Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 176

176. Changeup

As the season neared its end, calculations for each team’s magic number (the number of wins needed to clinch a title) and tragic number (the number of losses that would eliminate a team from contention) began to surface.

The Wonha Challengers stood at 70 wins and 44 losses, while the Sangsoo Tigers had 66 wins and 48 losses. With 12 games left for each team, the game difference was four.

Applying these numbers to the Wonha Challengers:

“…9 games.”

The Wonha Challengers needed only 9 more wins to clinch the league title outright, without needing to worry about other teams’ results.

“Hoo….”

9 wins out of 12 games. A 75% win rate.

It might seem impossible for a team with a 61% win rate to be discussing this, but Sangsoo could also lose games as we accumulate those 9 wins.

“Guess I won’t be pitching today either.”

But regardless, it’s really hard to get a chance to pitch these days.

With the team atmosphere focused on the Korean Series [KBO’s championship series] rather than the pennant race, backup or 1.5-tier players are prioritized over aces like me.

Excluding the main players and fielding those below them offers two advantages for the team.

Deciding who to take among the remaining spots on the Korean Series roster, and managing the stamina of the main players.

What’s amazing about the Wonha Challengers is that they’re steadily accumulating wins even with so many main players missing.

The Wonha Challengers of the past, who had nothing without their regulars, are gone. Now, they’re a team that ranks high in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] in terms of depth.

“Hey, senior.”

“Huh?”

In that process, both the seniors and juniors put in their effort.

“I’ve been practicing the changeup, and I was wondering if you could check it out.”

The seniors grabbed the juniors by the hair and forced their tips on them, while the juniors grabbed the seniors by the collar and snatched their tips. [A Korean expression for sharing knowledge and experience, sometimes forcefully.]

He’s good.

“Changeup? What’s with that?”

“Well, don’t you remember the time the four of us—me, you, Choi Eun-gu, and Han Gyu-jin—went out for drinks?”

“Ah! Was that when we had spicy octopus stir-fry [Jjukkumi bokkeum, a popular Korean dish]?”

“Yes, it was.”

When was it that Jiho and the four of us drank together? It feels like it’s been about two years already.

The conversation we had back then was definitely…….

“…Occipital and temporal lobes.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, no. No, it’s nothing.”

“Okay….”

Ahem.

“Come to think of it, we talked about breaking balls back then. What would be good to add to what you’re throwing now, that kind of thing.”

“That’s right.”

“So you chose the changeup.”

“Yes.”

If I remember correctly, Gyu-jin recommended a forkball, and Eun-gu recommended a two-seam fastball.

The one who recommended the changeup was,

“It’s funny that I’m asking after recommending it, but why?”

Me.

“I’ve tried practicing everything. The two-seam just doesn’t feel right, and the forkball seemed the best….”

“And?”

“…The changeup feels the best.”

“Feel, huh….”

In Jiho’s case, the changeup is the process, and the forkball is the result.

It depends on the individual situation, but is Jiho making the right choice by choosing the process over the result?

“You made a good choice.”

Of course, it’s the process.

For players on the verge of retirement due to performance, or those who are said to have no more room for growth, it’s right to focus on the results.

Otherwise, they’ll get cut.

But Jiho, who is still in his early 20s, has many years left to make a living as a baseball player.

Practicing slowly, experimenting, and testing things out to suit his taste—that’s one of the ways Jiho can continue to make a living as a baseball player 10 years from now.

“Let’s play catch.”

“Yes. I’ll get the ball.”

Since I had nothing to do anyway, I grabbed my glove and headed to the field.

“Can I throw?”

As expected, Jiho is quick.

I diligently came out of the dugout, but Jiho had already brought the ball and was far away, holding it up.

“Yeah, yeah, throw it.”

“I’ll loosen up my shoulder with a fastball first.”

“Whoa, whoa.”

After a light warm-up with a simple catch,

“I’ll throw a changeup.”

“Okay, okay.”

Jiho threw a changeup.

Thwack!

“Oh…keep throwing.”

“Yes, sir.”

Thwack!

“I’ll throw it a bit harder.”

“Hey.”

Thwack—

“Oh.”

Good.

“How did you throw that?”

I stopped the catch for a moment and approached Jiho to inquire about his grip and technique.

Jiho seemed quite pleased with the reaction, which was more than just good or bad.

“I make a circle with my index finger and thumb here….”

He wholeheartedly shared the tips he had created.

Ah, throwing a changeup like this is also good. It’s good, but…….

“Try holding it like this once.”

“Like this….”

“Yeah. Spread it out a bit more. Right, right, you make a circle with your thumb and index finger, right? In my case, I hook my index finger here, outside my thumb.”

“Ah…can I try throwing it like this?”

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead.”

This kid has a high passion for learning.

Thwack—

“How is it?”

“Good. This is also quite good. The previous one fell like this. But this one falls like this.”

Holding the ball in my right hand, I drew the difference in trajectory so that Jiho could see it from the direction he threw.

“Which one is better?”

“There’s nothing particularly better. It’s just a matter of preference. You can adjust it to whatever you’re comfortable with depending on the situation.”

“Then, what kind of situations are there?”

“Situations?”

Ah, he’s really being a pain.

“You need to think about the intention of a breaking ball in the first place.”

“Intention?”

“Right. Why do we have breaking balls? Because it’s hard to get batters out with just fastballs, so breaking balls appeared to assist the fastball. Right?”

He’s making it even more annoying.

“In the end, what breaking ball you throw, and what kind of break you make that breaking ball have, you can think of it like putting together a combination in a game.”

“Ah, a combination….”

“It’s just a simple example. Really simple.”

“Yes.”

“I throw a sinker. Then it curves like this.”

Approximately towards the 4 o’clock direction.

“But if the changeup suddenly drops straight down, the difference is too big, so in a way, the batter might not be fooled.”

“But…if the changeup curves in the same direction as the sinker….”

“You can deceive them with the difference in speed rather than the trajectory.”

“Ah, I see….”

I wonder if he understood.

“Actually, even after saying all this, the logic doesn’t make sense. Even if a ground ball comes out, if the batter knows it’s a breaking ball and hits it, the breaking ball loses its meaning.”

“Because the intention itself is to deceive them?”

“Right, right.”

He understood.

“But you’ve been a pitcher for a long time, so you know. There are guys who wait as long as possible and hit based on the trajectory.”

“Ah…that’s right.”

“It’s easier to just admit it. Ah, these guys can’t be caught just by changing the ball. Just admit it. You know why?”

“I…don’t know.”

“Just admitting that gives you the justification to take the next step.”

“What kind of next step? Like, development?”

“Right. Ah, I did this, but it didn’t work. Then what if I try this? This kind of attempt, experiment. This is also a huge benefit.”

“Wow….”

It’s too early to be impressed, newbie.

“So what method is there? That’s the speed difference.”

“Speed control?”

“That’s right. Take a look.”

I used my right hand to show the trajectory of the sinker I throw.

“This is my sinker trajectory.”

“Yes.”

“Then how about this?”

Once again, I showed the trajectory of the sinker.

“…Isn’t that the same sinker as before?”

“The difference?”

“I don’t know.”

“Speed difference. Speed.”

“Ah.”

“As long as they’re human, as long as they’ve made a living playing baseball, they can distinguish the trajectory of the ball. Whether they can hit it or not is another story.”

“Yes.”

“But similarly, as long as they’re human, if you change the speed with the same trajectory, they can’t distinguish it. Except for that bastard Park Hae-jin.”

“Pardon?”

Ahem.

“…Anyway, think about that kind of synergy. What kind of quality does the pitch I originally throw have, so what kind of quality should I make the new pitch have, something like that.”

“Ah…yes.”

* * *

Whether he understood the conversation we had earlier or not,

“Changeup!”

“Chan-geup!” [A playful mispronunciation of ‘changeup’.]

During the top of the 6th inning, Jiho was diligently throwing changeups in the bullpen.

Throwing it like this, throwing it like that, throwing it in a ridiculous way once. And throwing things he hadn’t thrown before.

Whether he gained some kind of result or made a choice,

“One more time!”

“Ah, chan-geup!”

There’s no hesitation in throwing the changeup during the bullpen pitching.

“Jiho, let’s finish with about…three more.”

“Yes, sir!”

The attack is slowly coming to an end. As the coach said, Jiho,

“Last.”

“Yes, curveball!”

“High!”

After throwing three balls, he ran to the mound through the open bullpen door.

As I leaned against the bullpen railing and watched Jiho’s practice pitches,

“Did you teach him the changeup?”

The coach came up next to me and poked my side.

“Ah, yes.”

“How was it?”

“Um…his understanding isn’t bad. He had a good feel for the changeup in the first place. When I told him this and that, he immediately applied it.”

“Does it seem usable right away?”

“If you refine it a little?”

“A little….”

The coach glanced at the scoreboard, talked to the battery coach over there for a moment, and came back.

“What did you talk about?”

“Considering the opponent’s batting order and the score difference, I asked him to relay that he should call for the changeup sign a lot.”

The Hanseong Winners’ batting order starts with the 6th batter, Kim Hong-ju. And the score difference is 3 points.

“For practice?”

“We have to try it out at times like this. And to see your insight.”

“Hey, what would you use my insight for….”

Dding-!

[Prayer]

– Pray that pitcher Kim Ji-ho throws the changeup 5 times or more and pitches a scoreless inning. (0/1)

– Reward – Breaking ball +2

“…….”

“Use, what.”

“…There will be a use for it. Yes. Of course.”

I’m sure there was a similar quest related to Jiho before.

Is the material running out? The quest content is being recycled a lot these days, huh?

“Hmm….”

“Are you nervous because I’m looking at your insight?”

“No, it’s not that….”

I’m a little sorry to say, but I’m not really nervous.

“What’s there to be nervous about? Jiho is good.”

Our Jiho is a kid who does well on his own.

Two years might not be a big deal when you’re older.

Isn’t that just how you live, right?

But for someone in their early 20s, especially someone who lives with gritted teeth, two years is a very significant amount of time.

Two years.

What did our Jiho do during those two years?

He ran hard, threw hard, received hard, and studied hard.

Bang-!

Jiho has long been a ‘pitcher’ who can overcome difficulties solely with his own strength.

“Shai, ick!” [Sound of cheering in Korean]

Let’s see, let’s see, roughly looking at the break angle and speed range…….

“Is that a changeup?”

“I think so?”

Huh, that kid is really out of his mind. He’s thinking of shoving a changeup into the zone right from the start.

“Sometimes I have a thought when I look at Jiho.”

“What is it?”

“It’s like looking at you in the old days.”

“Um…Jiho is a bit reckless.”

“No, not that.”

“Yes?”

Whoosh—

“Seeing him put things into action without thinking about the consequences, it’s like looking at you in the old days.”

“…….”

Um…I guess it’s a compliment. It must be a compliment.

Taak—

“Ah, it’s up.”

As if he had heard the coach’s praise, Jiho steadily increased the out count.

As he had pledged, he had a feel for the changeup,

Whoosh—

“Swing, out!”

He struck out Choi Hyung-sun and quickly assembled two outs.

“Ah, and…if the score difference doesn’t widen from here, you’re going up in the 8th inning. Just be on standby.”

“Yes, yes.”

“And when Jiho comes down later, he’ll probably do that, what….”

If Jiho comes down after finishing the inning…….

“Did you see me pitch? How was it? He’ll probably ask for feedback.”

He’s going to bother me a lot.

“Yeah. Give him some good feedback.”

“Of course.”

And I really like that kind of annoyance.

Dding-!

[Prayer]

– Pray that pitcher Kim Ji-ho throws the changeup 5 times or more and pitches a scoreless inning. (1/1)

– Reward

– Breaking ball +2

Control – Top

Power – Top

Stamina – Medium

Four-seam – 100

Curve – 97+2=99

Slider – 96+2=98

Splitter – 98+2=100

Changeup – 97+2=99

Sinker – 96+2=98

Traits

Detachment – He accepts any batted ball or situation.

Discomfort – Makes the opposing batter uncomfortable when they see the pitcher on the mound.

Comfort – Those who watch him feel comfortable.

Concentration – The number of targets he can concentrate on increases.

Competition – His four-seam increases by +5 when he wants to win.

Contagion – His emotions are contagious.

“Ah, it’s over.”

While I was briefly distracted by the conversation with the coach, I turned my head at the sudden notification sound and saw Jiho returning to the bullpen, high-fiving his teammates.

“Senior, did you happen to see it?”

“Ah, yeah. I saw it, I saw it.”

“Do you have any comments to give me?”

As expected, our Jiho is a kid with a high passion for learning.

“All I can say in my review is that you did well. I’m not just trying to brush it off, I really mean it.”

“Ah….”

“It would be faster for you to say what you felt, rather than that.”

“Ah, then I just now….”

As soon as I opened the floodgates, Jiho forgot that he had to ice his arm and quickly brought the ball to start a barrage of questions.

“Hey, hey, go ice it first. We have plenty of time.”

“Ah….”

“Go and come back.”