Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 68

Would he walk him?

I wondered, watching Seong-hyun walk to the plate.

A fast runner on second. Still only one out, and the best hitter on the team at the plate. And the next hitter is good, but slow.

“Haik!”

But seeing him get called out on a deep inside strike on the first pitch put my mind at ease. At the same time, I was puzzled. I would have walked him if I were them.

Kang Seong-hyun! Kang Seong-hyun! Batting Thug Kang Seong-hyun!

How did Seong-hyun get such a nickname, one that might or might not be suitable for broadcast?

Smaaaash―!!

“It’s go……!”

Because he hits the ball so damn hard, like a thug.

The nicknames players get are often for simpler reasons than you might think.

“Foul!”

The sound of the hit made it seem like the ball might actually shatter, but it went foul.

Plus, he was down to a 0-2 count. But from where I was watching, I wasn’t too worried.

Just get a hit.

Clack―!!

After picking off a slider that was breaking away, he smashed the ball again. A long hit that cleared the right fielder’s head!

Hoonie stepped on the base and, after confirming that the ball had hit the fence, ran home with plenty of room to spare. He clapped his hands and pointed at Seong-hyun, who was standing on second base.

Batting Thug Kang! Seong! Hyun!

From a two-point lead to a three-point lead. Plus, the chance with no outs and a runner on second remained.

It would have been nice to score more runs here, but unfortunately, the next three hitters all grounded out, so we had to settle for just one additional point.

But it’s okay. Senior [older or more experienced] Choi Eun-gu will do well.

“Shyaa!”

“Eun-gu, take me!”

He’ll do well.

The trust, which could be seen as irresponsible, worked.

He gave up a walk to Myung-gyu right from the start, but then struck out the next three hitters with nothing but fastballs to end the inning. Not a single fastball dropped below 150km [approximately 93 mph].

Later, in the bottom of the 7th, our team was up to bat.

After Seong-hoon hyung [older brother or respected older male figure] got a hit, Seong-mun got walked, creating an opportunity.

But Gyu-hak’s bunt turned into a double play, and Hoonie’s well-hit ball was also stopped by a great defensive play, ending the inning as it was.

And,

– Your love is a wildcard, Folding is the hard part―

Waaaaaah―!!

The team’s wildcard takes the mound.

As the bullpen door opened, my entrance music echoed through the stadium.

The best middle reliever on the team. No, the most reliable guy.

I arrived on the mound, picked up the rosin bag, and patted it, powdering my hand white.

Satisfied with my right hand, which was made up white in every corner, I looked up at the scoreboard.

Batter number 7, Son Min-hyuk.

After my entrance music and video ended, my profile picture, in which I was touching the brim of my cap and looking at the camera, appeared.

Ding―!

[Consecutive Appearances!]

– Pitch 1 scoreless inning in consecutive postseason appearances. (0/1)

– Reward ― All pitches +1

And the mission that was overlaid on my face. Another +1 to all pitches. Why are they being so generous?

“Good, good, good.”

Muttering to myself, I turned around. I flicked my glove and threw the ball back and forth. A pleasant sound came from Gyu-hak’s mitt.

I don’t know how many I threw, and like a habit, I thought I should throw a fastball next, but after seeing Gyu-hak suddenly stand up and throw to second, I realized, oh, it’s over.

Good concentration.

He expressed the narrowness of my vision in a roundabout way. I thought positively that today, even movements in cm [centimeter] units might be possible.

Play!

7, 8, 9.

Facing the three batters with the lowest batting productivity is less of a burden.

Relaxed, but still maintaining tension.

Bang!

“Haik!”

I lightly threw a fastball inside to Son Min-hyuk to start.

Son Min-hyuk’s expression, as he watched it blankly and got hit with an inside strike, looked uncomfortable.

Something seems off with his aim.

“Haiik!”

Then one more.

The same location, the same spot. Even the batter’s expression was the same, as if it had been copied and pasted.

If you get hit by two straight fastballs,

“Hiaaaaak!!”

Next is a slow hook [curveball].

I glanced back to see how fast the curveball was, and it was 101km [approximately 63 mph]. The difference of just over 40km [approximately 25 mph] was even more satisfying.

I felt relieved after getting the lead-off hitter out.

Pinch hitter, Lee Soo-joon.

Ah.

But I quickly became uncomfortable again.

Lee Soo-joon appeared, receiving the growing cheers from Seong-woon’s cheering section.

A hitter who should have been hitting in the 3-hole where Myung-gyu is now.

But two years ago, he suffered a major knee injury during the season and went into a very long rehabilitation.

And now he’s making his comeback here, and he happens to be facing me.

I don’t have particularly good memories of Lee Soo-joon. The last time I faced him was right in the middle of the 16th season, when I was in my original form.

Lee Soo-joon himself seemed to remember that. Even with the league’s bullpen ace in front of him, he didn’t seem nervous at all.

Rather, he looked confident.

How… did I used to deal with this hitter?

Once, twice, three times, I deliberately refused Gyu-hak’s signs, stalling for time. Then Gyu-hak’s finger caught my attention. I nodded and went into my windup.

It’ll work.

Clack―!

A changeup thrown inside to the same-handed hitter. It was a very well-controlled pitch, but it was also hit very well.

“Foul!”

Except that it was hit so well that it landed outside the line.

It seems like he’s looking for a fastball, so I’m glad I went around once.

He made a well-hit ball, but it’s still a foul. No matter how well you hit it, it doesn’t mean anything if it’s a foul.

If it means anything,

“Swing―”

It’s on our side.

I thought he was still focused on the faster pitches, so I threw it like the curveball from earlier. I successfully induced a swing and a miss.

One more time, I want to throw another slow pitch.

But the signs that came out were the opposite of what I wanted. Fastball.

In the end, I couldn’t decide on a sign and stepped off. I took off my glove, wiped the ball, and stepped on the plate.

At the same time, I spread out five fingers and brought them to my forearm. He’ll understand this way.

Inside fastball, inside fastball, inside fastball.

But the signs that followed were a frustrating series of the same signs. I glared at him, wondering why. He glanced to his right.

Bench sign [signal from the team’s coaching staff].

There’s no other answer. I wanted to flip everything over, but I held back. They must have a reason.

Clack―

“No…….”

As soon as I saw the ball being hit squarely and splitting the center-right field, the initiating [expletive] came out of my mouth.

I took my eyes off Lee Soo-joon, who was standing on second base and looking at his dugout with satisfaction.

On the other hand, I struggled to hold back an uncomfortable expression as I looked at our dugout.

They must have had something in mind.

That’s how I have to get over it. No, after that, the next one will be the same. No, it’ll get even better.

No matter how hard I tried to hide my uncomfortable expression, I couldn’t hide my uncomfortable feelings, and the intensity of my breath grew rougher.

I took a deep breath and prepared to face Kang Seok-young.

Lee Soo-joon’s running speed isn’t that fast. And Kang Seok-young is a left-handed hitter, with very little power, but his footwork is decent.

I have to make him push it to the opposite field.

Once the plan was complete, my hand moved before Gyu-hak’s hand could move.

Since there was a situation earlier, the bench wouldn’t interfere anymore.

“Swee-ing!”

First, I got a count with a backdoor slider [a slider that appears to be going outside but breaks back over the plate].

It’s still the pitch I have the most shortcomings with, but the change that came after learning from Hyun-jin was bringing unfamiliarity to the hitters.

“Ball!”

I have to get to two strikes somehow.

“Baaall―!”

A changeup and a sinker that broke away to the outside.

He picked off two pitches in a row, and the count went against me.

…Curve?

I remembered that the movement of my curveballs was good today. My index finger busily moved around my left side.

“Swing!”

The effort I put in paid off. I forcibly created an unbelievably fast swing of the bat.

The curveball fell to the outside only after the bat had finished its rotation.

Let’s make him push it to the opposite field. No, let’s make him get jammed.

By this point, Gyu-hak’s mind was the same as mine.

He walked to the front of home plate before giving the sign, so I quickly took my right foot off the plate.

After moving his right hand and mitt around, he made a “thud!” sound and gave the sign before returning to his seat.

Index finger, ring finger and pinky, and pinky.

It worked. Our minds.

Tick!

Inside, not too high and not too low.

The ball that flew to exactly where I wanted it to go caught the ball on the handle of the bat and rolled towards me.

“First!”

“Watch! Watch the runner!”

I didn’t realize it when it was hit, but as it got closer to me after being hit, I felt that it wasn’t as slow as I thought it would be.

I pulled my right hand back and just gloved the ball well off the ground.

Following Seong-mun’s call from behind, I checked the runner on second. He flinched as if he was going to run, but when he made eye contact with me, he slowly returned to second.

After confirming, I quickly snapped the throw to first.

“Out!”

Did you see that, kids? That’s how you play defense as a pitcher.

I hope our team’s young pitchers will emulate this. I think that defense was pretty cool just now.

Hitter number 1, Choi Woo-seok.

Damn it.

My satisfied heart was thrown back down by the announcer’s voice.

He’s a guy who hasn’t had a good hit against me since ‘that day,’ but still, his presence itself is different from other hitters.

Choi Woo-seok.

That’s what the brand that those three letters give is like.

Outside. In the end, it’s outside.

Since some time ago, he’s been struggling with low pitches on the outside. In the end, it’s the same. Let’s make that the main focus.

I stepped on the plate and checked the runner on second. He didn’t seem to have any problems, so I felt relieved and checked the sign.

A slider that opens the back door.

Gyu-hak and I have worked together a lot, and the data that has been accumulated by facing Woo-seok several times with this battery [pitcher and catcher working together] was also valid for Gyu-hak. A combination that openly aims for the outside.

“Ball!”

Ah.

It went in well, but unfortunately. Really unfortunately, one ball missed and started as a ball.

Following sinker to the outside.

“Ball!”

One more ball.

This isn’t it.

As two balls went in in a row, I felt strongly that the first button was buttoned wrong [made a mistake early on].

Even if Woo-seok has a weakness on the outside, he’s still Choi Woo-seok.

Should I just walk him [intentionally walk him]?

The next hitter will be Kim Seong-hoon. I don’t know if a pinch hitter will come out or not, but even so, he’ll be easier to face than Woo-seok.

The decision after the thoughts were organized, and the actions after the decision were quick.

I flicked my right hand and sent a sign to Gyu-hak. Seeing him try to come up to the mound, I showed my palm again and stopped him.

What?

My right hand, pointing at Woo-seok, was reflected in his eyes, which seemed to say that. I dragged it as it was and pointed in the direction of first base.

No way…….

He made that expression and looked at the dugout. In response, I reflexively turned my head to the same place.

The bench’s expression was awkward, nothing more and nothing less.

Looking back at Gyu-hak, he hesitated and approached the umpire to say something.

Intentional walk.

As Woo-seok, who heard the story from the umpire, was about to take off his equipment with a strange expression, an explanation of the current situation continued in the stadium.

Our team’s audience cheered, while the opposing cheering section booed.

Woowooo―!

No fan likes seeing their team’s pitcher give up a base for free.

According to the natural algorithm, the weight of the boos was greater than the cheers.

It’s okay.

Muttering as if hypnotizing myself, I stepped on the plate. It’s okay, it’s easier to defend now.

With a bit of gloom, I waited for the sign again.

“Foul!”

A sinker that dug into Kim Seong-hoon’s body, hitting the top of the ball and bending the ball at an angle that was of no use.

I was satisfied with getting the count on the first pitch.

“Ball.”

Deep inside. I deliberately put it in a place that wasn’t a strike. I pulled my foot out and received a ball call, and,

“Ball―”

Two balls with a sinker arriving at the same location. 2-1. The next ball… a splitter [a type of fastball]?

I realized that I hadn’t thrown a splitter once today. Then it’s worth choosing.

Then the next topic, should I put it in to get a count? If I take it out, will he swing?

Many thoughts went through my mind in the short moment of raising my head again, which had been lowered to see the sign.

The worries continued even inside the glove, and in the end, I rubbed the ball lightly on the palm of my hand and lowered my wrist. The splitter grip was simply completed.

“Swing!”

A splitter that goes to the high part of the zone and falls to the low part of the zone.

I wasn’t satisfied with the swing that came out. I checked the point where the bat turned, that point.

He’s looking there.

Only then did I see the path that would lead to the next one. My index finger once again swept across the left side of my body, creating a signpost.

Inside the glove, the ring finger fell down. Even in the midst of the fans’ cheers, it felt like I could hear the sound of the thread scratching against the bottom of the glove.

With all the fingers folded, only the index finger was standing straight.

Yes, I’m going to throw it there.

The index finger, which was stretched out until the moment of release, seemed to be saying that.

The ball, which escaped with the middle finger as the axis, was hit with a strong spin and flew high.

Fall, fall!

I repeated it several times in my mind when I saw Kim Seong-hoon’s bat knob.

Boom―!

Bang!

A curveball fell beautifully to the area a few balls lower than the low line of the zone, that area.

“Shyaaaaak!!”

Clap!

A great escape from the crisis! My right hand hit the outside of the glove on its own.

Even until the moment I returned to the dugout, the emotion that had been expressed once did not subside.

Ding―!

[Consecutive Appearances!]

– Pitch 1 scoreless inning in consecutive postseason appearances. (1/1)

– Reward ― All pitches +1

Control ― Top

Power ― Medium

Stamina ― Medium

Four-seam ― 60+1=61

Curve ― 53+1=54

Slider ― 41+1=42

Splitter ― 42+1=43

Changeup ― 49+1=50

Sinker ― 47+1=48

Traits

Detachment ― I’m okay with any batted ball or situation.

Discomfort ― Makes the opposing hitter feel uncomfortable when looking at the pitcher on the plate.

Comfort ― Those who look at me feel comfortable.

In addition to completing the inning without giving up a run, I also completed the mission, so even more so.

“Hoo-ooo!!”

It seemed difficult to easily shake off this feeling right now.