Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 165

Pitcher Done, Batter Up – 164

In the early innings, the crowd unconsciously admired Lee Jung-woo’s performance. But as the same plays continued, they eventually fell silent.

They were too stunned to even speak.

[Another one! He caught another one! That’s nine already! And all of them were potential hits! In terms of innings, it’s as if Jung-woo Lee has single-handedly blocked three innings!]

[This is really… I’m speechless. Is this even possible? He’s showcasing the full range of a shortstop’s capabilities in today’s game.]

Line drives, Texas Leaguers [a softly hit ball that drops between the infield and outfield], ground balls, fast grounders, unpredictable bounces, and so on. If another shortstop had been in that position, half of those would have been hits.

But the Toronto Blue Jays’ hit count on the scoreboard was only 2. Aside from Jordan Nash’s double in the bottom of the first, the other was a half-error hit due to the third baseman’s misplay.

“Get it up in the air! Just get it up somehow! If it flies to the outfield, there’s no way that bastard can catch it!”

The few remaining energetic fans shouted, but it wasn’t like the batters didn’t know that.

They also swung with an uppercut to try to get the ball in the air, but the pitcher, relying on the shortstop’s crazy mode, was thoroughly focused on ground balls, so fly balls rarely materialized.

Even if they managed to hit it to the outfield, the Braves outfielders weren’t just standing around.

And even if it flew deep down the right field line, second baseman Derek was also a problem, as his display case full of Gold Gloves showed.

As a player who had single-handedly defended the Braves’ dismal center line in the past, he caught everything.

“You were just telling me what to do, but aren’t you doing too much too, Captain? I don’t think Peterson walked even 50 meters during the game.”

“Some crazy guy took my spot, so I have to quietly move to the side.”

Having worked together as partners for about a year, they could now understand each other’s thoughts just by looking into each other’s eyes. Derek also moved appropriately to match Lee Jung-woo’s frenzy.

After passing on the increased defensive range to Lee Jung-woo, who boasted an almost 50% increase in coverage compared to other games, he himself encroached a little further on the right field line than usual.

In another team, the ball would have leaked through the holes here and there, drawing criticism from fans and experts. But Lee Jung-woo alone made such a crazy thing possible, and the effect was outstanding.

[If this is the manager’s instruction, then Mancini is definitely crazy in a good way. It’s definitely crazy, but the result is absurdly good.]

[Jung-woo Lee and Derek Hunt are practically covering the entire infield.]

[That’s right, it’s like they’re doing a defensive shift with just two people. This puts a lot of pressure on the batters; it’s suffocating. As a result, their swings are getting bigger and bigger.]

The left field line was excluded from the start. Ground balls were almost impossible because of the center line. If they hit it weakly, the ‘crazy guy’ jumping to catch it meant the height had to be high.

There was a difference between hitting a fly ball as usual and being forced to do so.

It’s inconvenient even if you can’t use just one finger, but it was like tying up almost one arm.

As the commentator said, the batters who faced it felt like they were suffocating.

“Strike out!”

“Ah…”

As their swings gradually grew bigger due to such frustration, the strikeouts, which had been low despite not allowing any runs, came back to life. The pitcher gleefully threw his pitches at the opposing batters, who had abandoned their habit of tapping his pitches, and all that came back was a refreshing gust of wind.

“Ah, what are you doing!”

“Even a minor leaguer wouldn’t do that!”

While the Blue Jays were caught in the Braves’ net, flailing with easy groundouts and refreshing strikeouts, giving up chance after chance, the Braves had already left their opponents far behind. And at the center of it, of course, was Lee Jung-woo, who had entered crazy mode.

####

Batter Lee Jung-woo showed a performance no less impressive than fielder Lee Jung-woo, thoroughly dominated the Blue Jays.

[Top of the 9th, with runners on 1st and 3rd, Jung-woo Lee comes to his fifth at-bat.]

[Including his single in the previous at-bat, he is 3-for-3 with 1 walk and 2 RBIs. His bat speed is very fast in today’s game. Faster than usual… yes, more than 2 miles faster.]

Although his RBIs were only two, he succeeded in getting on base in every at-bat, and like in defense, he ran like crazy and scored runs. A perfect performance with no shortcomings as a batter. However, people were focused on something slightly different.

[Yes, Lee is showing a good sense of hitting, just like in defense. Thanks to that, he only has one record left to achieve.]

[It would normally be difficult, but he’s already achieved it before, and with Lee’s speed, it might be possible. And the runner on first base is Derek Hunt, who is also a fast runner.]

The cold Rogers Centre [baseball stadium in Toronto].

The spectators bit their nails, forced themselves to gulp down alcohol, and exchanged stories with their companions.

The wisest ones were those who had left the stadium early.

“He’s not going to succeed, is he?”

“Eh… su-surely not.”

“No matter what… looking at today’s performance, maybe?”

Unfortunately, the home fans who remained in the stadium looked at Lee Jung-woo with anxious eyes. Jordan Nash, in the shortstop position, also stared at him with lifeless eyes, filled with an unhidden sense of tension.

Whether he knew of such gazes or not, Lee Jung-woo, the center of all eyes in the stadium, entered the batter’s box with the same expression he always had.

‘The shock seems to be big. Well, if the pitcher is 30% responsible for the runs allowed, then the catcher is 70%. It’s only natural. He’s been getting shelled all game.’

Perhaps because he had been a pitcher for a long time, Lee Jung-woo, with a very pitcher-friendly(?) mindset, glanced at the catcher with lifeless eyes.

9 runs allowed, the score the Braves had made in the last 8 innings. They had scored almost one point every inning.

The Braves had often won by more than 10 points this season, but even that was a bit low considering it was a hitter-friendly stadium. But it was enough to almost 99% secure the victory in this game.

‘It’s good to have a designated hitter. Thanks to that, there are a lot of runners ahead.’

Top of the 8th, no outs, runners on 1st and 3rd.

The attack that started with the 9th batter had given him enough runners, unlike similar situations where he would have effectively started with one out. All Lee Jung-woo had to do at this well-prepared table was to gobble it up.

‘But, haven’t they given up on the game yet? They should save even their lacking bullpen.’

The pitcher who had already given up hits to the previous batters was still doing his job in the Blue Jays, who had a below-average bullpen.

He wasn’t the closer, but he was about the second option. So he was quite a skilled pitcher. Even so, it wasn’t enough to stop Lee Jung-woo, whose hitting was at its peak.

‘Still, I can’t let my guard down.’

Even Lee Jung-woo himself, who was a 자리채우기용 [jari chaeugiyong – placeholder] pitcher before his regression, had occasionally struck out even league MVP-level hitters when the energy of the universe gathered. So he couldn’t ignore a pitcher who was much better than he was back then.

Also, no matter how big the score difference was, it was right to always work hard regardless of the situation in order to respect the opponent. From the receiving end, that thoroughness disguised as respect would have felt much more cruel.

‘His pitches are two-seam fastball, cutter, curve, changeup, splitter, and sometimes slider. But in reality, it’s two-seam fastball, slider, changeup, three-pitch.’

The remaining breaking balls were not enough to be called pitches, but rather hand techniques that the pitcher had learned to increase his options as much as possible.

This evaluation was purely the work of the power analysis team based on the big leagues.

They were saying it was lacking because it was the major league, but if it were another league, each one would have been considered a good or decent finishing pitch.

‘Well, the position I’m standing in is the major league, so it doesn’t matter what I say.’

While keeping it in mind, Lee Jung-woo didn’t think deeply about the rest and was slightly surprised by the first pitch that came flying.

“Strike!”

“59 miles?”

“He’s got guts.”

“He’s crazy, he’s crazy. If you hit that, it’s definitely a home run.”

A slow curve that was almost an eephus [an extremely slow, high-arcing pitch]. Lee Jung-woo watched the ball that flew straight in and landed in the middle of the strike zone. He missed the timing.

No matter how strong he was against curves, and even if he could confidently say that he was the best against curves, a batter can never swing his bat the moment he misses his timing.

At least this one pitch accurately put into practice the famous saying left by Braves legend Warren Spahn. Against a Braves batter.

‘I don’t think he was this type….’

Lee Jung-woo tilted his head.

Clearly, the data showed that the pitcher occasionally threw slow curves, but not this slow. Most of the curves he threw were power curves with faster speeds.

So Lee Jung-woo momentarily doubted the power analysis team’s data, but soon shook his head.

The information Lee Jung-woo had about the opposing pitcher was only the data created by the club’s power analysis team. He couldn’t just dismiss it with suspicion.

‘Okay, he’s got some kind of trick up his sleeve. He’s not a major leaguer for nothing. Let’s watch for now.’

Lee Jung-woo, gripping his bat tightly, watched the pitcher’s pitching as if he were watching a show.

Slowly, quickly. The pitcher built up his pitch count with very orthodox pitching, as if the guts and strategy of the first pitch had disappeared.

The home fans, who had hoped for something after Lee Jung-woo’s surprising strike, slumped back in their chairs with a ‘that’s what I thought’ look.

‘Okay, what’s the winning move?’

Lee Jung-woo, with his eyes sparkling, anticipated the pitcher’s hidden card.

After Lee Jung-woo cut a slow and ambiguous changeup and made it a full count, the pitcher wiped the cold sweat flowing from his forehead. Then, as if he had already coordinated with the catcher, he quickly took action, received the ball again, and threw it again a few seconds later.

‘This is…’

Slow and slow.

The pitcher, who had thrown a slow changeup in the late 70s, threw slow balls in succession.

A slow curve that felt like it was thrown carelessly, just like the first pitch.

Throwing a ball that would definitely be a home run twice in one at-bat could be said to have caught the batter off guard, just like the first pitch.

But it wasn’t really anything like that.

‘That was the end of it.’

The same method. The same ball. And the curve. Lee Jung-woo’s face, which had been filled with a strange expectation and fear, changed to its usual indifferent expression.

The same trick doesn’t work on top-class hitters, especially a shallow trick that’s only good for one use. And right now, Lee Jung-woo was such a top-class hitter.

A bat swung with a slightly slower rhythm. A powerful swing that stretched out hit the center of the slow curve.

[Is it going over? Is it going over!]

The caster was already raising his tension, preparing for the home run call. But the person who hit the ball just put down his bat and ran like crazy.

‘It didn’t go over.’

Whether it was due to the swing at an unfamiliar timing, or the lack of repulsive force due to the seriously declining speed and power of the ball, or a combination of various factors. It didn’t seem like it would go over.

So when Lee Jung-woo started running, the runners who had grasped the situation also ran like crazy.

In particular, Derek, who was the runner on first base, ran harder than ever, as if he couldn’t block Lee Jung-woo’s path. Lee Jung-woo didn’t understand his slightly excessive appearance, but he focused on running for now.

[Ah- it didn’t go over- oh? In this case!]

[3rd base! He has to throw it to 3rd base right away- Catch miss!]

While the right fielder missed the ball that hit the end of the fence and bounced out, Lee Jung-woo, who had passed first base with all his might, could see the 3rd base coach going crazy and waving his arms as if they were about to fall off, just like Derek’s run, which had been so passionate that he couldn’t understand.

‘Why is he like that?’

Lee Jung-woo, slightly narrowing his brows at the ridiculous sight, faithfully carried out his task and passed 2nd base as it was. He could hear voices shouting here and there.

And finally, as he touched the base with his fingertips to match the throw that came almost at the same time, he heard deep sighs and various arguments this time.

“Haa….”

“I’m really seeing all sorts of things.”

“You said it was worth it… you said it was worth it, so let’s come together! I’d rather drink beer at home.”

“Did I know it would turn out like this? I just… Jordan did a cool interview, so I was going to watch baseball together for the first time in a while.”

“Is this team always bad? You said they were good when they were 3rd last time, didn’t you? I think you said they weren’t a team worthy of 3rd place, or was I wrong?”

“I thought so, but after watching today’s game, I don’t think so. Let’s get out of here too.”

A man just letting out a deep sigh. A Viking(?) drinking beer without even getting angry, laughing in vain. A boyfriend packing his bags with a bitter expression on his face at the painful fact 폭행 [pokhaeng – assault/violence] of his friends and girlfriend arguing with each other.

As the voices they uttered gathered one by one, the stadium soon buzzed. The line at the exit, which had appeared after the 6th inning when the hope of victory began to disappear, now overflowed from a small stream to the level of the Han River [major river in South Korea, often used as a metaphor for something large and overwhelming].

In such a situation, among the hundreds of Braves fans, a very small number of clueless people shouted slogans like ‘USA! USA!’, but a laughable incident also occurred where they shut their mouths at the desperate eyes of other away fans who ‘wanted to get out alive’ and the cold eyes of the home fans who filled the surroundings.

Lee Jung-woo was still tilting his head at the situation, which was like a comedy movie.

‘Why are they all like that?’

“Good job, Lee. You really smashed them properly? These Canadian guys will go home and cry while 퍼먹겠네 [peomeokgetne – pigging out] maple syrup. But… why is the reaction like that? Shouldn’t they be happier? Even if it’s a record you’ve done once. Isn’t it too much?”

“Record?”

When Lee Jung-woo asked back, the 3rd base coach laughed as if he was seeing all sorts of strange people and told him the reason.

“It’s a hit for the cycle, isn’t it?”

“Oh… ah, is that so?”

A hit for the cycle [when a batter hits a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game].

Lee Jung-woo, who had been so focused on concentrating on crushing the challenger that he hadn’t realized his own record, was finally able to understand the current reaction.

‘This is my second time in the majors.’

There wasn’t really a huge emotion.

He had already succeeded twice including the minors, and there were times when he had almost succeeded but failed because he hit multiple home runs.

However, one thing he liked was the challenger’s eyes, which had now definitely died.

‘Was I too harsh?’

Seeing him staring blankly into the air like a person who had lost his soul, Lee Jung-woo wasn’t a little sorry… not.

‘His mentality is weak for someone who attacked first. There are still three more games left.’

With a wicked thought that the already tattered shortstop would have been shocked if he knew, Lee Jung-woo put an end to the first game of the interleague away trip.