The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 128

The Hitter Pitcher-128 (4/4)

128. What Homeruns Mean to Him (4)

Clearly, Choi Su-won was in peak condition today.

So, before the game, he even entertained the thought, ‘Could this be a perfect game?’

It was just a fleeting dream.

Still, he didn’t give up hope entirely. Since Kang Ra-on’s error had allowed a runner on base, he fervently wished for at least a no-hitter.

But then, Park Ju-won smacked a clean single, regardless of whether the BABIP [Batting Average on Balls In Play, a measure of luck in hitting] gods were smiling on him or not.

Regardless, Choi Su-won was still feeling fantastic.

And with that great feeling, he swung his bat. The ball, of course, soared over the fence.

[Home run!! Choi Su-won!! It’s a home run!!! A massive hit lands in the left field of Sajik Stadium.]

[Choi Su-won!! His fourth home run of the season!! After launching a home run in Jamsil last Tuesday, Choi Su-won hits another one in Sajik just four days later.]

[Wow, it’s hard to believe he’s a rookie.]

[No, beyond being a rookie, I can’t believe this guy is a pitcher today. A starting rotation pitcher is leading the league in home runs. Even the Phoenix and Elitz have the same number of team home runs as Choi Su-won.]

[Choi Su-won rounds third base and touches home plate. Bottom of the first, two outs, no runners. Choi Su-won takes back the one point they lost in the previous defensive inning.]

Baek Kang-ho, who had been chasing the ball in the outfield, looked at him with a disgusted expression.

Baek Kang-ho is a power hitter, known for home runs. He insists on an extremely closed stance and a big leg kick to generate power. But Choi Su-won was different. Of course, his form was also extreme in shifting his weight for home runs. However, it was smoother and more aesthetically pleasing than Baek Kang-ho’s. That’s what made it even more surprising. How could a ball hit with such a fluid motion travel so far?

Bottom of the first.

After Noh Hyung-wook’s hit, Lee Gyu-man’s powerful swing ended the inning.

A very short break.

The time of hitter Choi Su-won ended, and the time of pitcher Choi Su-won returned.

***

It was a bit embarrassing to give up a run in the first inning after hyping myself up with a monologue about being in great condition, as if I was going to pitch a perfect game or at least a no-hitter. But I genuinely felt amazing.

If today’s opponent wasn’t the Dolphins, known as the strongest offensive team in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] and even considered to be on a 탈KBO [Beyond-KBO] level, but the Phoenix, who had only one team home run and a total of 14 runs in the seven games since the season opener, I think I could have realistically aimed for a perfect game or a no-hitter.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

[Swinging strikeout!! Choi Su-won finishes the inning with his second strikeout!! He’s showing a great performance on both offense and defense today.]

[That was an impressive curveball. If you watch Choi Su-won today, he’s actively using two types of curveballs. It’s quite effective.]

[Two types of curveballs?]

[Yes, if you look at the ball that induced the infield ground ball earlier, it’s not so much a traditional curveball as it is… well, it feels somewhere between a forkball and a curveball.]

[A forkball?]

[Yes, it drops with a topspin, but when it leaves the hand, it doesn’t have the characteristic hook of a curveball, and the angle of the drop is smaller. But if you look at the ball that induced the swinging strikeout just now, it has the movement of a typical curveball that we all know. So, some people say that Choi Su-won is a two-pitch pitcher, but personally, I think we should see him as a three-pitch pitcher. That’s what I think.]

A clean three-up, three-down. I clenched both fists.

Honestly, if the Dolphins’ 5th, 6th, and 7th hitters were on a team like the Phoenix, they would be in the upper batting order. There’s some basis for my thought that I could have aimed for a perfect game or a no-hitter if I was in this condition and facing a team like the Phoenix.

“Su-won, your pitches are really good today. The best I’ve ever caught.”

On the way back to the dugout.

Jjo-Yu gave me a thumbs up. It was definitely more comfortable than when I was working with Han Gyo-cheol. The fact that the catcher not dropping the ball behind him isn’t a given but something to be cherished… What kind of baseball am I playing?

Dolphins’ native ace, Yoo Hyung-joon, took to the mound.

He gave up a home run to me in the previous inning, and he’s a bit underrated because his team’s hitters are so great, but he still recorded an ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] in the low 3s last year.

-Clang!!!

Top of the 1st.

Kang Ra-on, who had given up a point with a silly error, gritted his teeth and swung his bat. A sprint without looking at the batted ball. To some, it’s a foolish act that only wastes energy, but to most fans, it’s a welcome display of hustle. Considering that professional baseball is ultimately entertainment for the fans, it’s a great attitude.

-Thwack!!

“Out!!”

Of course, having a great attitude couldn’t change an out into a safe.

The next hitter was Saul Lopez. A defensive wizard of a foreign player, a rare find in a pitcher-friendly league.

The fans complained about Saul’s batting average, but in fact, considering the team’s situation where most of the fielders, including me, Lee Gyu-man, and Noh Hyung-wook, are focused on hitting rather than defense, Saul, who could fill the defensive gaps regardless of infield or outfield, was a very valuable player.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

Of course, that only means he’s a very good player for a salary of $300,000. Honestly, if a foreign player is hitting in the low .200s, the fans will be frustrated.

And the next hitter was Lee Ju-hyuk. A player with impressive physical gifts. Before going back in time, I didn’t even know the Marines had a player like this, but anyway, if you only look at his physical attributes, he’s probably the best in the league. The disappointing thing is his baseball IQ, which is ridiculously inadequate for his physical prowess. It’s like having Windows 1.0 installed on a state-of-the-art computer. If it was even around 95, it would be usable, but it’s not.

-Clang!!

A weak infield ground ball.

Yoo Hyung-joon, who shut down the Marines’ bottom of the order with a three-up, three-down, clenched both fists. He did a similar pose to what I did after a three-up, three-down in the previous inning. It seems like he’s conscious of me… Ah, he made eye contact with me. It’s not just my ego; he’s really conscious of me.

“Ah, darn, I was going to go up there and do something. I guess I’ll have to postpone it to the next inning.”

“Stop talking nonsense and put on your gear.”

Jo Yu-jin, who was as stiff as if she had embodied the word ‘tension’ itself in the waiting batter’s box, returned to the dugout and started talking again.

“Are you nervous?”

“Huh? Nervous? Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

“……”

“Don’t be nervous, just swing your bat. No one expects you to hit anyway. All you have to do today is catch my pitches without letting them get past you. That’s enough for today.”

“Are you downplaying my batting right now?”

“No, I’m praising your mitt work.”

“I have a strangely bad feeling that it’s definitely not a compliment……”

“It’s a compliment. Just catch the ball well. Then you’ll be about the second-highest contributor to the win today.”

“Only second with that?”

“Yeah, I’m planning to take about 98% of the win contribution today.”

WAR (Wins Above Replacement)

As the name suggests, it’s a now-famous stat that tells you how many more wins you’ve contributed to the team compared to a hypothetical replacement player.

But few people know exactly how much WAR a player can get in one game. There are all sorts of complicated formulas, but simply put, based on last year’s KBO, a pitcher gets 1 WAR for 15.2 innings of scoreless pitching. And in the case of a hitter, based on last year’s KBO, if you play as a shortstop or catcher and hit 4 home runs in 5 at-bats, you get 1 WAR.

In other words, it’s almost impossible to get more than 1 WAR in one game.

Yes, ‘almost impossible’.

[At the plate is number 9 hitter Jang Jin-gyu. He recorded 0.274/0.361/0.354 last year. He’s too strong to be placed at number 9, which is evidence of how deep the Dolphins’ lineup is.]

[Actually, that’s true, but we can’t ignore the fact that the Dolphins’ batting order is a bit unconventional. It seems that more and more good hitters are being moved up in the lineup, and if you look at the Dolphins, they placed the foreign player Jack Hamilton in the number 2 spot, and Baek Kang-ho and Park Ju-won in the number 3 and 4 spots. In a way, you could say that number 9 Jang Jin-gyu is virtually playing the role of the leadoff hitter.]

Jang Jin-gyu, who was holding his bat short and standing close to the plate, glared at me.

Well, it’s his way of saying, ‘Hit me if you can.’ There are guys like that in the KBO sometimes. Fans like that attitude of trying to get on base by getting hit by a pitch, even if they can avoid it, calling it ‘grit.’ In a way, it’s a sign of desperation. It’s a strong will to stay in the first team even if it means getting hit.

Is it because the hitters in the KBO are braver? Or are the hitters in the MLB [Major League Baseball] less desperate? That can’t be. There’s no way there aren’t desperate guys in the MLB. Some experts say that the reason why there are so many guys like that in the KBO is because they were taught wrong by their coaches in their school days. Well, yes, there’s probably some truth to that. But I think there’s a bigger reason.

-Thwack!!!

“Strike!!”

[158.9km/h!! A daring pitch inside!! Top of the 3rd. Choi Su-won’s fastest pitch of the game today makes Jang Jin-gyu unable to swing.]

It’s because a 140km/h pitch, which is the average in the KBO, is bearable to get hit by.

From my experience, a beanball [a pitch intentionally thrown at the batter’s head] needs to instill the fear of death if you get hit wrong for your body to instinctively recoil.

Yes, just like right now, when a ball approaching 160km/h whizzed right in front of his eyes.

I threw one outside fastball curve and one curve that bounced to Jang Jin-gyu, whose body was slightly stiffened.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

A clean three-pitch strikeout for the leadoff batter.

Jo Yu-jin caught the ball perfectly without dropping it. It was a truly touching scene that the catcher caught the ball properly.

Park Il-jin, who had reached base due to a shortstop error in the previous at-bat. Well, although he reached base due to an error, he definitely has the ability to make contact with the ball, as you can see from the fact that he hit my pitch.

So I changed my repertoire a bit.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!!”

Curveball from the first pitch.

Today, the command of the fastball was also very good, but I threw the curveball more often because the results were better.

And finally.

-Thwack!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

Park Il-jin, who didn’t swing because he thought it was a fastball curve, was cleanly struck out looking. Jack Hamilton was at the plate. And Baek Kang-ho was in the waiting batter’s box.

Both players were looking at me with unusual eyes. Baek Kang-ho, in particular, looked like he was about to shoot sparks from his eyes. It seemed like it was because I had tied him in home runs by hitting my fourth home run.

So I was looking forward to it.

-Clang!!

[A high fly ball!! Jack Hamilton. He hit a falling ball, but the launch angle is not good. Center fielder Lee Ju-hyuk easily handles it, and Choi Su-won finishes the inning with another three-up, three-down.]

What kind of expression will he make when I hit another home run?

Bottom of the 3rd, Jo Yu-jin stepped into the batter’s box. Surprisingly, I had no expectations at all.

-Clang!!!

“Huh?”