Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 88

※ 88. Competition

**Wonha Challengers’ Lee Myung-jin, Out for 10 Days Due to Oblique Muscle Injury [Exclusive]**

The Wonha Challengers, who were fiercely chasing the Sangsu Tigers, have hit a snag. Lee Myung-jin, their regular leadoff hitter and starting shortstop, has suffered an oblique muscle injury.

The injury occurred during the 7th inning of yesterday’s away game against the Dongseong Hornets while he was batting with two runners in scoring position.

A team official stated that the injury isn’t severe and he should fully recover in about a week. However, they plan to send him down to the minor league for about ten days to ensure he gets sufficient rest before returning.

Currently, the most likely replacements for Lee Myung-jin are Park Heon-hee and Kim Gi-beom, who are currently utilized as backup infielders.

In a full season, Park Heon-hee is a hitter who can be expected to hit around 10 home runs and 20 doubles, but he has defensive shortcomings.

On the other hand, Kim Gi-beom has above-average defensive skills at all infield positions and is the fastest runner in the league, but his hitting is very weak.

The absence of Lee Myung-jin, who combines the strengths of Park Heon-hee and Kim Gi-beom, for ten days is expected to be a significant blow for Wonha, who are competing for first place with the Sangsu Tigers.

Overall, while most of the young starting players are considered solid, the Wonha Challengers are rated as having the weakest roster depth in the league.

The free agency [FA, allowing players to sign with different teams] period is approaching like a bomb about to explode. This situation allows us to see Wonha Challengers’ Plan B in advance.

* * *

With Myung-jin’s departure, our team had to make two adjustments: defensive positions and the batting lineup.

The leadoff hitter is the first batter in the game, acting as the team’s vanguard. It’s not a position you can simply fill just because you’re fast.

The shortstop position sees the most defensive action and the most difficult plays. It’s not a position you can simply fill just because you’re good at defense.

Tta-ak-!

Ttak-!

Tta-ak―

Practice batting before the game. Heon-hee was hitting the ball hard in the batting cage, showing off his power.

The speed of the balls was incredible. While not many went over the fence, the liner drives were flying so fast that you’d think, ‘If you get hit by that, you’ll die.’

He’s not just strong; he can also handle difficult pitches, changes in speed, and unpredictable situations, not perfectly, but often enough.

Gi-beom is…….

Ddik―

Ttak

Chik!

I’m sorry, but even as a friend, it’s hard to sugarcoat this.

I’ve heard it varies from country to country, but in Korea, the purpose of batting practice is simple:

To boost morale.

The idea is to give you hittable pitches so you can hit them hard and carry that feeling into the game.

But…….

Ttak―

“Ground ball to second.”

Ah, of course, not all his hits are bad. He’s a professional, and he’s had good hits many times.

It’s just that it happens significantly less often than with Heon-hee.

After that, defensive drills began. Since both were aiming for the infield, and with the goal of filling Myung-jin’s vacancy, fungo [a baseball training drill] started at shortstop.

Ttak

“Heon-hee, you have to time the bounce.”

Ttak

“Your feet can’t be still. Move slightly to the side, watch the ball, and position yourself to field it.”

Ttak

“Hands, hands. Keep them low. You’ll never keep up with the speed if you reach down from above.”

Ttak!

Chwaak―

“You were late to react there, right?”

Heon-hee showed many defensive weaknesses. He struggled with routine ground balls with irregular bounces, or he dove after balls he could have caught if he had moved his feet a little faster, ultimately missing them.

The scales, which were clearly leaning towards Heon-hee, began to subtly shift towards Gi-beom.

Ttak

“That’s right. Move your hands a little faster, Gi-beom.”

Ttak

“Let’s make the throw a little easier. If you field it cleanly, you don’t need to throw it hard.”

Ttak

“Ah, good.”

Ttak!

Chak!

“Ah, nice!”

Kim Kwan-hee, the defense coach, blocked a would-be hit with a diving stop and made a great throw.

Even if the shortstop is given a slightly greater emphasis on defense than offense, they still need to be in the batting order. There’s no such thing as a designated defender [a player who only plays defense].

That’s why the manager’s head is probably hurting quite a bit.

* * *

One day off, then Tuesday at Jamsil Stadium. Before the start of the three-game series against Visco, Wonha’s lineup was announced.

Frankly, Heon-hee’s bat was rated slightly higher on the first day of Myung-jin’s absence, because Heon-hee’s name was listed before Gi-beom’s in the starting lineup.

Quite a few changes took place just to add one new person. Defensively, Seong-hoon hyung [hyung is a Korean term for older brother or a close older male friend] went to shortstop, and Heon-hee went to third base.

Also, since Heon-hee’s batting style isn’t ideal for the leadoff spot, there were many changes in the batting order.

Yoo Hoon, Kang Seong-hyun, Park Heon-hee, Park Jin-hyung, Yoon Seung-joo, Nam Gi-seong, Moon Gyu-hak, Lee Seong-hoon, and Jeon Seong-moon made up the batting order.

The change was made to put the newly added line drive hitter in the 3rd spot. Hoonie, who was at the very back, was moved to the very front, and the fast-footed 7th hitter, who connects well to the back, was moved to the back.

Gyu-hak, who has shown some improvement in his hitting, came down one spot, and Gi-seong, who is experiencing a slight slump, and Seong-hoon hyung, who is more defensively focused, were placed in the 6th and 8th spots, respectively, to reduce the pressure.

“It’s awkward.”

After the top of the first inning defense, I muttered while watching Hoonie, who was the first to put on his batting equipment and head to the plate.

3rd batter, Park!! Heon!! Hee!!!

Hoonie made the pitcher throw as many as 9 pitches and then got on base due to an error. Next, Seong-hyun got on base again after being hit by a pitch.

A situation with two runners on base and no outs. Heon-hee himself had to prove why he was placed in the 3rd spot, and justify continuing to do so in the future.

Many pitches, an error, and a hit by pitch from the first batter.

Visco, who had experienced a string of bad luck from the start of the defense, called a time-out in the first inning, and the pitching coach came out to encourage the pitcher and catcher.

Because of this, Heon-hee had bonus time to organize his thoughts, swinging his bat wildly to check his condition.

Buung―

Buung―

After readjusting the helmet that had been slightly disheveled by the violent swing, he glanced at our dugout and went to the plate.

Bang!

“Haik-.”

The 149km fastball [approximately 92.5 mph], the umpire signaled a strike with his index finger.

Today, Lim Ho-taek’s changeup wasn’t working well overall. Hoonie made him throw as many as 9 pitches to confirm, and Seong-hyun reconfirmed by getting hit by a curveball.

So what will he throw?

Ttak-!

Fastball.

“Went…!”

I didn’t bother to put much effort into hitting the fastball that was clearly on the outside, and sent it far along the grain of the bat. The result, which was more violent than the batting stance, was unfortunately caught right in front of the fence.

It will be recorded as a right fielder fly out, but the process wasn’t bad at all, even though the result was what it was.

Seong-hyun, who was leading, returned to first base, but Hoonie easily landed on third base with a tag-up.

Ttak-!

Thanks to that, it became an opportunity to easily take the lead with Jin-hyung’s timely hit that followed.

Visco traditionally has a strong bullpen [relief pitchers]. The most important condition for winning against such a team:

Ttak!

“Went out!!”

“Honey honey!”

To be in the lead.

Our team’s batting lineup, which still has many shortcomings but has grown quite a bit, also has difficulty breaking through Visco’s bullpen.

If you intend to win, you must score first before Visco’s bullpen is activated and maintain that lead.

Heon-hee, who was given the mission of ‘showing something’ rather than just getting a hit or scoring a run, satisfied the condition very nicely.

In the top of the 3rd inning, Gyu-jin hyung gave up 2 points with consecutive hits and was reversed.

Continuing the good hitting from his first at-bat, in his second at-bat, he hit a two-run home run that barely cleared the center field fence of Jamsil Stadium, bringing the lead back to our side once again.

“Yessss!”

“Honey honey, you sweet bastard!”

“Are you sweet!!”

“I’m going to get diabetes!!”

Heon-hee showed off all the skills he could to his heart’s content.

“Ah….”

Even in defense.

He fumbled a ground ball that he could have caught easily and barely made the out, making everyone nervous.

The ball tossed to second base for a double play flew higher than expected, and as a result, he only got one out.

There were a few plays that wouldn’t be recorded as errors, but that viewers would consider error-like plays.

In the meantime,

Ddiring-!

[Defensive Instability]

– Catch 2 or more ground balls at third base (0/2)

– Reward – Slider +2, Splitter +2

A quest arrived for me.

“Oh my….”

5 to 2.

After going to the mound in a fairly relaxed situation and finishing the practice pitches, I applied plenty of rosin. After Gyu-hak’s throw to second base, the infielders circled as usual.

The text was floating above Heon-hee’s head, who received the ball last.

“What’s wrong?”

“Heon-hee.”

“Yes.”

“…Let’s do well.”

“Yess!”

No, not that. Let’s do well on defense.

It’s difficult to unconditionally direct the ball to the third baseman, and Heon-hee has to handle it.

“Oh my, my head….”

I shook off my throbbing head and checked the leadoff batter, Kang Yong, the catcher for Visco Runners.

How to proceed.

I gripped the ball tightly in my hand and lowered my waist slightly. I kept Gyu-hak’s fingers moving to buy some time.

From now on, the journey for the third baseman’s ground ball will begin. All stances and pitches are directed to my right.

Bang―

“Haik-.”

First, a slider in the low outside zone. I was sure that there was a high probability that he would take the first pitch, but it was an insurance policy for any possible situation.

What’s next?

Bang!

“Ball-”

The awareness of making him pay attention to the outside made me throw a fastball on the outside. If he didn’t swing, and even if he did, the probability of it going to the third baseman was low, so I deliberately made it a ball.

I glanced at Heon-hee.

He was jumping up and down in place, trying to prevent the heat that had risen from dissipating.

I believe in you.

I lowered my waist again and checked the sign. This time too, the outside fastball. Unlike my thoughts, Gyu-hak didn’t seem to have any intention of sending the ball to my right.

This is normal. It’s normal, but…….

Bang!

“Booall-.”

My heart wasn’t in it.

The next sign also didn’t produce the ball I wanted, so I moved to my side again.

I spread three fingers on the little finger side and touched here and there. Gyu-hak doesn’t know for sure what I mean, but he nodded for now.

Well, let’s aim for the opposite of the opposite, he’ll think of it like that.

The grip that was changed inside the glove was roughly similar to the shape of the fingers of the sign I had spread to send.

The ball thrown with a bizarre grip, with the index finger sticking out on the outside of the thumb, went towards Kang Yong’s body.

It’s called a body ball [a pitch thrown close to the batter’s body], but objectively speaking, it’s a fastball with slightly ambiguous control.

Ddik―

…Changeup that looks like.

The batter, who had all his nerves focused on the outside, suddenly released the bat when he was hit by a ball on the body.

That was the cause of the defeat. The bat, which started hastily without completing perfect preparations, didn’t make contact even when it arrived in the proper zone.

Far in front of the proper zone that had passed by, the ball touched with a clumsy swing rolled and rolled between 3rd base and shortstop.

The ball wasn’t that fast, so the third baseman had to catch it rather than the shortstop. The result was slightly biased towards the shortstop than the content I was aiming for, but

Ddiring-!

[Defensive Instability]

– Catch 2 or more ground balls at third base (1/2)

– Reward – Slider +2, Splitter +2

Still, I managed to get one of the results I wanted.

It was a play that a third baseman should have handled, but I didn’t hold back my applause. I clapped so hard that the fingers of the glove were swung around and stepped on the plate again.

The next person to enter the plate was the leadoff hitter, Lee Young-ho. When there was no special adjustment from Gyu-hak, he took his foot off the plate.

Heon-hee a little forward.

After completing a simple alignment, I checked the sign again. This time, he asked for the body ball from the first pitch. After seeing Heon-hee’s defense a little while ago, it seems that he has a certain conviction, not just a hunch.

Bang!

“Haik-.”

The first pitch was a deep fastball to get a strike. Next, wouldn’t a sinker be good?

Sinker.

Gyu-hak and I were on the same page. A sense of community was created that we should throw a sinker at the body and send the ball in the same direction once again.

The texture of the thread that was only felt at the tips of two fingers was soon changed to be felt on the entire two fingers.

Satisfied with the texture that satisfactorily filled the fingers, I went into the windup. The ball thrown so as not to be much different from the fastball was slightly sinking at the end.

…Huh?

The head of the bat that should be slowly showing is already visible. No, all parts of the bat are visible.

Lee Young-ho choked up on the bat [gripped the bat higher up], expressing that he had no intention of hitting the ball.

Ddik―

“Ah!”

A surprise bunt here!