Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 7

Lee Jung-woo clicked his tongue.

‘I can’t make contact anyway.’

He picked a spot and swung for the fences, connecting perfectly.

The feeling was incredible, and he thought he’d really crushed it.

But it looked like he was just a hair off-center.

‘Foul homerun. Still, solid contact.’

The massive hit narrowly missed the foul pole.

Though disappointed, Lee Jung-woo nodded calmly.

He’d expected it to go out based on the trajectory.

He’d hoped the wind might push it back in, but…

The day was still.

‘Too bad, nothing I can do.’

Lee Jung-woo cleared the foul homerun from his mind and focused on the pitcher.

The pitcher looked visibly flustered.

It was easy to see why.

‘He must have underestimated me because I’m just a hitter now.’

A long hit from a seemingly insignificant opponent is more demoralizing than one might think.

Lee Jung-woo used to get rattled when he gave up a hit to a lower-order hitter before his injury.

Knowing this, Lee Jung-woo’s eyes gleamed.

He had a read on the opponent’s mindset.

Now it was time to exploit it.

‘He said he throws a fastball and a slider. He must be really upset. So, he won’t throw a slider.’

He’ll try to blow me away with a fastball.

A more experienced player would be different, but…

This kid is still green, so he’ll be stubborn.

So, the pitch will be a fastball.

Now he had to think about the location.

Guess hitting [predicting the pitch] isn’t ideal, but right now, it’s Lee Jung-woo’s only way to get a hit.

He racked his brain.

‘Will he try inside again? No, no. No matter how stubborn he is, he already got a scare once, so he won’t throw it to the exact same spot. He’ll want to induce a swing and miss. High fastball.’

It wasn’t a sure thing.

No, certainty doesn’t exist in baseball in the first place.

A .300 hitter can go hitless for ten games.

A 50-homer slugger can hit ground balls all month long, because it’s baseball.

So, Lee Jung-woo wasn’t certain.

He just had unwavering faith in himself.

He believed in the swings he had taken, the ones that had torn up his palms.

He believed in his practice.

His eyes blazed.

Flames seemed to dance behind Paharo.

As Lee Jung-woo expected, the pitcher was seething.

He didn’t want to admit that he had been tagged like that by a guy who was just transitioning to hitting.

He wanted to wipe that sneering look off his face.

His windup was unusually shaky.

It was the kind of pitching form that would draw criticism if he ever became famous.

It wasn’t a balk [an illegal movement by the pitcher] because it was consistent and not a double-kick, but…

It definitely looked like he was trying to intimidate the hitter.

But despite his awkward stance, the ball coming in had some serious heat.

‘The weight felt good coming off the bat. I have to swing all the way through.’

If he didn’t make solid contact, the bat, not the ball, would be pushed back.

Lee Jung-woo pursed his lips with determination.

The follow-through had to be complete.

A powerful, personal swing.

Focusing on that, Lee Jung-woo anticipated the ball’s path and swung.

“Hmph-”

He twisted his entire body into the swing.

The powerful pull swing brought the bat high.

Keeping his planted leg firm like a pillar, he channeled his strength into the heavy sensation of the bat connecting with the ball.

A crisp “crack” echoed through the air again.

Lee Jung-woo made sure to follow through completely.

Stopping short after contact would be worse than a complete miss.

“Huh, he really got a hold of that one.”

Lee Jung-woo retrieved his bat, overhearing the catcher’s quiet mutter.

The sound and the feeling in his fingertips.

That was all he needed to know.

He had squared it up perfectly.

“Lee, how are you so strong? You’re smaller than me.”

“I don’t know.”

The ball landed just shy of the fence.

A clean right-field hit that allowed the hitter to easily reach second base.

Lee Jung-woo gave a brief nod, acknowledging that a faster runner could have stretched it into a triple.

Although he didn’t get it over the fence as he’d hoped, he was still satisfied.

“You’re not thinking about becoming a catcher, are you? Honestly, I’m a little nervous.”

The catcher joked.

That’s how consistent his hitting had become.

Enough to make him worry about his own position.

“Catching is tough. My throws are too slow; it would be an automatic steal.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to put it like that. Anyway, that’s amazing.”

The catcher grinned and then got up to encourage the pitcher.

He must have been shaken up pretty badly.

He needed to calm the young kid down.

The catcher shouted something.

Lee Jung-woo looked at the pitcher, who seemed uncomfortable.

The impact seemed significant.

A foul homerun was just a foul, even if the hit was massive.

But this time, it was a clear, long hit that anyone could see.

In a real game, it would have meant allowing a runner into scoring position.

‘Should I try to take one out [hit a homerun]? Or should I go head-to-head again?’

Without any data, it was hard to make a quick decision.

At first, he could make educated guesses because he was a young player, but from now on, it was a matter of personality.

If he was cautious and quick to admit his mistakes, he would approach the pitching strategically.

Trying to pick him apart with tricky locations.

If he was prideful, he would challenge him again.

A timid scaredy-cat would throw balls all over the place.

‘What kind of pitcher are you?’

The pitcher answered with a fastball low and away.

A cautious pitch.

He wasn’t someone who let his emotions control him.

Realizing that, Lee Jung-woo thought that the real game was starting now.

‘He’ll start mixing in breaking balls from now on.’

That would be tricky.

He had seen a lot of ambiguous breaking balls thrown by pitching machines, but…

He had little experience with real breaking balls.

‘It’s fortunate that he’s a right-handed pitcher.’

If a left-handed pitcher threw a slider that broke away from the zone…

Lee Jung-woo, with his poor eyesight, would have no way to deal with it other than just waiting or swinging wildly.

A front-door slider [a pitch that starts outside the plate but curves back in] that came in from outside and broke in deep was just as difficult.

So, it was fortunate that he was a right-handed pitcher.

‘Well, it’s still tricky, though.’

Lee Jung-woo eased up a bit.

Since it was going to be difficult anyway because the pitcher was starting to throw tricky pitches.

He thought he would use this opportunity to gain some experience in pitch recognition.

Staring intently at the ball and flinching, the count quickly went against him.

Two and two [two balls and two strikes].

If the coach watching as the umpire had called the slightly outside pitch a strike, he would have struck out looking and ended his at-bat.

‘Now the finisher will come.’

Lee Jung-woo anticipated the timing.

It was the perfect time for the finisher.

Slider.

He had been testing the waters with fastballs until now, so it was perfect to throw it now.

‘There’s no way to deal with it. I have no choice but to guess the location and swing.’

Lee Jung-woo thought about it.

Where would the pitcher send the ball?

If he wanted to strike him out for sure…

If he was trying to trick him, there was no point in thinking about it.

He would swing the bat no matter what, and then he would definitely swing and miss.

‘He’s not a great control pitcher. If he wants to get a strikeout, he’ll try to throw it in safely.’

So, he ruled out courses that were too high or too low.

‘Unless he’s crazy, he won’t throw it at my body.’

He ruled out inside as well.

Now it was easier to narrow it down.

Lee Jung-woo gripped the bat a little tighter.

Whether it caught the outside corner or cut into the middle, if it was in the middle of the plate, he would hit it.

Whether it went foul or fell into the infield and was ruled an out, it didn’t matter.

‘Okay, throw it.’

He stared at the pitcher with burning eyes.

His face was expressionless as usual, but his eyes held a firm will.

As if responding to that, the pitcher…

Showed his enthusiasm and threw the ball.

Following the trajectory, he swung.

Lee Jung-woo laughed wryly at the cool breeze.

‘Was it a vertical slider?’

The slider came in with a vertical drop instead of a horizontal break.

He hadn’t anticipated that.

Since it was his mistake, Lee Jung-woo just chuckled briefly.

####

‘Lee’s form has improved considerably. Not bad.’

Scott was satisfied.

It was too early to judge the results yet, but…

At least the fact that Lee had learned to develop his own swing was quite encouraging.

At this rate, he wouldn’t strike out helplessly.

At least he would get a good swing in.

‘I think it’s about time to put him in a game….’

He hadn’t decided on a defensive position yet, and Lee said he hadn’t adapted.

The designated hitter was hitting well, so it would be difficult to get a start, but…

It would be okay to have him come in as a pinch hitter at the end of the game.

Scott considered recommending it to the manager and watched the game again.

One hit and one strikeout.

It was one win and one loss for each of them, but frankly, it was a win for the hitter.

Even if he got out here, his batting average would be .300, and the hit he got was a double.

Considering that the match started without knowing the pitcher’s tendencies, the result wasn’t bad.

‘The pitcher isn’t just any guy either. He came up from Danville. His skills are decent.’

The pitching coach watching as the umpire didn’t look too happy, but…

Scott thought he would be satisfied too.

His velocity wasn’t great, but…

The way the ball moved sharply was pretty good.

Especially the slider from just now? Curve? Anyway, the falling breaking ball was quite polished.

So, he was a starting pitcher with two solid pitches.

‘Okay, now that he’s seen the breaking ball, what will Lee do? He’s been guess hitting until now.’

You could tell just by looking.

Lee picked a spot, committed to it, and swung.

If he hit it right, it would definitely go over.

Of course, if he hit it right.

The hit from earlier was because the pitcher acted exactly as expected, so he hit it long, but…

Now he couldn’t be sure.

The pitcher was also seriously engaged in the match.

Even showing his finisher.

‘If he was a hitter with good pitch selection and decent contact ability, he would deal with it well, but Lee lacks that.’

Scott viewed the remaining at-bats pessimistically.

Still, he was able to see the potential, so he watched the game with a slightly relieved mindset.

The match went the same way as before.

As if he was convinced that Lee’s pitch selection was poor.

The pitcher thoroughly exploited it and toyed with him.

Lee swung wildly in response, but the ball didn’t connect.

This time, they thought that he would either strike out again.

Or, at best, the ball would barely catch on the swing and produce a ground ball.

“He’s switching, but he’s pretty good considering he’s been practicing….”

“He swings wildly, but his swing is much cleaner than before.”

“Well, honestly, he’s been working pretty hard.”

A match between a new face and an underdog.

The players watching from around, finding it an interesting sight, gradually acknowledged Lee Jung-woo.

They had been watching how hard he had been working all along.

And the results were visible, so their guarded hearts opened up a little.

“The newbie is good too. The slider was nasty, right?”

“Was that a slider? Wasn’t it a curve?”

“The coach said it was a slider. You know, sometimes there’s a falling slider.”

The hitters put themselves in the current match.

What would I have done if I had faced that pitcher with no information?

I don’t know, but I would have swung at the unique slider unless I hit the fastball early and got on base.

The pitchers now paid attention to the rookie who might threaten their position, rather than Lee Jung-woo, who was now a laughingstock.

A guy who might take my place.

They didn’t like him.

‘I was happy that there was one more spot thanks to that bastard….’

‘He’s a two-pitch pitcher, so isn’t he switching to the bullpen? That would suck.’

‘Lee, just hit it over. Not just the fence, but over the stadium.’

They suddenly cheered for Lee Jung-woo, and the hitters, if not cheering, at least acknowledged him a little.

Even if he struck out again, they wouldn’t ignore or laugh at him.

But, that’s what they were expecting.

The situation was a bit strange.

Two strikes and one ball.

Including the foul he accidentally hit, the pitcher had thrown four pitches.

Paharo must have thought the timing was right, and he slightly adjusted his grip on the ball.

The grip he settled on.

He was trying to get another strikeout.

The 83-mile vertical slider with a big drop was always a sure-win card.

Ah, it ‘was’ a sure-win card.

Lee Jung-woo’s eyes lit up.

He didn’t know why, but…

The ball that he couldn’t see no matter what.

‘I can see it. I can see it so well.’

The trajectory, the speed, the drop, and, to exaggerate a bit, even the stitches on the leather.

Lee Jung-woo followed the trajectory.

He set up the bat almost like he was playing golf.

His body also leaned almost horizontally.

His waist rotated sharply.

The weight shift was still awkward, but…

But that was enough now.

Even if it was an awkward hit, if he hit the ball squarely…

Crack-

The ball soared over the fence.

Watching the ball fly endlessly.

Lee Jung-woo thought.

‘I don’t think I have a knack for striking out on a breaking ball.’