The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 100

100. Possibility (1)

To be honest, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting something.

I mean, I’m an MVP-caliber player. And not just in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], but in MLB [Major League Baseball]. Although I’ve never actually won an MVP, I’m still an MVP-caliber player.

‘The greatest hitter since Ted Williams.’

I don’t know who said it first, but some media outlets called me that. Okay, it was mostly our local media, but still.

My hitting right now is ‘comparable’ to my prime when I was hearing those kinds of compliments. Strictly speaking, that era was slightly better because I can’t do anything about raw power. That takes time. Besides, I can’t just rebuild the same body I had when I was playing as a designated hitter, so it’s hard to recreate the power I had back then when I could send a mis-hit ball flying to the fence.

But instead, I’m pitching now.

And I’m pitching at a top-tier starter level, based on KBO standards. And that’s as valuable a resource as an MLB MVP-caliber hitter.

It’s not for nothing that the KBO prioritizes pitchers as foreign players and trembles at the thought of giving a 500 million won [approximately $380,000 USD] contract to a rookie hitter with legendary potential, while readily handing out 1 billion won [approximately $760,000 USD] to pitchers.

So, I thought.

If Hamin *hyung* [older brother or respected male figure] pitches decently, and Choi Minhyuk pitches as well as he did in the original timeline, and if I, an MVP-caliber hitter and a domestic frontline pitcher, join them, wouldn’t the Marines be contenders for the championship? Wouldn’t I be able to graduate from the KBO and go to the US in just one year?

‘Ah…’

That was a stupid thought.

Just like Dilton misunderstood the capabilities of the Marines’ coaching staff, I misunderstood the capabilities of the Marines’ players. The thought that these guys, carefully selected from high school baseball, would naturally have ace-level skills in every position was too naive.

-Clang!!

The ball flew low.

It was a slightly fast ground ball. The runner on first, Noh Hyungwook from the Blue team, wasn’t very fast. He ran at a speed befitting his 100kg [approximately 220 lbs] frame. The problem was our team’s shortstop, Jung Jiwoon. He wasn’t the starting shortstop, but he was a utility infielder who played about 30 games a year, and his defense was, to put it kindly, bad, and to be more realistic, terrible.

He obviously can’t catch a fast-flying ball.

Then does he handle slow ground balls well? No, he doesn’t. It looks like he should be running forward to handle it, but he’s waiting for the ball to come to him in place. A perfectly stable stance with the glove in the center of his body. And then he’s subtly slow to take the ball out of the glove. Even though Choi Jinwoong was a power hitter, the shortstop’s defensive position was quite far back.

-Thump!!

Of course, the result?

“Safe!!”

I’m going crazy watching the game from the bullpen.

“Holy shit!! What the f…”

How pissed off must Dilton be on the mound? His face is flushed red.

“Dilton!! Come down, come down. Relax. Relax. Slow. One out, okay?”

“@#[email protected]#^[email protected]%@#[email protected]##$”

Dilton is spewing out some harsh curses, which is fortunate, or perhaps unfortunate?

Choi Jinwoong, the team’s starting catcher who is working with him, doesn’t understand English.

Well, maybe he knows it’s a curse from the tone? Or maybe it’s because he’s just a nice guy? He just laughs and tries to calm Dilton down.

“Ah, that Yankee bastard has a really dirty temper. It’s not like he made a mistake, it’s just that Jinwoong *sunbae* [senior] hit it really well.”

“He’s probably thinking about the major leagues. He’ll adjust eventually, right?”

One thing became clear with this.

Of course, I don’t think that’s the only reason. But a very large part of the reason why the 1 million dollar foreign player Dilton Dooley has an ERA [Earned Run Average] in the 7s is this frustrating defense and the terrible team atmosphere.

“@#$%@#$^%[email protected]$#!!!!”

Sometimes there are pitchers who throw better when they’re excited. So sometimes, some pitchers deliberately get angrier on the mound. But unfortunately, Dilton Dooley didn’t seem to be one of them.

-Clang!!

Lee Gyuman, the team’s oldest player who is retiring at the end of this year, hit Dilton’s center-cut pitch cleanly.

It was a three-run home run.

***

“His stuff is good, but his mentality seems a bit weak. Was he like this in AAA [Triple-A Minor League Baseball] too?”

“No, according to the records, he was actually better at preventing runs with runners in scoring position. However, in that case, he tended to overpower hitters, but I think his body isn’t fully warmed up, so he doesn’t have enough strength?”

“Maybe… Anyway, it doesn’t seem to make sense to continue like this, so let’s bring up the next pitcher.”

After the last few days of training, the pitchers they were most curious about had narrowed down to two. Choi Minhyuk, the 1.05 billion won [approximately $800,000 USD] pitcher who returned from injury. And Choi Suwon, the strangely arrogant and maverick 2 billion won [approximately $1.5 million USD] rookie pitcher. Therefore, after testing the two foreign pitchers, it was natural to move on to these two.

“Yes, Choi Suwon will come up from the next inning.”

“Okay.”

Top of the 2nd inning.

It was Choi Suwon’s turn.

‘Shit…’

Han Myunghoon frowned as he watched Choi Suwon come up to the mound on the opposing team. He couldn’t understand how a rookie who hadn’t proven anything in the professional world was the strongest candidate for the 3rd starter just because his pitches were fast.

Of course, the coach said that this scrimmage had nothing to do with selecting starting pitchers. But what does it mean that the team’s 1st and 2nd starters are confirmed foreign pitchers who are pitching as starters for both teams, and then Choi Suwon and Choi Minhyuk follow right after? Even the 3rd starter on the other side is Baek Hamin. The 850 million won [approximately $650,000 USD] prospect who had been rumored to be transitioning to a starter since the end of last season.

-Thump!!

“Strike!!”

It was definitely a powerful fastball. But it didn’t seem like it was impossible to hit. Seo Kyungjun, the 2.7 billion won [approximately $2 million USD] right fielder on the batting box, tilted his head. It was a gesture asking if that was really a strike.

He had shared a pizza with Myunghoon just yesterday and said this.

“Choi Suwon? There are a lot of talks about him among us. He acts like he’s already a superstar, even though he’s a rookie. He’s been like that since he was the only one who was good at school, so he doesn’t know his *sunbaes* [seniors] and *hubaes* [juniors], and it’s become a habit.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right.”

“Then how about I take a strong hold of discipline?”

“This bastard is saying something really big. Don’t you know that Gyuman *hyung* [older brother or respected male figure] really hates it when people hit and gather people? Just leave him alone. Originally, when people like that get wind in their lungs, they shrink when they realize the reality. You know that well because you’ve seen it a lot.”

“That’s true. Guys who played king in high school get crushed rapidly in the minor leagues.”

“Yeah, when I see Choi Suwon throwing, he didn’t even make his body properly, and if he does a scrimmage once, he’ll be crushed.”

Seo Kyungjun has been in this world for 15 years and has seen enough.

Many cases of those types of prideful geniuses being shattered, crushed, and unable to recover.

Seo Kyungjun took a deep breath at the plate. Well, it might be good for that guy’s long-term future to get broken a little bit here in advance.

At the high school level, it would have been okay to throw a 150 km/h [approximately 93 mph] ball right down the middle, whether he was in bad condition or didn’t make his body properly. But the professional world is different. If a ball like that comes into the course properly, you can hit it as much as you want.

Second.

Choi Suwon on the mound wound up.

A strangely fast timing. His deception is better than I thought.

That’s why I’ve been watching him closely for the past three days.

Half a beat faster.

The baseball flew from Choi Suwon’s fingertips. Seo Kyungjun’s body began to move.

The course?

A course that slightly touches the zone. Not much different from before. He stops the bat.

-Thump!!

The hand of the battery coach, who is watching the umpire today, did not come up. It seems that the appeal from before worked.

Ball count 1-1

Choi Suwon on the mound smiled. He put the ball in the same course as the ball he caught just now, and he’s smiling? Is he the type to smile when he’s angry?

Third.

The two balls that Seo Kyungjun had in his head.

Fastball and curveball. He seems to throw a few other balls, but they are not as complete as the curveball and fastball. Well, to be exact, it’s not that the other changeups are too bad, but the curveball is too complete.

Honestly, the curveball that Choi Suwon throws is different from the curveballs of other guys. It’s similar to the curveball that Johansson, the foreign ace of the Seoul Jaguars, throws as a finishing pitch. You can’t recognize that it’s a curve the moment it leaves his hand.

That’s why Seo Kyungjun expected Choi Suwon to throw a curveball as a finishing pitch. The ball that will come in this time is a fastball. He swings the bat according to the timing he has set in advance.

-Whoosh!!!

-Thwack!!

“Strike!!”

Choi Jinwoong failed to catch the ball with his mitt, but fortunately, he managed to prevent the ball from going backwards.

Ball count 1-2.

I can’t believe he’s throwing a curveball here. Seo Kyungjun’s head became a little complicated.

If he were a normal pitcher, he would probably put in one more curve here to see the situation. But if he’s such a confident rookie?

He might just put in a fastball as it is…

At that moment, Seo Kyungjun was startled himself.

Am I preparing for a match this seriously against that young guy right now? Even to a guy who doesn’t seem to have warmed up his body properly?

No, no. Seo Kyungjun himself is also not fully warmed up.

Fourth.

Fastball.

He matched the rhythm of his body to the fastball. Choi Suwon winds up. And

-Clang!!!

‘Damn…’

He threw the bat and sprinted towards first base. He hit the fastball. But the course was too sharp. He put two balls into the outside low course right before, but this time he boldly stabbed it into the inside high course.

A mis-hit ball.

The ball that hit the ground hard bounced out between 2nd and 3rd base. A slow ball. Jung Jiwoon’s dash is slow. Also, instead of jumping catch when the ball reaches its peak while running quickly, he catches the ball stably from slightly behind. However, this time the speed of taking the ball out of the glove was not slow. But it’s useless. Seo Kyungjun was faster than Noh Hyungwook.

“Safe!!”

The corners of Choi Suwon’s mouth on the mound went up again.

***

It’s not an error.

Yeah, it’s not an error. But honestly, wouldn’t it be polite for a normal shortstop to make this an out?

I was a little annoyed. No, it’s good to defend stably, but how can it make sense to defend by waiting for the ball to come to you instead of running towards the ball?

Ah, of course, I understand. Traditionally, Asian defense was like that. But that’s only until the early 21st century. The slippery artificial turf has already disappeared from most stadiums in the KBO. The speed decreases as the ball rolls on the ground. It means that you shouldn’t wait for the ball to roll to you in a stable position in place.

“Okay, okay, Suwon. It’s okay. It’s okay. Let’s go one by one slowly.”

Besides, Choi Jinwoong, who is catching the ball right now, is also like that. No, honestly, I wanted to throw one more curve, but I was worried that the ball would go backwards, so I couldn’t throw it. It’s not like my curve is a one-bounce ball, so why can’t he catch it? With that kind of subject, it’s okay, it’s okay, let’s go one by one slowly?

Still, the good thing was that Seo Kyungjun, who I faced now, was the starting right fielder. And the shortstop who is doing that absurd defense is the backup shortstop.

Even if my body isn’t fully warmed up right now, the fastball speed is close to 150 km/h [approximately 93 mph]. The fact that he hits that kind of ball somehow and runs to 1st base at that speed means that he is doing at least the minimum I thought.

‘Okay, Seo Kyungjun, you pass for now.’

Okay, I admit it.

The thought of winning the Marines in a year and leaving for the United States was too naive. But at least the postseason. Wouldn’t it be possible to explore the possibility of doing fall baseball? I was still a hitter at the level of a Hall of Famer who would go straight to the Hall of Fame even if I retired next year?

Intersquad scrimmage.

I haven’t given up hope for this team yet.