Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 238

Unwelcome Record (1)

The professional baseball regular season had passed the 30-game mark.

Michael Scott and Go Ji-hoon were enjoying a strong start to the season.

Both pitchers were performing exceptionally well from the beginning, maintaining ERAs in the 2-point range. They consistently pitched 6 or more innings per appearance, fulfilling their roles as reliable top-of-the-rotation starters.

Michael Scott, in particular, was demonstrating increasingly good teamwork with Han Gyo-jin, leading many to believe he would surpass his performance from the previous season.

Oh Seok-hoon of the Buffaloes, who had announced a change in his offensive approach, was showing markedly different results.

He was leading the league with an impressive .383 batting average.

Furthermore, he had already hit 6 home runs, benefiting from his increased power.

If he maintained his current pace, Oh Seok-hoon had a very high chance of achieving his first 20-home run season since debuting in the professional league.

Park Seong-joo was also on track for his third consecutive 30-home run season.

He had already hit 9 home runs, leading the league in that category.

So Young-joon of the Pelicans seemed to be focusing on improving his batting accuracy, as he had stated before the season began.

However, it was difficult for him to accumulate many RBIs because the Pelicans’ on-base percentage was significantly lower compared to other teams.

Each time he did manage to hit a big home run, it showcased his ability to score runs independently.

It was also noteworthy that he had not committed any critical errors this season.

Choi Jeong-hwan of the Doubles and Jang Su-young of the Angels were establishing themselves as elite closers.

They hadn’t missed any save opportunities, recording 7 and 6 saves, respectively.

Their strong pitching performances weren’t receiving much attention because their teams weren’t performing well overall, but their individual pitching statistics were far superior to those of other teams’ closers.

So far, they had been reliably closing out games without a single blown save.

This raised expectations that they could reliably protect Korea’s 8th and 9th innings in the upcoming international tournament.

Rumors circulated that upper-ranked teams in need of bullpen reinforcements were considering trading for the two players.

However, the likelihood of a trade was low because acquiring these attractive pitchers would require giving up key players in return.

Na Jun-ho of the Dragons was struggling due to opposing teams’ focused defensive strategies, as his fellow hitters were in a slump.

Donald Watson and Seo Seong-min of the Jaguars were demonstrating good chemistry in the 5th and 6th batting positions this season as well.

Because Watson possessed power and Seo Seong-min was adept at driving in runs, they occasionally batted in the 4th and 5th spots.

Lastly, Han Gyo-jin seemed to be gradually adjusting to the first-team level.

He consistently wore the catcher’s mask when Michael Scott started as a pitcher, developing a strong working relationship with him.

As they played more games together, their teamwork became increasingly evident.

Moreover, he was fully showcasing his batting potential even at the highest level.

He was maintaining a .310 batting average and demonstrating excellent home run and RBI production relative to his playing time.

As a result, he was increasingly being named in the starting lineup as a designated hitter on days when Scott wasn’t pitching.

As our agency’s players performed well, the teams’ results varied.

The Wolves, Dragons, Buffaloes, and Jaguars, which had ranked high last season, were continuing their strong performance this season as well.

However, the Dragons were faltering, showing a different pace than last year.

The team that capitalized on that opening was the Jaguars, who had built up momentum following last season.

The positive atmosphere that had propelled them to the Korean Series [championship series in Korean baseball] continued into this season’s games.

With Michael Scott and Yang Hyun-jae’s strong starting pitching duo and Donald Watson and Seo Seong-min’s RBI production ability as their driving forces, they were steadily accumulating wins.

And eventually, they succeeded in raising their ranking to 3rd place.

Moreover, they were able to further widen the gap by winning the first 2 games of the 3-game series against the Dragons, who were competing for the same ranking.

And today, the third game between the two teams was the day Jung Min-woo, the Jaguars’ 5th starter, was pitching.

└Ah… Jung Min-woo is starting? We’re going to lose again today.

└Having to watch Jung Min-woo pitch is just sickening.

└There are a lot of canceled tickets for today’s game. There are many seats that are hard to get, so go today if you want to.

└Would you want to pay the same amount of money to watch a game you’re obviously going to lose? I’d rather succeed in ticketing and watch Michael Scott’s game to cleanse my eyes.

└At least we already won 2 games and made a winning series, so it’s not a loss even if we lose today’s game.

└It’s a shame that the winning streak is broken, but there’s no way to bring in a starting pitcher right away.

└Still, seeing that Jung Min-woo was picked in the first round, it seems like he has enough potential, so why is he like this?

└He has a glass heart and his mentality is a mess. I think he could get a quality start if he just trusted his ball and shoved it into the center, but he can’t do that.

└Can’t they fix it somehow? He clearly has talent.

└There are more than one or two players who can’t do that and retire. He’ll just try for a few more years and retire if it doesn’t work out.

* * *

-The Jaguars have already secured a winning series against the Dragons by winning 2 games early on, and now they are playing the third game. The Jaguars’ momentum is considerable.

-Therefore, it is essential for the Dragons to win today’s game. If they lose today’s game and get swept, they will suffer a really fatal blow in the early season ranking competition.

-From that point of view, meeting pitcher Jung Min-woo, who has fallen into a recent 13-game losing streak, could be a good opportunity for the Dragons, right?

-It’s bound to be much better than meeting Michael Scott.

-The Jaguars want to end Jung Min-woo’s 13-game losing streak, and the Dragons want to avoid a sweep. How will the outcome of the final game of this 3-game series turn out?

Today, unlike usual, there were quite a few empty seats at the Jaguars’ home stadium.

Not all of the first-floor seats were occupied, and the second-floor seats were almost empty.

Before the start of the game, Jung Min-woo headed to the mound to pitch the top of the first inning.

“Woooooo-”

“Get pulled quickly and bring up a bullpen pitcher.”

Some fans in the Jaguars cheering section shouted jeers at Jung Min-woo.

“Play ball!”

The game started amidst the boos of the home fans.

Jung Min-woo, who took a deep breath, began pitching.

Tick!

Tick!

The Dragons’ hitters all swung their bats aggressively from the start, as if they had made a pact.

However, they failed to get on base because they were stopped by the Jaguars’ fielders.

Rather, thanks to that, he was able to finish the first inning with only 7 pitches.

And then came the 2nd inning.

The first batter he faced was the 4th batter, Na Jun-ho.

Jung Min-woo’s expression showed more tension than ever before.

He carefully gripped the ball and threw it.

Na Jun-ho also swung his bat aggressively at the first pitch.

Thwack!

The batted ball soared and eventually went over the fence.

“Home run!”

“Waaaaa-”

The Dragons fans cheered at the impressive home run.

“Woooooo-”

On the other hand, the Jaguars fans began to boo Jung Min-woo.

However, contrary to expectations that he would collapse after the home run, he did not allow the following batters to get on base.

Perhaps because they were in a hurry, the Dragons’ hitters’ aggressive plays were unsuccessful in the 2nd as well as the 3rd inning.

After some ups and downs, Jung Min-woo succeeded in holding the opposing lineup to 1 run through the 3rd inning.

-In today’s game, Jung Min-woo is a little lucky, but he also seems to be in good condition.

-He’s basically a player with good stuff. I don’t know how far he can pull it off in today’s game, but I hope he can break his losing streak and regain his confidence.

-On the other hand, the Dragons must be feeling frustrated. We’ll have to see how they turn this situation around.

In response, the Jaguars hitters also gained momentum and scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning.

And in the top of the 4th inning, which started with a 1-3 lead.

Now that the batting order had gone around once, he faced the 2nd batter again as the leadoff hitter.

Whack!

“Ball!”

Whack!

“Ball!”

Two consecutive pitches went outside of the strike zone.

2 balls and 0 strikes.

Jung Min-woo took a deep breath and threw the third ball.

Clang!

The ball hit the batter’s bat and passed quickly between the first and second basemen.

The second baseman, Seo Seong-min, dove and stretched out his arm, but it was difficult to catch because of the fast ball speed and good trajectory.

“Waaaaa-”

The batter who reached first base pointed to the Dragons dugout and tried to energize his teammates.

And soon, the 3rd batter approached the plate.

0 outs, runner on 1st base.

The runner on first base was not very fast, but he was a player who often attempted to steal.

Naturally, Jung Min-woo’s gaze turned to the runner on first base behind him.

Jung Min-woo’s breathing began to quicken.

He threw the ball, breathing heavily.

Whack!

“Ball!”

Whack!

“Ball!”

-Suddenly, there are a lot of balls. Is he rattled after giving up a hit?

-It seems like the Dragons hitters have decided to be patient and not swing aggressively this inning. He has to throw a strike. The next batter is Na Jun-ho.

The Jaguars catcher gestured for him to relax and tried to relieve Jung Min-woo’s pressure.

Whack!

“Ball!”

Whack!

“Ball!”

The two consecutive balls that followed also went outside of the strike zone.

Eventually, the catcher called a time-out and headed to the mound.

The catcher met with Jung Min-woo, talked for a while, and then returned to home plate.

-If he gives up a walk, it will be bases loaded. He has to compete.

-He has to throw a strike even if he gets hit. He can’t keep pitching around the hitters anymore.

2 balls and 0 strikes.

Sweat was already streaming down Jung Min-woo’s face.

He glanced at the runner on second base and threw the ball with difficulty.

“Huh!”

Perhaps because of the pressure to throw a strike, the ball was flying towards the middle of the plate.

Na Jun-ho swung his bat aggressively as if he had been waiting for that pitch.

Thwack!

As soon as they heard the sound of the ball hitting the bat, everyone in the stadium could easily predict the result.

The Dragons runners watched the flying ball and ran leisurely.

“Home run!”

As it went over the fence, Na Jun-ho raised his right hand high.

“Waaaaa-”

“Na Jun-ho! Na Jun-ho! Na Jun-ho!”

The Dragons fans cheered enthusiastically as they reversed the game in one swing.

On the other hand, the expressions of the Jaguars fans were grim.

Before the next batter came to the plate, the pitching coach took the ball from the umpire and went up to the mound.

The pitching coach and catcher who went up to the mound patted Jung Min-woo on the shoulder.

Jung Min-woo lowered his head and came down from the mound.

Some fans booed Jung Min-woo as he entered the dugout.

“Wooooo- Is it fun to always extend your losing streak?”

“Does the manager have a soft spot for Jung Min-woo? Why does he keep putting him out there when he loses every time?”

“Aren’t you ever injured! I don’t want to see you anymore, should I break your legs?”

Even after Jung Min-woo came down from the mound, the fans’ boos did not stop for a long time.

In the games that followed, the Jaguars hitters tried their best to reverse the game.

But it was difficult to reverse the momentum of the game that had already shifted.

In the end, Jung Min-woo’s losing streak continued.