Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 42

End of Pitching, Beginning of Hitting – 41

‘Just a few exhibition games, and it’s still causing trouble.’

Even though it’s been almost a month since I’ve been in Double-A.

Lee Jung-woo, grimacing at his body’s inability to adjust to the cramped seat, fidgeted for a long time to find the optimal position.

Maybe he got used to the exhibition games where the travel distance was short and the transportation was excellent, making away games comfortable.

His body was still being unnecessarily sensitive.

Or maybe it was just that his body had bulked up, making the cramped Double-A away bus uncomfortable.

‘Sigh. This damn minor league away game. At least the distance is somewhat close, so that’s a relief.’

About 200 miles.

By American standards, it’s practically next door, so you could say it’s close.

But no matter how close it is, Lee Jung-woo sighed deeply at the still awful away game and turned his head to look out the window.

Quickly passing scenery.

Seeing those seemed to alleviate some of the discomfort.

‘Still, if I maintain this momentum, this grind could end soon.’

Before the regression, away games felt like they were going to kill him.

Nothing was changing, or rather, he was just falling further, and his body was exhausted.

It was a huge mental stress.

But now, there was hope that he could climb higher.

Thanks to that hope, away games were just uncomfortable, not deadly.

‘If I do well, I might get called up this season.’

It’s not just thinking with a positive mindset.

The situation was good enough to seriously consider it.

After joining the Mississippi Braves.

For the month of April, Lee Jung-woo reigned like a tyrant in Double-A.

A monarch who uses power and authority to commit evil deeds against the people is often called a tyrant.

Although he didn’t have power.

Lee Jung-woo, who committed evil deeds (hits, home runs) against the people (pitchers) with strength (power), perfectly fit the description.

In April, playing in 20 games, he hit 9 home runs and his batting average was well over .400.

If it were the big leagues, it would have been enough to be named Player of the Month.

If he could maintain this moderately until September, when the expanded roster comes into effect.

No, if he could just maintain his performance, he might be called up before the expanded roster.

‘However, I’m a little worried that Darren Robson is doing better than last year….’

From the immense opportunities given to Lee Jung-woo during the exhibition games.

Darren Robson, realizing that the club was trying to replace him, must have been shocked.

He showed a more stable performance than in the disastrous 2033 season, when he was considered one of the worst shortstops in the league.

It’s only been a month, but.

He easily handled balls that he would have missed by a mile last year.

He also showed a decent performance in hitting, boasting a batting average in the high .200s.

‘Did he have an awakening or something?’

Given a certain opportunity.

A person can show surprisingly changed 모습 [appearance].

The thought that maybe that could be the case made Lee Jung-woo suddenly uneasy.

Clarkson, a backup shortstop and utility infielder who had newly joined through a trade during the winter, was also showing decent play.

To secure a spot in the majors, Lee Jung-woo had to win the competition with them, which made him a little uncomfortable.

But he shook his head and brushed away the 잡생각 [雜 생각, distracting thoughts].

‘Even if they do well, I’ll get a chance at least once. It’s only April anyway.’

It’s only April. The season is still a long way off.

Any situation can arise.

Lee Jung-woo, erasing his worries from his head, closed the curtain and closed his eyes.

####

Arriving at the away 숙소 [宿所, accommodation], Lee Jung-woo 풀며 [unpacked].

He checked the basic data provided by the team.

‘The Birmingham Barons… they were a well-balanced team. They even won the championship last year.’

The Birmingham Barons.

The Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

A traditional powerhouse in the Southern League, boasting 17 league championships.

But it’s meaningless.

In the minors, where players are constantly moving up, down, and changing, winning teams don’t boast great strength.

It was even more meaningless to Lee Jung-woo, who had faced the Major League World Series champions this season based on his pre-regression experience.

‘Looking at the starting rotation, the starting pitcher is Kurosawa Hiroshi. It’s my first time seeing a Japanese player.’

Strangely, whether it was bad timing or not.

Throughout his pre- and post-regression life.

He had never met a Japanese player.

‘Right-handed sidearm, fastball speed in the low 90s. Max speed is 95 mph. Pitches are fastball, slider, screwball?’

Lee Jung-woo furrowed his eyebrows.

Screwball,

An unexpected pitch popped up.

A pitch with strong backspin.

It’s the first time I’ve seen it as a hitter.

As a pitcher, when he was playing in the Korean professional baseball league, he saw another player throw it once.

It was a relief pitcher, and the media made a fuss about it being a rare breed in modern baseball, so it stuck in his memory.

Even then, the usage rate was around 0 percent, so he only used it very occasionally.

I think he ended up getting 팔꿈치 [elbow injury] and disappearing.

‘Screwball, huh… that’s interesting.’

The risk of injury is extremely high.

There’s also a useful alternative, the circle changeup.

It’s an almost extinct pitch.

Even if a player says they’ll throw it.

The coach and the club step in to stop them.

From that point of view.

A pitcher who insists on throwing a screwball could be called a unique fellow.

‘And he’s 5.9 feet tall, so about 179 cm? That’s pretty short.’

Lee Jung-woo himself, at 6.3 feet, is a bit tall for a shortstop, but an average build among pitchers.

5. 9 feet was clearly below average.

Lee Jung-woo thought he was a unique player in many ways, both in terms of his pitches and his physique.

‘I can’t get a feel for what it’ll be like. I’ll have to see it to get a feel for it.’

Since he couldn’t think of a similar pitcher to compare him to.

Lee Jung-woo decided to see him in person and closed the data.

It was late at night.

It was time to get a good night’s sleep for the game.

####

The next day.

The first game of the away series began.

Lee Jung-woo, who finished the top of the first inning with his usual stable defense, came out as the third batter.

Desmond, who had been watching the game from the on-deck circle, approached him after a listless swing and said.

“Lee, that guy is really 개 같아 [like a dog; awful].”

“Is it that bad? Isn’t it similar to a circle changeup? Or a sinker or something.”

“It’s similar, but a little different. You could say it’s a curve that breaks in reverse?”

“Okay. Thanks, go get some rest.”

“Hit a 시원하게 [coolly; refreshingly] one out of here. If you get taken down too, we’re screwed.”

Leaving Desmond’s words behind.

Lee Jung-woo stepped into the batter’s box and looked at the pitcher on the mound.

He’s definitely a bit short.

179 cm is tall among 일반인 [一般人, ordinary people], but since I’ve only been seeing 선수 [選手, athletes] with 우람한 [sturdy] physiques.

It felt a little strange.

“Take it easy. You can’t hit me anyway.”

“You know my stats, right?”

“I know. Those 거품 낀 [foamy; inflated] stats you recorded against 허접한 [허접하다, shoddy] guys. I’ll make a prediction. You’re going to strike out four times today.”

Lee Jung-woo turned off his 신경 [nerve; attention] from the confident catcher.

There didn’t seem to be any point in saying more.

‘Alright, let’s see that amazing screwball of yours. Throw it as much as you want.’

Lee Jung-woo, bouncing his body once, 붙어서며 [standing close] and glared at the pitcher.

The pitcher, looking at him for a moment, shook his head a few times.

Then he threw the first pitch.

The first pitch thrown with a textbook sidearm pitching form was a fastball.

‘Should I swing? No, hold back.’

Lee Jung-woo held back his swing at the ambiguous course that was a little far outside.

But the umpire raised the pitcher’s hand.

“Strike.”

‘He called that a strike? It looked like it was out….’

Lee Jung-woo glanced at the umpire and looked back at the mound.

He didn’t like the call.

Actually, the course was ambiguous, so maybe it did catch the edge.

‘Is he going to throw a slider next? He only throws the screwball when he can definitely get a strike.’

Lee Jung-woo, predicting the pitch, set the course and waited for the pitch.

The pitcher’s choice, throwing with the same consistent posture as the previous pitch, was a fastball again this time.

This time, it caught the bottom edge.

“Strike.”

“Strike?”

“It caught the edge and then came down. It’s a strike. Got a problem?”

“Umm… no.”

‘I’m getting a feel for the strike zone. Did he drink 소금물 [salt water]? It’s disgustingly 짜 [salty].’

Lee Jung-woo, 침음성을 흘린 [swallowing sound] at the zone that seemed to be roughly visible, stepped away from the plate for a moment.

After swinging the bat a few times, he came back up.

He was annoyed by the umpire who was favoring the pitcher, but he wasn’t going to be shaken by that.

‘Is it a screwball now?’

Screwball.

His heart was pounding.

What will it look like?

Lee Jung-woo, swallowing 침을 꿀꺽 [swallowing saliva], watched the pitcher.

He quickly took action.

‘Another fastball? No, no.’

The ball was flying like a fastball.

But Lee Jung-woo wasn’t fooled.

Predicting that the ball would break strangely, as he had seen in the on-deck circle.

Lee Jung-woo swung as is.

But he didn’t feel anything on the bat.

The screwball, breaking more than expected, passed under the bat 얄밉게 [밉게, hatefully].

It 박혔다 [박히다, to be embedded] into the catcher’s glove.

Lee Jung-woo, 시원하게 헛스윙한 [coolly whiffed], nodded his head and muttered.

“Ah, this is 개같네 [like a dog; awful].”

It seemed that Desmond’s assessment was accurate.

####

Two consecutive strikeouts.

Since switching to a hitter.

He had experienced it countless times.

He had even struck out three times in a row in exhibition games.

But it was the first time in Double-A.

But strikeouts aren’t the problem.

Even the most powerful hitters strike out at least 100 times a year.

It’s not just two consecutive strikeouts.

They strike out for two games straight.

So strikeouts themselves aren’t the problem, but the real problem was that he couldn’t think of a suitable method.

‘How am I supposed to hit this?’

A curve that falls in reverse.

It’s roughly that kind of feeling, like Desmond said.

But something was off with the batting timing.

‘He even catches the exact moment to throw it well. I’ve only seen two of them, so.’

He was using it like a kind of secret weapon.

He knew how to pitch using his head.

It comes in similarly to a fastball.

If he throws a fastball, you become suspicious once.

Then the timing is late, resulting in a foul or a swing and a miss.

If the count gets like that, then the screwball.

That was the pitcher’s winning formula.

‘A no-hitter, it’ll be hard to achieve since he throws a lot of pitches. Still, it’s a little unpleasant to see him doing that in front of my eyes.’

He didn’t have the 고아한 인성 [高雅한 人性, refined personality] to applaud an opponent who was showing a great 모습 [appearance].

Lee Jung-woo, who was quiet and had almost no emotional changes, but had enough 평범함 [平凡함, ordinariness] to 짜증스럽게 [irritatingly] look at a 잘하는 [well-performing] opposing team pitcher.

He sat on the dugout bench.

He glared at the pitcher who had made his teammates into 선풍기 [扇風機, fan; meaning striking out a lot].

The manager watched him 지그시 [intently].

“Hmm… like the other hitters, Lee is still young. You can tell when you see 모습 [appearance] like that.”

The hitters were helplessly 휘둘리는 [휘둘리다, to be swayed] by the opposing team’s pitcher.

In particular, Lee Jung-woo, who was 박살내던 [박살내다, to smash] Southern League pitchers one by one like he was 도장깨기 [道場 깨기, dojang-smashing; conquering martial arts gyms], had stopped his 진격 [進擊, advance] for the first time.

The manager saw that and thought he was still a 유망주 [有望株, promising player] with little experience.

In fact, the 알맹이 [core; essence] is a 닳고닳은 [worn-out] veteran pitcher, so it’s only half right.

“If you’re 영 걸리시면 [if you’re ever bothered], give him some 조언 [助言, advice].”

“Well, I think he has to figure it out himself. You know that, don’t you?”

The hitting coach, who had served him for a long time, nodded.

“And even if you tell him, his body won’t follow unless he realizes it from the bottom of his heart. Even if he doesn’t realize it this time, it’ll be a good experience someday.”

The manager smiled 훈훈한 [훈훈하다, heartwarming] as he thought that.

But Lee Jung-woo gained 깨달음 [깨닫다, realization] a little faster than he thought.

####

While the manager was watching him.

‘The first pitch of the first at-bat was a fastball. It was 93 mph. The 구위 [球威, pitch power] was so-so. The next one was 94 mph. The 구속 [球速, pitch speed] went up a bit.’

Lee Jung-woo was watching the pitcher and 복기 [復棋, reviewing a game] the game.

‘In the second at-bat, he threw a surprise 86 mph slider. I swung, but the timing was slightly off, so it was a foul. He threw three 93 mph fastballs in a row. Two balls, two strikes. Then he immediately threw a screwball.’

Lightning struck Lee Jung-woo’s head as he slowly and carefully 떠올려보던 [떠올려보다, to recall] each ball and each swing like he was playing 바둑 [圍碁, Go; a board game].

‘Ah! Come to think of it… ha. Did I become a 애새끼 [brat] just because I 회귀 [回歸, regressed]? Such a simple method….’

Lee Jung-woo laughed 허탈하게 [허탈하다, feeling empty] and 때렸다 [때리다, to hit] his 관자놀이 [temple] as if he was blaming himself.

He was 멍청했다 [멍청하다, to be foolish].

Even if it’s amazing, unique, and 위력적 [威力的, powerful], how could he be 홀리다니 [홀리다, to be bewitched] by just one pitch?

‘Looking at the data, he had a lot of walks. He threw the ball as 까다롭게 [까다롭다, picky] as possible in this game as well. I just thought I was 눌렸다고 [눌리다, to be suppressed] by the pressure, but it was just an 지능적인 [知能的, intelligent] play.’

He saw a way to 공략 [攻略, capture] the pitcher.

‘I gave him two strikeouts, so I have to get two home runs.’

Lee Jung-woo, 중얼거리며 [중얼거리다, to mutter] the logic of 기적 [奇跡, miracle], lightly 삼진처리 [三振處理, strikeout] the hitter.

Then, seeing the pitcher 내려오는 [내려오다, to come down] from the mound 유유히 [悠悠히, leisurely], he 씨 올렸다 [올리다, to raise] the 입꼬리 [corner of the mouth].