My back almost broke.”

“Why are you swinging so hard?”

“There’s no answer to hitting while watching anyway. I have to hit hoping for a lottery.”

“You? Hehe. It’s funny to hear you say that.”

“If my style doesn’t work, I have to find a way.”

“Suddenly? What if it doesn’t work?”

Song Seok-hyun shrugged.

“Then there’s nothing I can do. But this is the best I can do.”

“Axe swing?”

“At least… if I do this, the senior will feel pressured and take the ball out or throw a mistake. If it doesn’t work, I have to find a way. Somehow.”

Kim Wook struck out.

Seol Jin-il grounded out.

Without a break, it was the bottom of the 6th inning.

Good bye (9) [Unclear meaning, possibly a reference to a team tradition or inside joke.]

-Thwack!

[Hit! Hit! Park Seong-min’s hit! A hit in front of the right fielder makes it safe on first base with no outs.]

[It’s a really good flow for Phoenix. Now they have to score at least one run. It becomes more difficult to score one point as the game goes into the later innings.]

[Gote also has closer Kim Jung-ryul on standby, right?]

[If Kim Jung-ryul comes on the mound, there’s really no hope.]

Hong Dae-sung started to loosen up.

The Gote bench came up with a plan.

The fielders narrowed the infield, and the catcher’s sign was also decided on a low fastball.

Bottom of the game, 2-run difference, safe on first base with no outs.

All Phoenix can choose is a play because their scoring ability is weak.

Even though Gote narrowed the infield, the 8th batter gripped the bat short.

[Are they just going to bunt?]

[If they do this, they have to bunt for sure. If they bunt ambiguously and blow the count with a foul, it’s neither here nor there.]

[In the worst case, could there be a double play? The course is important.]

[If it goes straight to the pitcher, a double play is possible. But if you’re worried about that, you shouldn’t bunt in this situation. If you’re going to do it, you have to do it for sure. Isn’t the batter Kim Hyun-woo? It’s difficult to expect much from a batter whose batting average is less than .250.]

[Are you talking about a fake bunt and slash?]

[Yes, you can assume there’s no power hitting here. Both teams have to fight with bunts.]

The batter lowered his body, moving it slightly back and forth.

Song Seok-hyun looked at the batter’s shoulder.

The batter preparing for a fake slash is tense in the shoulder.

A veteran wouldn’t even show this, but Kim Hyun-woo at the plate right now isn’t a batter with good play execution ability.

If necessary, he was ready to jump out, anticipating a ball right in front of the catcher.

The moment Hong Dae-sung threw the ball, Kim Hyun-woo turned the bat back.

Fake bunt and slash.

It’s an unexpected play, but the swing is rushed.

In this case, there’s no way to hit the ball properly.

Especially if it’s a fastball over 150km/h [~93 mph].

-Thud!

With a dull sound, the ball plunged straight into the ground.

Baltimore chop. [A technique where the batter hits the ball downward, aiming for a high bounce off the hard infield.]

If it were hard ground, the swing aimed at a big bounce might have worked, but today it hasn’t been long since the rain stopped.

A strong hit on soft ground created a low bounce.

“Huh?”

The eyes of pitcher Hong Dae-sung, who ran forward for a moment, widened.

An ordinary ground ball in front of the pitcher.

A hit that leads to a double play if caught.

The moment Hong Dae-sung already had a double play in his head, the ball passed his glove.

The ball, with strong spin, flew straight towards the mound, hit the side, and changed direction.

The third baseman, caught in reverse motion, hesitated, and in the meantime, the batter ran to first base.

“Damn it.”

Kim Wook twisted his body and caught the ball, throwing it without a step.

The greatest third baseman of all time isn’t just outstanding in offensive power.

Fast reaction speed, wide range of defense, and natural shoulder.

Kim Wook’s throw was as fast as if he had stepped on it.

-Whack!

Yoo Sun-ho caught the ball and looked back at the referee.

The referee’s hand went up slightly and then stopped.

-Safe.

[Safe! It’s safe! Consecutive hits! Hong Dae-sung’s disappointing defense makes it safe on first and second base with no outs.]

[The ball didn’t bounce as much as I thought. It was an easy hit, but because the floor was soft, the ball only spun a lot and didn’t bounce. I don’t think it was an easy defense.]

[In this case, Phoenix gets a chance. The fearsome 9th batter, Jang Se-wan, enters. He’s the 9th batter, but he’s a batter who’s known for his power.]

Ham Sung-hoon and the pitching coach made eye contact.

“Coach Yeon, what do you think?”

The pitching coach blinked a few times.

“I think it’s best to watch until this inning for now. Dae-sung still has his strength, and there’s no pitcher as good as Dae-sung except for Jung-ryul.”

“Jang Se-wan’s one shot is not easy.”

“Unless his strength has weakened, I think it’s best to watch until the 7th inning.”

“Hmm.”

Ham Sung-hoon crossed his arms.

He was hit by two hits, but both were singles.

The flow is not good, but there is no problem with the pitcher.

Above all, it’s painful that there is no pitcher to replace Hong Dae-sung.

As a manager, there were times when he had to change pitchers even if there seemed to be no logical problem.

Flow. [Momentum or the feeling of the game shifting.]

The flow is not good.

With our team’s offense blocked, the opponent is lucky enough to have a scoring chance.

He wanted to change the pitcher, but he clenched his fist tightly.

“Okay. Let’s go with this.”

Jang Se-wan keeps spinning the bat around.

Bad ball hitter. [A batter who often swings at pitches outside the strike zone.]

He’s weak against breaking balls, but he doesn’t hesitate to swing.

Song Seok-hyun sighed.

Jang Se-wan isn’t a scary batter, but he doesn’t have good chemistry with Hong Dae-sung.

Hong Dae-sung’s breaking ball isn’t very good.

It’s hard to say that his control is good either.

A pitcher who presses down with force. [Relies on power rather than finesse.]

On the other hand, Jang Se-wan often hits fastballs.

The bench looks busy.

The bench must have been worried, but if he were the manager, he would GO for now.

Because Hong Dae-sung is the best option if you exclude Kim Jung-ryul.

-Slider.

I pulled the mitt down to check Jang Se-wan’s eye for the ball. [The catcher is trying to gauge the batter’s focus.]

Hong Dae-sung’s first pitch is a slider that is far out of the strike zone.

Jang Se-wan’s bat turned.

[0-1. Jang Se-wan swings at that ball.]

[He’s in a hurry. He needs to take it slow.]

Song Seok-hyun breathes a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Jang Se-wan’s eye for the ball is terrible.

I asked for a changeup for the next ball as well.

Swing, strike.

The third pitch was a fastball that was taken out to the outside.

Jang Se-wan twitched and held back.

The 4th pitch is a swing on the slider.

-Strike! Out!

“As expected.”

“It’s going well.”

Laughter broke out from the Gote bench as well.

If you exclude Kyung Soo-in, there are no more scary batters.

The 1st batter, Kang Young-ho, is out with a fly ball.

Two outs, runners on first and second.

The 2nd batter, Kim Jin-pil, came out.

He hits the ball with no strikes, so his accuracy is high, but he lacks home run power.

The battery went for a fastball. [The pitcher and catcher’s strategy.]

[1-2 count.]

Hong Dae-sung attached a fastball to his body. [Threw a fastball close to the batter.]

No-strike batters lack power, so it’s difficult to react quickly even to body balls.

The ball was attached to the body quite well, and Kim Jin-pil swung without holding back.

-Thwack!!

[It’s huge!!]

As soon as he hit it, Song Seok-hyun got up from his seat.

The sound of the bat hitting was extraordinary.

It’s just a hunch, but Kim Jin-pil was waiting for a body ball.

Otherwise, he can’t show such a fast swing with no strikes.

[Left field fence~!!!]

The ball went over the fence comfortably.

A 130m [~427 feet] home run.

Hong Dae-sung’s mouth dropped open.

[Home run!! Phoenix’s three-run! A three-run explodes here! 3-2! 3-2 reverse! Phoenix’s come-from-behind home run!]

Kim Jin-pil threw the bat.

In an instant, the Daejeon stadium was filled with cheers. [A city in South Korea.]

The Gote players dropped their heads as if they had lost their souls.

6th inning, 3-2.

There are still three offensive opportunities left, but the pitcher is Kim Young-hoon.

It’s faint.

The possibility looks hazy.

“I’m sorry…….”

The pitching coach couldn’t lift his head as he looked at Ham Sung-hoon.

“Well, did you know it would turn out like this? The opponent did well. I made the decision. Coach Yeon doesn’t have to be in pain.”

Ham Sung-hoon tried to smile.

“He really screwed up.”

Those were the words Yoo Sun-ho said after the 6th inning.