Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 239

Pitcher Done, Batter Up – 238

The pitcher was pulled after the 6th inning. He’d been consistently hitting 100 mph until just before, and easily dispatched the subsequent batters, so everything seemed fine on the surface. But it seemed something was amiss internally.

Six innings, two earned runs. That’s a quality start [a measure of a starting pitcher’s performance, defined as at least six innings pitched with no more than three earned runs allowed]. He allowed one less run than that, so it could be considered a fairly good performance.

Even with that performance, the pitcher’s back was slumped as he walked off the mound. The catcher, Peter Hicks, glared at him, veins bulging on his forehead.

‘I wondered why he was throwing splitters. I thought he was trying to surprise them… His stubbornness is worse than I thought. Or maybe he was overconfident? Well, he was pretty accurate today.’

The starting catcher, and a franchise star to boot. Ignoring the catcher’s lead, the pitch selection that was practically ordered by the bench, and ultimately giving up two home runs because of it.

No matter how good his performance was, that wasn’t acceptable for a rookie. Judging by his expression, he knew it himself. So, Peter Hicks had no choice but to return to the bench like a cow being led to slaughter, even after a solid start.

‘I can’t see it as all bad. Plenty of pitchers call their own signs and make decisions. Even if he’s a rookie, if the results are good, it’ll be overlooked in the pros. But since the result was bad, he’ll have to face the consequences.’

Every choice has a consequence. Bearing that responsibility falls solely on the person who made the choice. He made his own judgment and threw freely, so now he had to take responsibility.

Of course, a newly starting pitcher wouldn’t be formally reprimanded, but subtle glances, occasional sighs from the manager, coach, or catcher… Even that would be a living hell for a pitcher.

‘The momentum’s broken. Even if he comes up in the next inning, it won’t be the same. His strength will be completely drained. No matter how accurate he is, once he gets hit, he’s done. Especially with two hits from the same batter…’

“It’s over.”

“Oh, really? Joey was catching well. Isn’t he still okay? Maybe his mentality is better than I thought.”

“That was just lucky, and it could have been back-to-back if it had just grazed him. Even if it wasn’t, he’ll probably lose some steam next inning. His stamina’s about to drop, too.”

“Alright, Lee even chased that crazy guy out for us, so he’s not going to keep messing around, right? Getting completely dominated by a kid is enough, right? If he keeps doing that, it’s really embarrassing.”

At Lee Jung-woo and Derek’s words, the batters’ faces brightened. The pitcher who had been dominating them was losing strength, which was great news.

The dugout, gloomy from the continuous strikeouts, warmed up again. The Braves’ starting pitcher, one step closer to becoming the winning pitcher, couldn’t hide his smile.

“He must be really frustrated. Honestly, he pitched better than me today, but it’s like this. It must be infuriating from a pitcher’s perspective.”

“What can you do? It’s pretty much his own fault. And a pitcher who shuts them out is much better than a pitcher who gets 10 strikeouts.”

The pitcher smiled pleasantly at Lee Jung-woo’s lip service, grabbed his glove, and the other players heading out to defend also smiled.

In contrast, the Houston Astros’ batters, picking up their bats in the dugout, still looked grim. Perhaps even stiffer than before.

“It must be burdensome. They probably felt less guilty because it was only a 1-point difference and the pitcher was holding on well. Now all those excuses are gone, right?”

“Both were home runs, so the runs allowed are the pitcher’s responsibility, but the shutout is their own problem.”

The way to ruin a team’s batting lineup’s mood is simple. No-hitter? Perfect game? You don’t need anything that grand. Just being scoreless is enough to rot their hearts. Add the fans’ criticism, and it’s the icing on the cake.

Just look at the Phillies, who suffered a shutout loss by giving Mason a complete game victory in the opening game. The aftermath lasted for a while, ruining their entire month of April.

“Try to hold them this inning, too.”

“Of course, it’s better to win cleanly, right?”

“They’re probably eager, so they’ll be swinging for extra-base hits. If we just watch out for that, like the coach said, we’ll take care of most of it, and they’ll catch the fly balls themselves.”

A shutout was like a brand on the batters. A brand stamped on their foreheads saying, ‘You guys sucked today!’ Lee Jung-woo and the Braves wanted to make sure that brand was firmly imprinted.

It’s the 7th inning, almost over, but they wanted that yoke to remain for at least this series.

‘Five feet above their heads. Ridiculous, but at least four feet is possible today.’

If they try to lift it awkwardly, I’ll catch it no matter what. With that thought, Lee Jung-woo and Derek stood in their positions, a huge wall built on the left side of the field.

‘It starts with number 5. Starting with the guy who’s really fired up.’

In the top of the 7th, the Astros’ offense started with the 5th batter, someone Lee Jung-woo had become quite familiar with this game.

It was the catcher, Gabriel Marquez. The fact that the catcher is batting fifth shows his hitting ability. He already had two hits in this game alone.

‘He’s at number 5 because of the defensive burden, but he could be at number 3 in another position. He has good power and can hit accurately. His OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging, a common baseball statistic] this season is in the early to mid .800s.’

A catcher’s OPS in the early to mid .800s is like a first baseman or left fielder with low defensive burden recording .900.

If that catcher is also good at defense, every team would be drooling over him. And if he hits around 20 home runs every season? They’d come with a bag full of money.

‘Well, he signed an extension with Houston, so other teams’ money is irrelevant. Still, he’s the most complete player on the Houston Astros right now.’

That’s why Lee Jung-woo prepared. His hitting is rated decently, but he often breaks the flow with unexpected home runs in situations like this.

There was even a joke that the Houston Astros’ tanking and rebuilding would have been easier without him.

‘And he’s the only sane one among the Houston players right now. As a veteran catcher, his mentality is strong.’

Lee Jung-woo watched the batter approach the plate with full attention. The other players seemed the same, the warm field tightening with tension again.

‘Since he’s a left-handed batter, the ball usually flies to the right field line, but he sometimes hits home runs by pushing it, thanks to the power he generates from his lower body.’

The match began. Batter and pitcher carefully pushed and pulled, exchanging counts. The pitcher on the mound put in so much effort it was visible from behind, and the catcher was focused, his face visible from the front.

And the 5th pitch. Two and two. Still a slightly more advantageous count for the pitcher. But the pitch he boldly threw was sucked straight into the body. Soon after, a quick swing that cut off with moderate force grazed the center of the ball as it pointed at the air.

“Uh- uh-”

A line drive. A powerful line drive, commonly called a clothesline. It flew generously to the outfield and was a hit-worthy ball, but the height was low. And so was the condition of the player who faced that direction.

“Mine!”

It was incredible. Without even taking a few steps, he jumped like a frog, stretching his arm straight towards the sky. He soared like the trademark of a famous basketball shoe, modeled after a legendary basketball player’s dunk shot.

The only difference was that the man in that mark was holding the ball with his hand, but the man at Truist Park was not. That was the only difference, but even that was satisfied.

Because the ball caught on the tip of his outstretched hand.

‘It’s heavy. Disgustingly.’

A heavy feeling in his hand. Would a heavy 100 mph fastball from a fire baller feel like this? Lee Jung-woo thought it would be similar. But on the other hand, it was light.

“Out!”

Considering the weight of victory, isn’t this light enough? Catch out. Even a throw wasn’t necessary, and a bright red light went up on the scoreboard.

Lee Jung-woo, who recorded the first out of the top of the 7th inning with his own hands, was convinced of victory as he watched Marquez walk away irritably, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

####

[Score 3 to 0. Four pitchers combine for a shutout, and the Braves win the first game of the interleague matchup against the Houston Astros.]

[Although there was a slightly difficult period from the beginning to the mid-late game due to Peter Hicks’ great pitching, overall, it was a smooth game. They took the victory too easily. The Astros have an impressive batting lineup with strong instantaneous explosive power, but today the fuse ultimately failed to ignite.]

The powder-filled shells didn’t even fly, and the Astros’ trenches were breached too easily, and the game ended.

The Astros, who experienced the worst kind of defeat in baseball from the first game, except for special cases, left the stadium with powerless steps. Lee Jung-woo, now familiar with being caught by reporters, had to do a short interview.

“You recorded multiple home runs today, going 3-for-4 with 3 hits, 3 home runs, 1 walk, and 2 RBIs [Runs Batted In]. How do you feel?”

“Of course, I’m happy. First of all, the team won, and I got enough home runs.”

“You recorded your 42nd and 43rd home runs of the season in this game, leaving only seven home runs until 50 home runs. Do you have that in mind?”

“No, I don’t.”

At Lee Jung-woo’s words, the reporter’s face hardened slightly, as if disappointed. The colleagues and spectators listening to the interview playfully booed, as if shouting, what kind of humility is this from a guy who has already recorded 40-40 [40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season] and has already added three more home runs now? Lee Jung-woo, chuckling at the reaction, gave the answer they wanted.

“50 home runs are not in my head. I’m only thinking about 50-50. It’s just a subsidiary anyway, so there’s no need to keep it in mind, right? The ultimate goal is important.”

“That’s right! Of course, it should be!”

“Whoooooosh!”

“Home run! Stolen base! Only 7 left for both! Let’s definitely do it!”

“MVP! MVP! MVP!”

“Kuhahahah. 50 home runs are too stingy for Lee, right? It has to be a record for the first time in history!”

A spirited declaration. The spectators cheered greatly because Lee Jung-woo usually doesn’t make such remarks in interviews, as if they had been wanting that.

The reporter’s face brightened at Lee Jung-woo, who had thrown off the mask of humility. After thinking he had gotten everything he could, the reporter asked a few more formal questions and finished the interview. At the same time, Lee Jung-woo spread his arms as if it was natural.

“You’re not doing it?”

“The mood is broken. You have to be surprised here. Not wait.”

“Hey, it’s not very fun because he’s like this. Lee is now very seasoned. He’s also gotten better at reading the room.”

“If possible, only do it until this month, only until this month. You might catch a cold from the fall.”

The colleagues who had cooled down a bit pouted and poured drinks. That’s how the game ended.

’50-50. At first, it was 30-30. Then, I wanted the MVP [Most Valuable Player award], so I thought I’d just do 40-40… Now even that’s passed.’

That fact suddenly felt funny, but what’s even funnier is that it’s possible. Enough. This situation is absurd, but even the possibility is not absurd.

‘Even if August ends, there’s still another month left. I think my stamina will start to drop soon, but still, that’s enough. More than enough.’

The 50-50 club. An unprecedented record. A record that even A-Rod [Alex Rodriguez], Barry Bonds, and even players like Alfonso Soriano or Jose Canseco, who were compared the most, can’t surpass.

And perhaps a record that may never be broken again.

‘If you’re a professional player, you have to be greedy. It’s a chance to engrave my name in that immortality.’

Greed arose, and that was enough. Among the things he had been greedy for since his regression, there was not a single thing he had not won.

####

As Lee Jung-woo thought, the Houston Astros ultimately failed to overcome the morale broken by the shutout loss. They lost the following 2nd and 3rd games in vain.

[ATL) Braves win the 2nd game 5 to 1. Lee Jung-woo multi-hit in 5 at-bats.]

[ATL vs HOU, 3rd game 7 to 3. Braves sweep interleague matchup.]

[Jung-woo Lee 1-for-3 with 2 walks. 1 RBI.]

At least in the 3rd game, the fuse that the Astros’ fans had been hoping for worked, and they hit two home runs, but both came out randomly, so even with the two home runs, the score they scored was only 3 points.

Despite the evaluation that the young explosive power was impressive, the fact that they scored only 4 points in all 3 games of the series was all, and even if you think of it as soccer instead of baseball, the poor scoring ability was unchanged.

On the other hand, the Braves, who showed the destructive power of the batting lineup that became more and more powerful as the game continued, escorted the bitter Astros and welcomed the next team to their home. The batters were a little disappointed.

“They’re the prettiest when we see them at away games.”

“Shouldn’t we just unconditionally play away games with that team? Then I’d hit about 20 home runs and be happy, and Lee would break the single-season home run record recorded by a drug addict and be happy. The captain would hit about 30 home runs. Joey would hit 50 home runs. Isn’t that a happy picture for everyone?”

“Does that everyone not include pitchers?”

Colorado Rockies. Looking at them coming down from Denver, the batters smacked their lips for no reason, and the pitchers could only glare at such outrageous remarks as if they were dumbfounded.

‘Only playing away games with the Rockies every time. There’s not much difference, but I’d get a few more home runs. About five or six? If that’s the case, even if my stamina is a little more worn out, it’s worth it.’

“Take Lee as an example. How are the veterans more like kids than the 2nd year rookie? Look at that, he’s seriously concentrating.”

“Yes? Yes. Well, that’s right.”

Lee Jung-woo, thinking similarly to the other batters, nodded awkwardly at the coach’s words pointing at him. His conscience was a little pricked, but thankfully, his blunt face hid his thoughts this time as well.

Perhaps because the batters’ strength was completely drained due to the Colorado Rockies they met in an unwanted place (?), the Braves lost both of the two games, making the sweep they recorded against the Astros earlier meaningless. Lee Jung-woo was also satisfied with adding one hit each.

After the series ended, on the plane leaving Atlanta and flying west for the last game of August, some batters still couldn’t let go of their regrets. It would have been perfect if the home and away games were switched.

“The Dodgers should have come here, and we should have gone to Denver.”

“That’s true. Then, even if we lost the game like now, we would have gotten some stats.”

“Lee, who’s sitting over there, wouldn’t have been embarrassed until now because he made a big noise in the interview and only barely recorded two hits in the very next game.”

“Do you know what you call a batter who says that in front of the pitchers when they haven’t even scored a point?”

“What do you call them?”

“What else, a guy who deserves to die. Shut up if you don’t want that to come true.”

In August, the Braves’ last opponent was the LA Dodgers.