The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 101

A batter with a stoic expression stepped into the batter’s box.

Kang Raon.

The Marlins’ starting shortstop, he played 127 games last year, achieving a batting line of .261/.341/.403. This ranked fourth among all league shortstops and was second only to Noh Hyung-wook and Lee Gyu-man on the team.

A pitcher from the bullpen, where Suwon had been just moments ago, watched him with anxious eyes. This was the first scrimmage of spring training, a crucial opportunity to impress, but the opposing batters were proving formidable.

“Senior Jae-young, did the manager intentionally set up the lineup like this today?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we have Senior Gyu-man, Senior Hyung-wook, and even Raon. The Blue Team’s batting lineup seems stronger overall. Of course, our White Team’s pitching lineup seems a bit heavier in comparison.”

“Ah, that. It’s intentional. One side is focused on pitching, the other on hitting. They’re testing both, and also observing how the pitcher interacts with the infield defense and the catcher.”

Choi Suwon on the mound glanced at first base.

Seo Kyung-joon took three and a half steps off the bag, crouching low.

34 years old.

An outfielder with a three-year, 2.7 billion won contract starting this year.

In a league where multi-year contracts approached 10 billion won, 2.7 billion might seem modest, but it was still a substantial sum. Averaging nearly 700 million won per year, it placed him among the Marlins’ top five earners.

Moreover, this was just a scrimmage. Given it was early February and his body wasn’t fully warmed up, he wouldn’t risk a reckless steal, despite his threatening stance.

Windup.

Choi Suwon’s pitch zipped into the catcher’s mitt.

Swing and a miss.

Kang Raon briefly raised his hand and stepped out of the batter’s box.

‘Fast… and high.’

He’d used a batting ring [a weighted ring added to a bat to increase swing resistance during practice] in the on-deck circle to time his swing, but it hadn’t matched. Had Suwon been casually throwing until now? Or was this pitch an all-out effort? It didn’t matter. The important thing was that Choi Suwon’s pitch was faster than what he’d thrown to Seo Kyung-joon earlier.

Good.

Kang Raon gripped his bat and returned to the batter’s box.

For the past few days, he’d been observing the young prospects. Two stood out: Dillon, the million-dollar foreign pitcher, and Baek Ha-min, last year’s first-round pick.

In Kang Raon’s opinion, the Marlins harbored two types of trash.

The entertainment faction, led by Lee Jung-hoon, was obvious trash. They were players acquired through trades or drafted from regions outside Gyeongnam. Even now, players not from Gyeongnam tended to gravitate there, becoming the type who frequented Seomyeon Station [a district in Busan known for its nightlife].

And the other.

The Gyeongnam natives, the biggest piles of dung in the Marlins. They weren’t into entertainment, not even Lee Gyu-man, the team’s oldest player. Was it learned helplessness? They lacked fighting spirit. And the late-night snacks… baseball players needed to eat well during a long season with many games, especially evening games. But this was excessive.

Choi Suwon and Baek Ha-min passed the test.

Baseball is a pitcher’s game.

Specifically for the KBO [Korea Baseball Organization], it’s a ‘domestic starting pitcher’s game.’ Assuming two foreign pitchers become frontline starters, one or two decent domestic starters could make a difference.

Flowers bloom even on dog poop.

‘Alright, throw it.’

The old men from Gyeongnam were no good. Lee Jung-hoon and his trash were no good either. The only way for the Marlins to innovate was through the young blood gathered from consistently being in the lower ranks since the abolition of the first draft [a system where the worst teams got the first pick of new players].

Choi Suwon wound up again.

A unique, quick tempo.

Seo Kyung-joon on first base ran.

‘Ah, this is screwed?’ he thought.

He’d failed to time the pitcher. Choi Suwon’s tempo was bizarrely fast.

Kang Raon swung.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!”

It was outside the zone, but it was a swing to help Seo Kyung-joon’s steal. Choi Jin-woong, the Marlins’ starting catcher, snatched the ball.

He quickly threw to second base.

A slightly off-target throw.

Kim Hoon, the second baseman, stretched and caught the ball, slightly faster than Seo Kyung-joon reached second. But catching a steal required a tag.

He swung his arm down towards Seo Kyung-joon, who was sliding. Seo Kyung-joon’s arm touched second base.

-Thud

The umpire’s hands shot up.

“Safe!!!”

The manager scratched his chin in the dugout.

“He needs to equip a set position?”

“Yes, I’ll pay attention to it.”

Manager Kim Dae-cheol wasn’t stupid. Choi Suwon hadn’t lost his timing. The problem was Choi Jin-woong’s stolen base prevention. His release and throw were slow and inaccurate. But Choi Jin-woong’s weakness was well-known.

No outs, runner on second.

Ball count 0-2.

The batter was Kang Raon.

A hit would lead to an additional run.

Kang Raon thought.

‘He can’t throw a curveball easily.’

Seo Kyung-joon hadn’t grasped Choi Suwon.

But Kang Raon, who had been watching Choi Suwon for days, could tell. Choi Suwon had a high ego. He looked down on most Marlins players.

‘Is he pretending?’

His curveball was a masterpiece.

But he didn’t trust Choi Jin-woong. He used the curveball as a decoy, his finishing pitch always a fastball.

Choi Suwon wound up again.

Kang Raon gripped his bat tighter. An upper swing, outdated even in Major League Baseball. But in Korea, many hitters still used a downswing, making a low-lying ball effective. Kang Raon’s big scooping swing was competitive. But Choi Suwon boldly threw a high fastball, matching his confidence.

The chemistry wasn’t right.

But a professional should hit a predictable ball. Most of the team didn’t deserve the name.

A fast tempo, a deception that made timing difficult. His hand popped out.

0.15 seconds.

His gaze followed the ball’s trajectory. His brain calculated the trajectory.

A ball to hit.

A high fastball. His muscles accepted the signal. Up to this point, 0.225 seconds. Now, it was about executing ingrained movements. Kang Raon was an excellent hitter, shortening that time by 0.025 seconds compared to ordinary hitters, allowing him to ‘see and hit’ a 150 km/h ball.

Kang Raon swung.

A little higher than expected, but the bat, with enough power to penetrate the infield, moved towards the ball.

0.275 seconds.

Kang Raon realized something was wrong. Too late. He couldn’t recover the power. His posture was disrupted. The ball hadn’t come. It had, but Kang Raon’s bat was too far out, and Choi Suwon’s ball was 20 centimeters off the predicted course.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike! Out!!”

Kang Raon, regaining his posture, looked at Choi Suwon. Throwing a curveball here?

Choi Suwon was smiling.

Happy to have struck him out? Kang Raon shook his head. That wasn’t it. That smile wasn’t joy.

Even after striking him out, the pitcher was angry about allowing the stolen base. It was an absurd ego, an insult to Kang Raon. But Kang Raon didn’t dislike that side of Choi Suwon.

‘For now, he passes.’

Choi Suwon received a passing grade.

Of course, Kang Raon received a hold grade.

***

-Sigh…

It wasn’t as bad as I thought, especially considering it’s early February.

Seo Kyung-joon, Kang Raon, and Noh Hyung-wook were good, and Lee Gyu-man’s reaction speed wasn’t bad for 42.

‘Why?’

Honestly, it was hazy. The Marlins weren’t a rival. I just remember the foreign pitchers were a disaster, Choi Min-hyuk was decent, and Jung Byung-cheol, who joined instead of Baek Ha-min, went crazy.

Oh, and the Marlins finished last again.

Anyway, after blocking the 1st inning, the strategy coach approached me.

“Suwon, prepare for the plate as well.”

“Yes.”

The KBO didn’t have the Ohtani rule [allowing a player to be both a pitcher and a hitter]. Baseball was a local sport without a global organization like FIFA, so Korea didn’t have to follow US rules.

Therefore, I couldn’t play as a hitter on days I pitched. The moment I left the mound, we’d lose our designated hitter, leaving eight hitters and a scarecrow.

Last year’s Marlins lineup was half scarecrows.

Anyway, today was practice. It was time to check capabilities, and the manager is the law.

Bottom of the 2nd inning.

Unlike Dillon, who was removed after the 1st, Diego Rodriguez was still on the mound. He was getting hit a bit because it was February, but he still wasn’t giving up runs, proving his 2.87 ERA.

“He has no flaws except stamina.”

“We should thank Elitz for not signing him and adding a clause preventing them from retaining him. Tsk.”

-Clack!!

Infield ground ball.

The batter was out.

Thus, bottom of the 2nd inning, two outs, runner on 2nd.

I was told to prepare for the plate, but I thought my turn would come in the 3rd. Somehow, it came now.

Strange. The Marlins would normally strike out here, but one hitter ‘got on base’.

Anyway, it was a golden opportunity to score.

I looked at Diego Rodriguez.

31 years old.

Still young, but too old to dream of the majors. Korea was a land of opportunity for him.