On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 59

The pitch that made Kim Young-gon known as the next homegrown ace.

After the first-inning mistake, the batters have been unable to hit Kim Young-gon’s pitches.

Kim Young-gon twirled the baseball in his hand.

* * *

“Ah, this is driving me crazy.”

Gote’s leadoff hitter, Kim Seung-hwan, frowned even before stepping into the batter’s box.

No hits against Kim Young-gon since the first inning.

No getting on base either.

Strikeout, strikeout.

He was helpless against Kim Young-gon’s hard slider.

The second batter, Seol Jin-il, was also sighing while gripping his bat.

Thwack!

The eighth batter made contact with Kim Young-gon’s pitch, but it was a ground ball.

Kim Young-gon threw fastballs approaching 145 km/h even in the eighth inning.

Out!

Kim Seung-hwan headed to the batter’s box with slumped shoulders.

Song Seok-hyun watched Kim Young-gon with his arms crossed.

“Seok-hyun, what do you think of him?”

Kim Jung-ryul pointed at Kim Young-gon.

“He looks good to you too, right?”

“Of course. He looks good to anyone.”

“How does he compare to Dae-sung?”

“Even being conservative, he’s at least a step above.”

“Is that so…”

Kim Jung-ryul licked his lips.

“Why?”

“I’m just jealous, jealous. There was a time when I was flying like that too.”

“Why are you saying that? You’re still throwing great pitches, aren’t you? Aren’t you almost untouchable these days?”

“That’s only in the Futures League [Korea’s minor league]. I don’t know if it would work in the KBO [Korean professional baseball league], I’ve never been a pitcher without a fastball.”

“You’re more difficult than Kim Young-gon. You’re a tougher pitcher. No, a better pitcher.”

“Me?”

Kim Jung-ryul chuckled.

“Are you just flattering me because I bought you some food? Are you a flattery vending machine now?”

“It’s not flattery. I mean it.”

“Really?”

Kim Jung-ryul made a hmm sound and looked at Song Seok-hyun.

“What’s the reason?”

“Your tunneling is good. Your sinker, curve, and slider come out of a similar path.”

“He does that too.”

“That’s similar. But you also have good deception, and most importantly, no tell.”

Kim Jung-ryul narrowed his eyes.

“You found a tell on him?”

“I’m not sure, but maybe.”

“What is it?”

“Not yet. I need to confirm it before I can tell you.”

“Oh, he has a tell?”

Kim Jung-ryul looked at Kim Young-gon on the mound.

A fastball and a slider are the most common repertoire for a pitcher, but also the best combination.

A fastball and a curve are also known as a great match, but the tunneling is completely different.

The mechanics of throwing a curveball are different from a fastball, so a batter with good eyes can tell it’s a curveball before the ball even arrives.

On the other hand, a slider has similar mechanics to a fastball, and the tunneling is difficult to distinguish.

Similar mechanics mean it’s easy to throw, and easy to throw means it’s difficult to develop a tell—a different habit.

“What is it? What’s different?”

Kim Jung-ryul stared at Kim Young-gon with wide eyes.

No matter how much he looked, Kim Jung-ryul couldn’t see any difference in the pitching form when throwing a fastball and a slider.

“Give me a hint. What is it?”

Song Seok-hyun was already putting on his catcher’s gear.

“You can’t tell from here anyway. You have to stand in the batter’s box to know.”

“What is it? You’re making me curious. Tell me.”

“I’ll tell you after I confirm it.”

Eighth inning, bottom.

The pitcher on Gote’s mound was Lee Baek-chan, not Hong Dae-sung.

Hong Dae-sung pitched well, but they gave up an additional run and were down 5-4.

Lee Baek-chan was Gote’s first-round pick last year, a pitcher who threw a fastball.

When they picked Lee Baek-chan last year, the team thought it was the best choice, but now Lee Baek-chan’s evaluation was mixed.

He throws a fastball, but his power drops if he pitches more than three innings.

His pitches quickly become dull if he pitches in consecutive games.

A sharp knife, but a thin knife that can break easily.

Gote was developing Lee Baek-chan in the Futures League to use him as a closer.

Thump, thump.

Song Seok-hyun tapped his mitt with his hand.

Lee Baek-chan on the mound threw practice pitches.

Thwack!

The sound of the ball hitting the mitt was refreshing.

Velocity 148 km/h.

Song Seok-hyun checked the trajectory of the ball coming in from the outside.

“Nice! Good ball!”

The first batter in the eighth inning was the eighth batter, the catcher Park Sang-yeon.

Park Sang-yeon shortened his grip after watching Lee Baek-chan’s practice pitches.

“Lee Baek-chan joined Gote with considerable spotlight, didn’t he? But currently, he’s not showing very good performance even in the Futures League.”

“Lee Baek-chan definitely has a good ball and good breaking balls. His control is also decent. But the problem is his mentality. He’s timid. A nervous wreck, you could say. He’s a powerful pitcher as long as there are no runners on base, but he panics when a runner gets on. Especially his quick motion, the slide step, is 1.4 seconds. It needs to be within 1.3 seconds to keep the runner in check, so how can he properly control the runner?”

“A pitcher who can’t control the runner. That’s a weakness.”

“Of course. A very clear weakness. It’s difficult to perform in the KBO with such an obvious weakness.”

Lee Baek-chan kicked and threw the first pitch with all his might.

The mitt was on the outside, but the ball came right into the center of the strike zone.

Thwack!

-Strike!

A fastball right down the middle, but the batter couldn’t swing.

A ball approaching 150 km/h.

The sound of the ball hitting the mitt was heavy.

“Today, Gote’s pitchers are all throwing fastballs. The ball is quite fast.”

“In Korean baseball, pitchers with fastballs are rare. Regardless of control, there’s a tendency to pick pitchers who have fastballs first. Hong Dae-sung and Lee Baek-chan both definitely have fastballs. Lee Baek-chan’s fastball, in particular, is known for being heavy. Eventually, it’s only a matter of time before Lee Baek-chan goes to the KBO. He has weaknesses, but he also has clear strengths.”

Song Seok-hyun watched the batter’s knees.

The weight was slightly more on the front knee.

It’s basic to shift the weight to the back leg before the swing and to the front leg when swinging.

Putting weight on the front leg before the swing is a common method used by players aiming for contact.

‘Fastball, inside.’

Song Seok-hyun held out his mitt to the inside.

Lee Baek-chan nodded once and kicked his leg up to chest height.

“Ah!”

Park Sang-yeon collapsed with a scream.

Lee Baek-chan’s ball went right into Park Sang-yeon’s butt instead of the mitt.

“Oh, a hit-by-pitch.”

“That wasn’t the time to throw a hit-by-pitch at all. It seems like a mistake.”

“The batter isn’t protesting to the pitcher. Maybe the batter knows it was a mistake too.”

“It’s fortunate it hit his butt.”

“If Lee Baek-chan’s ball had gone above the waist, it would have been a dangerous situation.”

Lee Baek-chan took off his hat and bowed to Park Sang-yeon, who went to first base.

Park Sang-yeon nodded once.

“Now it’s first base with no outs. We said Lee Baek-chan doesn’t like runners getting on base.”

“The runner on first base isn’t fast, but this alone will be stressful for Lee Baek-chan.”

The pitcher took a breath.

The next batter was the ninth batter, Kim Cheol-woong.

He was the ninth batter, but he was a batter with power.

Song Seok-hyun asked for a ball that missed outside on the first pitch.

Thwack!

-Ball, outside.

The ball missed two or three balls outside.

“Oh, the ball is missing right away. He can’t control it.”

“If you control the fastball like that, the bench will be frustrated. Who’s going to fall for that? If it were a breaking ball, the batter might swing, but that kind of ball is just thrown away.”

The runner on first base widened his lead little by little.

Lee Baek-chan glanced at first base.

Second pitch.

Another fastball missing outside.

2-0.

“His control is so bad?”

“He’s trying to force the quick motion even though his quick motion is slow, so his arm and leg balance is off. The stepping foot has to properly support him first, and then the arm has to go over with that power, but now the arm is going over before the stepping foot can properly support him.”

Song Seok-hyun got up from his seat.

“Time. Just a moment.”

Song Seok-hyun headed to the mound.

Lee Baek-chan took a breath.

Lee Baek-chan’s lips were parched.

“Hyung [older brother/male friend, term of respect].”

Lee Baek-chan lowered his head slightly.

“I know. Your control is bad, right? The ball is missing.”

“It’s not that.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s because I didn’t apply enough rosin. I’ll throw it properly now.”

“Hyung, just a moment. Look at me.”

Lee Baek-chan finally looked directly at Song Seok-hyun.

Song Seok-hyun looked Lee Baek-chan straight in the eye and said.

“Just reduce the runner’s lead and don’t do the quick motion. Just wind up. I’ll catch him if he steals. Trust me and throw. If he steals, it’s my fault. Got it? Just wind up.”

“Huh?”

Song Seok-hyun went down the mound as it was.

Lee Baek-chan covered his mouth with his glove and blinked.

Song Seok-hyun’s shoulders didn’t seem to fill the home plate.

Success as a Catcher

Young gun (5)

Lee Baek-chan couldn’t control it even when he wound up.

There was no way he could throw the ball properly with a quick motion.

That was the conclusion he came to after watching Lee Baek-chan’s pitching.

“Thank you.”

Song Seok-hyun greeted the batter and the umpire and sat behind home plate.

A pitcher is selfish.

Since they have to bear the burden of victory and defeat, they have to be selfish to relieve the burden on their minds.

Song Seok-hyun tried to relieve Lee Baek-chan’s burden by attributing the fault of the stolen base to himself.

‘Fastball, high ball.’

The course doesn’t matter.

A high ball.

When you can’t control it, one way is to just overpower it.

Lee Baek-chan nodded.

Lee Baek-chan glanced at the runner on first base.

As Lee Baek-chan’s leg went up, the runner leaned forward as if to start.

“Lee Baek-chan, windup!”

Thwack!

-Strike!

“The runner is running!”

Out!

Park Sang-yeon attempted a bent-leg slide, but it was a tag that was not only at the same timing but also one beat faster.

“What was that just now?”

“Hahaha, I can’t believe it either. I don’t know what this situation is at all.”

“The pitcher wound up with a runner on base. The runner took a fake motion and started a little late because the pitcher wound up. But the pitcher wound up. It wouldn’t have been a slow start.”

“Yes, it certainly wasn’t that slow of a start. I can see that too.”

“But, the ball had already reached the second baseman when the runner was halfway there. What is this? Does this happen?”

“The throw was amazing. It was a good position to throw because he threw a high ball just now, but I can’t help but praise the catcher’s shoulder. It was incredibly fast. A great shoulder.”

“In the meantime, Kim Cheol-woong, who swung and missed at that high ball, is also making a regretful expression. If he had made at least a foul, he could have avoided the runner being out.”

“It was a very interesting situation. The pitcher wound up, the runner started half a beat late, the batter swung and missed at the high ball, and the catcher threw to second base despite the pitcher’s windup. What is this? Hahahaha. Is this the charm of the Futures League? It’s a situation you’d never see in the KBO.”

The Sangmu bench was buzzing.

The base-running coach looked back and forth between the bench and the field with a flustered expression.

Park Sang-yeon came to the bench with an embarrassed face.

“Why did you run without a sign?”

At the manager’s words, Park Sang-yeon answered with a tense attitude.

“The pitcher suddenly wound up, so I ran without realizing it.”

“Then you should have been safe.”