On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 31

The coaches belatedly sensed something was off and walked towards the batter’s box.

Thwack!

Thwack!

Thwack!

Thwack!

Right fielder, right fielder, center fielder, center fielder.

The balls Song Seok-hyun hit started along the right field line and gradually drifted towards the left.

The further left the balls went, the longer they flew.

With each hit being a home run, the players swarmed towards the batter’s box.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Like driving steel nails into concrete with a sledgehammer, the sound assaulted the ears as the ball soared far beyond the left field fence.

Home run, home run, home run, and home run.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

As the batting practice ended, Song Seok-hyun bowed to the batting ball pitcher.

The pitcher stared alternately at the fence and Song Seok-hyun with a dumbfounded expression.

“……I think something big might have happened here, don’t you think?”

The other coaches nodded at the hitting coach’s words.

“Besides In-hwan, no one else here has cleared the fence like that, right?”

“At least not in our Futures League team.”

“Did you see him push the ball over?”

“I saw it. I saw it clearly.”

“If this goes well…….”

The coaches exchanged glances.

“Hey, Song Seok-hyun. You’re Song Seok-hyun, right?”

At that moment, Futures League Manager Gu Chang-hyun appeared at the batter’s box.

Seeing the manager, Song Seok-hyun quickly straightened his posture.

“Yes, Manager. I’m Song Seok-hyun.”

“Oh, you’ve got great power. A real powerhouse. Now that I see it, your body looks solid, huh?”

The manager poked Song Seok-hyun’s chest a few times and then picked up Song Seok-hyun’s bat.

“Goodness gracious. Is this a fungo bat? Why is it so long and heavy?”

“It’s originally a practice bat. I used it in Japan and it felt right for me, so I’ve been using it.”

“Hey, would you use this in a real game? Your arm would fall off swinging this thing.”

As the manager held up the bat, the coaches and players also approached to take a look.

First, hitting coach Kang Yeon-tae picked up the bat.

“It’s definitely a bit unusual. It feels like a heavy fungo bat.”

The players murmured among themselves at the coach’s words.

“Even if it’s the first day, is he trying to childishly manipulate home runs with something like that?”

“This isn’t some home run showcase. If we’re going to train, we should do it properly. Who in the world hits home runs with a fungo bat?”

“He really has no sense. Is he acting up because Jung-ryul is coddling him?”

“I knew it, something was fishy. There’s no way home runs would be popping out like that.”

Kim Jung-ryul overheard the players whispering from behind.

The hitting coach also handed the bat back to Song Seok-hyun with an indifferent expression.

“Use something like that for practice. Use a proper bat when you’re batting.”

At that moment, Kim Jung-ryul snatched a bat from another batter and approached Song Seok-hyun.

“Seok-hyun, want to try hitting with this bat? How is it?”

“Now?”

“Yeah, I’ll pitch to you. Give it a try.”

Before Song Seok-hyun could answer, Kim Jung-ryul grabbed a ball and stood in front of the batter’s box.

Song Seok-hyun looked back and forth between the manager and the coach, wondering what to do.

The coach stepped back.

“Well…… go ahead and try. Don’t mess around, do it properly.”

Anyone else would have been told off for disrupting training, but it was Kim Jung-ryul.

The coach thought Kim Jung-ryul was excessively protective of Song Seok-hyun, but he also wanted to see Song Seok-hyun’s true skills.

Song Seok-hyun scratched his head.

He was getting too much attention from the start.

He had barely adjusted to the heavy bat, and now he had to hold a light bat again.

Song Seok-hyun stepped into the batter’s box, looking at the eyes watching him.

“Then I’ll give it a try.”

Turning Point

This is Real

Song Seok-hyun swung the bat lightly.

He couldn’t know the exact weight of the bat, but it was estimated to be around 900g or less. It was more than 100g lighter than the bat he usually used.

“Hoooooo.”

Song Seok-hyun exhaled.

It had become a showcase, though he didn’t want it to be.

Whether he would be branded as a protégé coddled by Kim Jung-ryul and have a tiring time in the Futures League, or whether he would be evaluated as, ‘So that’s why he was like that,’ would be determined by this one moment.

“Should I throw it?”

“Yes, please.”

Kim Jung-ryul put his index and middle fingers together.

A good batting ball should be thrown like a catcher throwing to a pitcher.

Thwack!

As soon as Kim Jung-ryul threw the ball, Song Seok-hyun’s bat turned.

The ball went straight over the left field fence, far beyond it.

“……?”

Needless to say, the ball soared far beyond the fence.

The audience fell silent.

“It’s too light.”

Song Seok-hyun swung the bat around.

Because the bat was light, the hitting point was in front, resulting in a pull hit [hitting the ball to the opposite field of where you are standing].

Since the priority in batting practice was to push the ball to the right fielder’s direction, that’s where he was aiming, but the difference of 100g was not something to be taken lightly.

Thwack!

Thwack!

Thwack!

From the next ball, Song Seok-hyun pushed the ball towards the right fielder’s direction.

Even though he pushed it, the balls either fell near the warning track [the track in front of the outfield fence] or went over the fence.

Unlike when he hit with the heavy bat, the distance was shorter, but it was obvious that he could still push the ball over the fence.

“…….”

There was no applause or cheering.

A sea of silence.

Song Seok-hyun gave an awkward smile at the silent uproar.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Kim Jung-ryul stepped out of the batting net and grinned.

Song Seok-hyun was looking at the ground and couldn’t see behind him, but Kim Jung-ryul could.

The gazes on Song Seok-hyun were quite different from the beginning.

“Good job.”

Kim Jung-ryul put his arm around Song Seok-hyun’s shoulder and left the batter’s box.

The manager clapped three or four times and held out his hand to Song Seok-hyun.

“Your name is Song Seok-hyun, right?”

* * *

It was just one batting practice.

There was no more chatter about Song Seok-hyun.

The talk about him getting in through Kim Jung-ryul’s connections and being a rookie catcher straight out of high school was immediately silenced.

His skills as a catcher had not yet been revealed, but his power alone made him the clear second-best player in the team, following Kim In-hwan.

Every team has sluggers and hitters with good power, but at least within the Futures League, there was no hitter who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Song Seok-hyun.

Except for Kim In-hwan, who was on another level.

“Faster! Faster!”

After batting practice, the battery coach [coach specialized in catchers and pitchers] called Song Seok-hyun aside and had him practice blocking.

It was a high-intensity training that made the battery coach sweat.

After the training, the battery coach smiled.

“Your blocking fundamentals are pretty good for someone at your level. How did you learn without any proper way to practice?”

Song Seok-hyun took off his catcher’s mask.

“I practiced by bouncing tennis balls off the wall.”

“Tennis balls?”

“Yes, and once I got used to tennis balls, I practiced with bouncy balls.”

“Really? Hahaha.”

The battery coach wiped his face with a towel.

“Old school. I used to train like that back in the day. Do they still do that kind of training these days?”

“I haven’t been a catcher for very long, so I was looking for ways to train on my own due to the lack of practice, and I ended up doing it this way.”

“It’s crude, but it’s the best way to train on your own. But you haven’t been a catcher for very long?”

“Yes, I started using the mitt in my second year of high school.”

“Second year? So it hasn’t even been three years?”

“Yes, I’m still lacking in many ways.”

“Hahaha. Man, there are plenty of guys who have been catchers their whole lives who are worse than you. Ah, so what was your position before?”

“I was a pitcher.”

“A pitcher? Not an infielder, but a pitcher? A pitcher as a catcher……. That’s a unique case. Then you must be confident in your throwing.”

“I’m embarrassed to say this, but my shoulder is still fresh.”

“Hmm, then shall we take a look? You can throw, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then throw one. Go up to the mound. Let’s see how fast you can throw.”

The battery coach picked up his mitt and headed to home plate.

Song Seok-hyun took off his protector and headed to the mound.

Whap, whap!

“Throw it. Let’s warm up a bit first.”

Song Seok-hyun rotated his shoulders.

It had been a long time since he had thrown a ball properly on the mound.

He hadn’t neglected shoulder training while practicing throwing, but throwing with a windup was a different matter from just throwing.

“Hoooo.”

Song Seok-hyun exhaled lightly.

He needed to relax his body to avoid unnecessary movements.

Song Seok-hyun lifted his leg slightly and threw the ball.

Whap!

“Oh, good. That’s probably around 130km/h [approximately 81 mph].”

Song Seok-hyun gradually widened his stride.

Since he wasn’t a pitcher, he didn’t extend his stride more than six steps.

Six and a half to seven steps was the optimal stride for a pitcher to maintain balance and maximize speed.

As Song Seok-hyun widened his stride, the ball naturally became faster.

“Hey, bring the speed gun.”

At the battery coach’s words, the conditioning coach, who had been watching from behind, brought the speed gun.

“Hey, Coach Jung. Check the speed. It’s pretty fast, isn’t it?”

The battery coach shouted loudly towards Song Seok-hyun.

“Throw it properly! Plant it right here!”

“Yes, I understand.”

Song Seok-hyun rotated his waist from side to side.

The key to pitching was two things.

How wide you take your stride.

How long you stretch your side.

The further you extend your leg, the deeper the twist between the pelvic line and the shoulder line, the higher the speed and power.

He had been widening his stride so far, now it was time to increase the twist in his side.

“I’ll throw it.”

“Throw it, throw it.”

The battery coach held out his mitt.

Looking at Song Seok-hyun’s shoulder, he was capable of at least the high 130s [high 80s mph].

That was a strong arm.

There were often cases where catchers switched to pitchers. If their natural arm strength increased with throwing practice, the team would switch them to pitchers.

The speed of 140~150km/h [approximately 87-93 mph] was a characteristic of pitchers who came from catchers.

Song Seok-hyun was the opposite case, but if he could throw over 140km/h [approximately 87 mph] on the mound, there would be no worries about his throwing.

“Hoooo.”

Song Seok-hyun relaxed his body and raised his leg to his chest.

Kicking, stride, stretch, torso rotation, bringing the release point as far forward as possible and striking.

The pitcher’s routine that he had done his whole life dominated his body.

Whap!

The battery coach flinched as he caught the ball.

He hadn’t just caught the ball.

The ball was sucked into the mitt.

“……145km/h [approximately 90 mph].”

The conditioning coach muttered.

“Crazy.”

The battery coach stood up from his spot while holding the ball.

“Hey, what is that? What’s with that ball? How fast could you throw when you were a pitcher?”

Song Seok-hyun raised his eyes.

“I think I officially reached 158km/h [approximately 98 mph].”