Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 56

End of Pitching, Beginning of Hitting – Episode 55

Although Mason didn’t get the MVP award despite pitching a complete game victory, the impact of the walk-off was tremendous.

[Lee Jung-woo’s Walk-Off Hit in the 9th Inning! Manager Mancini, ‘Just a Crouching Lion Showing Its Claws.’ ]

[Lee Jung-woo, Different Swing Than Usual, ‘There Were Some Trial and Error, But the Result is Good.’ ]

[Lee Jung-woo’s New Look? He Continues to Evolve.]

[ATL) Narrow Victory Against the Diamondbacks. Lee’s Walk-Off Hit Was Perfect.]

[ATL) Lee, Timely Walk-Off Hit in the 9th. Jung-woo Lee, ‘I Just Wanted to Win Somehow’]

[Lee Brings Victory to the Braves.]

[Lee’s Swing Starts from a Stable Stride]

All sorts of articles came out.

Some experts dissected his batting piece by piece, attributing their own meanings to it.

Naturally, the fans’ reactions were beyond words.

Fans showed an excessive reaction to a rookie who had only played four games.

[Did you see the exit velocity? 115.2 mph. It’s a shame it didn’t go over. How strong do you have to be to do that?]

[115.2 mph???]

[Honestly, I thought it was going over]

[Most people at the stadium probably thought so too, right?]

[Honestly, I thought he was taking a break from hitting this game, but he ended up doing something in the end.]

[I was worried because he got completely shut down by Ian Field, but I was stupid.]

[Lee, I dare to doubt you. Please forgive my sins.]

When the Braves fan community was taken over by such a passionate reaction to a player who had only played four games, Lee Jung-woo’s attention was directed elsewhere.

####

He focused on the process itself, rather than the walk-off hit.

‘Level swing, will this really help me?’

‘If it helps, can I master it properly?’

Lee Jung-woo’s head was complicated.

Lee Jung-woo, who spent the night awake in his dorm bed, visited the training field a little early the next day.

Since he had been notified that he would not be playing anyway, he checked his batting without any pressure.

His body, which wasn’t tired even after playing full-time the day before, was very useful because the feeling was still in his fingertips.

‘I did it roughly like this.’

Standing in front of a full-length mirror, Lee Jung-woo slowly found his stance.

It was awkward at first, but after a few tries, he produced a swing similar to the walk-off hit uploaded in articles.

‘The feeling was definitely not bad. It fits my body better than I thought.’

It wasn’t certain because he only saw it, but the exit velocity was faster even though the angle was a bit lower.

It was just unfortunate that it was caught by the defense, because every hit was of good quality.

‘My condition was normal. So, it’s not because of my physical condition, but the power of the swing itself. There is definitely potential.’

Lee Jung-woo, who swung a few times in the air, put down his bat for a moment.

Seeing his body adapting quickly, the swing itself suits Lee Jung-woo well.

That’s all good, but there was something that bothered him a little.

‘The problem is power hitting. Can it be similar to now with a level swing?’

From the time he switched positions until now, Lee Jung-woo’s identity as a hitter is a slugger, a very extreme power hitter.

With overwhelming power based on monstrous wrist strength, Lee Jung-woo boasted an insane slugging percentage, and thanks to that, he was able to leave a strong impression.

But now that he’s got a feel for it, he’s trying to use a newly created auxiliary weapon.

It could be worse than using just one.

‘Of course, there’s no guarantee that power hitting will decrease unconditionally. Unless I get hit by a dead ball [a pitch that hits the batter] on the wrist, my punching power won’t disappear.’

Last fall, while correcting his batting form with Lubin, the wrist strength he realized was much stronger than he expected.

Thanks to his experience in the Australian league, he realized it keenly, and if the quality of the pitch wasn’t good, just hitting it.

The power to send the ball near the fence was in his left wrist.

So, unless the distance drops drastically, you don’t have to stick to the upper swing.

‘Hitting the scoreboard is also a home run. Slightly passing the fence is also a home run. If I can maintain my current power hitting appropriately, and add accuracy to my hitting, that would be the best.’

As if someone had turned on a video in front of him, Lee Jung-woo could see it vividly: his stronger self.

But he soon shook his head.

The result may be good, but the process to reach it will not be smooth.

‘First of all, it’s during the season, and the club won’t like it very much.’

If a promising player who is doing well right now suddenly tries to change his batting mechanism, how will the club react? What is certain is that it will not be very favorable.

Nine times out of ten, they will vehemently oppose it.

The hitting coach won’t want to touch it if he doesn’t want to be labeled as ruining a promising player.

Then in the end, I have to do it myself.

That was too risky, because I don’t know what side effects it will cause.

Bad habits can develop, and in severe cases, the batting balance itself can collapse.

Then you close the open possibilities yourself.

‘But, if I avoid challenges because of such worries, eventually, I will become obsolete someday. Preparing for the future is never too early.’

Lee Jung-woo shook his head.

As his distracting thoughts flew away, everything became clear.

‘It’s not enough to use right now. Let’s keep the feeling for someday. Then someday, I can use it as a joker card [a surprise tactic].’

Lee Jung-woo, who picked up the bat again to keep the feeling left in his body, swung slowly again.

####

The Braves, who won the first game, which was practically a match between aces, also won the 2nd and 3rd games in which Lee Jung-woo did not play.

With that, the number of consecutive wins that had continued from the second game of the Phillies away series became 5.

President Pratt smiled with satisfaction when he saw the number printed in the newspaper.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a winning streak like this.”

He hadn’t had a losing streak for a long time, but it was a long time ago that he had a winning streak.

While sweeping the three-game series against the Nationals in mid-April, it was only in June, two months later, that he surpassed that record.

In addition, the entry was pretty good.

Instead of Daron Robson, who fell out alone, Clarkson, who suddenly became Lee’s competitor, must have felt a sense of crisis. Although it wasn’t as impactful as Lee showed, he showed his own good defense and decent hitting, which thickened the shortstop position.

“Lee is a lucky charm. As soon as he comes up, we go on a winning streak? Clarkson was also whipped [motivated].”

“It’s not just a lucky charm, his actual performance is also good.”

Like that said, Lee’s performance in the four games he played, with two substitute appearances and two starts from his debut until now, was, to put it simply, insane.

13 plate appearances, 12 at-bats, 7 hits, 3 home runs, 10 RBIs, 1 walk.

The last game against the Phillies, where he hit 4 hits including a multi-home run, played a big role.

Even if it was a little less than that, Lee’s performance would have been monstrous.

“This, could it be Player of the Month?”

President Pratt said his wish with sparkling eyes, but the president’s aide scoffed and shook his head firmly.

“Unless Harding breaks his arm, it’s impossible.”

Flying Dutchman of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Vincent Harding, how much is he trying to get?

Now, ahead of FA [free agency], he raised his performance like crazy with the momentum to record a career high.

He has already hit 5 home runs in June alone. RBIs and hits also hovered at the top, because he would have more opportunities to return than Lee Jung-woo.

Player of the Month was too far away.

President Pratt made a deflated sound as if he had been let down by the president’s aide who pointed it out.

“I know, Harding is good. I’m just saying, just saying. It’s normal for my team’s players to look prettier, no matter how good they are.”

President Pratt, who grumbled sullenly, soon had a cold expression when the phone rang loudly.

He felt like he knew what kind of call it was, so he didn’t want to answer it.

“Pratt, it’s the Yankees.”

“Marie, I’m sorry, but can you answer it for me and please tell them to get lost?”

Maybe they’ll just keep saying the same things they’ve said so far.

‘I’ll give you someone, I’ll give you a draft pick,’ things like that.

Of course, they will ask to hand over Lee in return.

From the demonstration game until now, I’ve heard it so much, the repertoire was memorized in a row.

His ears had been calloused for a long time.

‘I wouldn’t do it even if I put a gun to my head and threatened me,’ saying I’d rather poke a persimmon I can’t eat [describing something unattainable].

Pratt couldn’t understand why they kept making offers.

“Think positively. It means Lee is doing so well that the hyenas are drooling?”

President Pratt, who roughly ignored the words mixed with the aide’s comfort, picked up the receiver.

He spat out the words he had always said.

“Unless you hand over the entire Yankees farm system and give me the draft pick for 10 years, I will never hand over Lee. Just cut it off if it’s not this much.”

‘You son of a bitch.’

Pratt, who barely swallowed the last words at the end of his throat, waited for the other person’s answer.

After a moment of silence, the connection was cut off with a clicking sound.

Thinking that it was as expected, President Pratt put his body deep into the soft chair and muttered.

“These voice phishing bastards….”

####

Lee Jung-woo, who missed the 2nd and 3rd games of the series, started again in the last game against the Diamondbacks.

“Lee, are you going to do the same as last time today?”

When he was warming up lightly, when the hitting coach approached him slyly, Lee Jung-woo shook his head.

Level swing is still attractive, but for now, let’s put it aside for a while.

He had already decided to focus on what he was good at right now.

“I’m just going to do it as usual. It’s not an exhibition game, it’s a regular league. I have to do what I’m good at.”

“Yeah, you can do well enough if you just do what you’ve been doing. Are you in good condition?”

The coach kept looking at Lee Jung-woo while talking to him.

Suddenly, he felt like he was inspired by something.

He was worried that he would rush in to change his batting mechanism, but the hitting coach finally breathed a sigh of relief at Lee Jung-woo, who didn’t say anything special even after continuing the conversation.

[Lee Jung-woo is starting today. So far, he has always scored RBIs every time he plays in a game. The main viewing point will be whether he can do that in today’s game.]

It wasn’t 10 games or 20 games.

The commentator introduced that he had scored RBIs in every game during the four appearances as if it were a great record.

Each of those things became a viewing point as he said.

When the PD [production director] made a happy expression at the rising viewership, the game soon began.

Since it was a match between the 4th and 5th starters of both teams, neither side was smooth in the first inning.

Because Lee Jung-woo, who was in charge of the 6th hitter today, came to the plate from the first inning.

Bottom of the 1st, 1 out, runner on 2nd base.

Lee Jung-woo, who came to the plate as the follow-up hitter to Popin, who hit a 2-RBI sweeping double, bounced his body as usual and looked up at the mound.

Although he doesn’t remember the pitcher’s face well, the data given by the power analysis team was clearly stored in his head.

Average 89 mph two-seam fastball and mediocre curveball, mediocre changeup, very occasional splitter.

The ambiguous four-pitch pitcher, as befits a 5th starter, did not have good results.

His ERA [earned run average] exceeded 5. He also gave up a lot of walks, and most of the pitches he had received a score of league average (50) or lower in the scouting report.

‘He eats innings well, but even considering that, he said that he is likely to be pushed out of the starting competition.’

It was a cold evaluation, but after watching today’s game, I understood to some extent, because he was beaten up by the hitters except for the 4th hitter Peterson, who was out with a foul fly.

Lee Jung-woo, who briefly scanned him, took a stance.

Soon, his eyes widened.

‘Changeup, it came out bravely. But I can hit it.’

First pitch changeup.

It’s not something you can usually do with guts.

A changeup that doesn’t steal the timing is just a batting ball.

Of course, there were times when he caught them off guard and ate counts for free.

Lee Jung-woo pulled the changeup as it was.

‘Good, I hit it right.’

Judging from the slightly heavy feeling in his hands, it didn’t seem like it would go over the fence, but it had a lot of power and the course was good.

Lee Jung-woo, who expected a hit, threw his bat and ran quickly.

The Diamondbacks right fielder’s super play exploded.

[He hit it! It looks like it will go over the right fielder… Ah! He was caught. Right fielder Tiffer Jones jumped backwards and barely caught the ball.]

The ball, which would have passed the right fielder and become a double if it were normal, the Diamondbacks’ right fielder Tiffer Jones jumped like a frog.

He barely caught the ball while lying down in the air.

“He caught that.”

He had to turn his steps in front of first base, but he didn’t have any regrets about being caught.

It’s the first at-bat anyway. I knew the moment I hit the ball that this time, it was worth a try.