The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 154

154. Forget the Cherry Blossoms Now (1)

April 22, 2027.

Spring was slowly passing. The cherry blossoms in Busan had already fallen.

When the cherry blossoms fall, so does the Marines’ baseball.

A well-known saying.

So, how are the Marines doing this year?

Certainly, the games were more interesting than usual.

And it felt like they were winning more games, and even when they lost, they didn’t seem to lose apathetically.

Really close, nail-biting matches.

It was hard to believe that this was the same team that had 99 losses two years ago and finished 8th in the league last year, so fans were convinced that the Marines had truly become stronger.

But what?

So far, they have 9 wins and 8 losses in a total of seventeen games.

“Hey, we haven’t won as many as I thought? It felt like we had about 12 wins.”

“Looking at it, five of the eight losses were come-from-behind losses. And two of the nine wins were come-from-behind wins, right?”

“······. But weren’t we supposed to be good in the spring? If we’re like this even in the spring, isn’t it hopeless?”

“For several years before the year before last, we were definitely worse than this in the spring, and last year was better than this in the spring. But I think this year’s record will be better than last year.”

“Because of Choi Soo-won?”

“That’s obvious. Besides that, the whole team feels a bit more cohesive. Honestly, last year, when we were losing, it felt like the guys were just going through the motions in the 8th and 9th innings. To the point where I wondered if it was just a lack of effort rather than an error? But I haven’t seen that this year.”

“But considering that, we have too many come-from-behind losses.”

Oh Gyu-hwan shook his head.

“That’s probably because the difference in quality between the starters and the bullpen is too great. I mean, even Han Gyo-cheol wouldn’t be a top-tier setup man on other teams, but we don’t have a bullpen guy as good as Han Gyo-cheol. Honestly, I feel like we should fire Jo Won-hyung and make him the closer right now.”

“But isn’t Han Gyo-cheol’s stuff a bit too weak for that? Jo Won-hyung still has good stuff, though.”

“That’s only if he throws it properly. He already has two blown saves. And Kwak Jae-young, he re-signed for 3+1 years and 8.2 billion won [approximately $6 million USD] last year, but his fastball is only reaching 136km/h [approximately 84.5 mph].”

“So, you’re saying that if we can just fix our bullpen, we’ll be good to go?”

“Yeah, I think now is the time to fully utilize Choi Soo-won. Bring in a bullpen guy through a trade or something, and keep bringing up decent pitchers from the minors to test them out. And we absolutely have to sign two A-class bullpen guys as free agents in the winter. And get rid of crap like Kwak Jae-young.”

“Wow, I felt like our team had so many problems that I didn’t know where to start, but now that the problem has narrowed down to one, I feel like I can see a solution.”

***

General Manager Jeon Sang-ik frowned.

Three weeks into the season.

There were aspects that were much better than expected, aspects that fell far short of expectations, and aspects that met expectations.

“How’s the Hawks’ reaction?”

“Well······. They’re asking for Han Gyo-cheol and Lee Ju-hyeok in a blockbuster deal······.”

“What? Lee Ju-hyeok too? Crazy······. Okay, let’s hear it. Who are they offering?”

“They said they’d give us Seo Ji-woong and add Kwak Won-seop······.”

“They’re out of their minds. They’re adding a .200 hitter with 4 billion won [approximately $3 million USD] in remaining salary? While taking Lee Ju-hyeok? Why? They might as well trade for cash with the Braves.”

“We’ve already had a slight inquiry from the Braves.”

The Braves.

The greasy smile of General Manager Gong Byeong-joon, the man he hated the most, came to mind.

Jeon Sang-ik forcibly suppressed the instinct to tell them to drop it immediately.

“What are they saying?”

“They said they’d give us Park Jae-hyeok, Go Seol-min, and Tae Ji-wan if we give them Lee Ju-hyeok, Han Myeong-hoon, and Jo Yu-jin. Personally, I think it’s not a bad offer if we’re planning to make a run this year.”

“Promising players with 5, 4, and 7 years of service time remaining, and three veteran bullpen guys who will be free agents this year and next year······.”

Although they were lumped together as veteran bullpen guys, they were all maintaining ERAs [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] in the 2-3 range, even considering the pitching-heavy league. If they could be brought in, they could completely stabilize the bullpen, which is currently being pointed out as a weakness.

Moreover, what they want are all low-salary, utility-type prospects with a lot of service time remaining. Among them, Lee Ju-hyeok and Jo Yu-jin were drafted in the 2nd round, and Han Myeong-hoon, although a 5th round pick, can be seen as a proven pitching resource, having recorded the most wins among domestic Marines pitchers last year.

Overall, it’s a slightly disadvantageous offer for the Marines. But if they’re really planning to make a run this year and next year, it’s an offer that the Marines, with their weak bullpen, can’t help but be drawn to.

“That’s definitely an offer that Gong Byeong-joon would make. What are their salaries right now?”

“Park Jae-hyeok is at 700 million won [approximately $525,000 USD] in preparation for free agency. And Go Seol-min and Tae Ji-wan are at 270 million won [approximately $202,500 USD] and 240 million won [approximately $180,000 USD], respectively.”

“That’s over 1.2 billion won [approximately $900,000 USD] in total? This is a complete waste of money······. But even if we get three bullpen guys with Han Myeong-hoon, what about our center fielder if Lee Ju-hyeok leaves?”

“We can use Kwon Hyeok-ju, or put Saul Lopez in center field and rotate Jung Ji-woon and Kim Hoon in the infield.”

In terms of potential alone, Kwon Hyeok-ju can’t even compare to Lee Ju-hyeok.

But what about their current skills? Honestly, Lee Ju-hyeok is only slightly better, but it’s not that big of a difference. Besides, the idea of using Choi Soo-won for the full 6 years has already been completely abandoned after just 17 games.

This will be no more than 2 years, no matter how long it takes. He’s going to be the MVP [Most Valuable Player] even if the team is in last place. So, wouldn’t it be right to win a championship during the 2 years that Choi Soo-won is performing at an MVP level?

“What’s Soo-won’s expected WAR [Wins Above Replacement, a comprehensive baseball statistic]?”

“Currently, our team’s own prediction is 19.7.”

The two sites that measure KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] stats predicted Choi Soo-won’s numbers to be 27.4 and 28.7, respectively, which were insane numbers. But the Marines predicted that Choi Soo-won would modestly surpass not only the all-time KBO record, but also Babe Ruth’s 14.2 record in 1923, the highest since the live-ball era, with around 19.7.

If Choi Soo-won really records the same performance as the Marines predict, it would be the highest record since Tim Keefe pitched 619 innings in the dead-ball era in 1883.

“It’s such an unrealistic number that it makes everything else feel meaningless.”

“It’s kind of like that.”

“If we can’t win a championship with a player like this, we deserve to be called idiots, right?”

“Well, the San Francisco Giants with Barry Bonds didn’t win a championship either. Baseball isn’t a sport where you can win with just one player.”

“Isn’t that because Barry Bonds couldn’t throw a 160 km/h [approximately 99.4 mph] fastball?”

“······. Maybe so.”

***

4 consecutive losses.

In fact, even up to 2 consecutive losses, it wasn’t that bad.

What goes up must come down, and baseball is originally a sport that goes through such cycles. But 4 consecutive losses are a different story.

A good hitter is one who hits well when his batting condition is good, and when his condition is not good, he somehow manages to scratch out a hit to maintain his record. Similarly, a good team wins a lot when their condition is good, and when their condition declines, they weather the losing streak and aim for a rebound.

And in that sense, the Marines have at least the minimum qualifications to become a good team.

The reason is, of course, because a player named me exists.

9 innings no-hitter as a pitcher.

2 home runs as a hitter.

That’s the record I achieved in the game right before this one, when I started as a pitcher.

It was no exaggeration to say that I played baseball all by myself.

“There will be no sweep. I plan to end the unlucky losing streak today.”

“If it’s bad luck, do you think the last 2 losses were just a matter of luck?”

“It depends on your point of view, but I think you can definitely see it that way.”

I was in a bad mood because we lost yesterday’s game, and when they pushed the interview on me, I couldn’t help but blurt it out. I couldn’t even swing the bat properly at the plate, and in the end, the only double I hit was from forcibly pulling a ball that was dropping, so I guess I had some pent-up feelings.

I predicted that articles with provocative titles like ‘The last defeat was purely due to bad luck,’ or ‘We think we are far superior in terms of skill’ would be posted on the internet or somewhere, and the comments that would be posted there were obvious, so I didn’t access the internet today.

Anyway, such articles will all disappear if I show a performance that surpasses a no-hitter and 2 home runs today.

Ah, it might be a bit difficult to surpass 2 home runs.

It’s a bit much to say instead, but I should continue my consecutive on-base record. Was the KBO record 13 consecutive plate appearances?

Surprisingly, one of the three players who recorded that 13 consecutive on-base streak is also a Marines player. You have to get rid of the prejudice that the Marines only have bad records. Anyway, that KBO record is going to be broken today.

-Thwack!!!

“Good!! Did you have a hearty breakfast this morning? The ball is feeling good?”

“Yeah, braised short ribs.”

“The one your father made? Was there still some left? I emptied it completely, including the sauce, the day after I brought it down.”

“I deliberately saved some to eat on the morning of my pitching day. I feel good because I feel full after eating it, so my condition is good.”

“Good. Then let’s go dominate today.”

Jo Yu-jin gave a thumbs up during a light practice throw.

The fastballs were generally okay, and I didn’t like the curve as much, but I didn’t throw more than the set number.

Because I realized that my ball is good enough even if I don’t like it. It won’t get much better if I throw a few more right now, and if I ever try to perfect it, even the slight amount of stamina I wasted here could be a waste.

“Ah······. Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey [Korean expression for spitting to ward off bad luck].”

“What? Why are you spitting suddenly?”

“No, I just had a thought that might bring bad luck.”

“What kind of thought is it······. Ah······. Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey.”

It was perfect that the pitcher and catcher had the same mind.

-Whoosh!!!

I caught sight of Lee Ju-hyeok swinging his bat.

His swing wasn’t bad. Although he didn’t show a great performance in the last two games, it was actually a good performance for Lee Ju-hyeok just not showing a *bad* performance.

Without a doubt, the two biggest liabilities in our team’s lineup are Lee Ju-hyeok and Jo Yu-jin, and if they just perform averagely, I can guarantee that our lineup is the strongest in the league.

Our team’s biggest hole is the bullpen.

So, to win, all we have to do is prevent that hole from becoming exposed.

Thursday evening.

6:30 PM on the most difficult day of the week to endure.

There were quite a few empty seats in the stadium. But that didn’t mean those seats weren’t sold. According to today’s official tally, Sajik Stadium was sold out. So, the empty seats are just proof of the souls of the poor office workers who haven’t been able to leave work yet.

Was it around my 6th year as a professional?

I had the opportunity to have a Q&A with an office worker on a program, and I still remember what that office worker said.

“The best experience I had at the baseball stadium······. So, there was a day when a client picked a fight for no reason, and I had to work overtime unexpectedly, so I went to the baseball stadium late. We were on a losing streak, so I honestly didn’t want to go, but it was a really expensive ticket, so I reluctantly went to the baseball stadium around 8 PM. When I arrived, was it the bottom of the 5th inning? But that day, the losing streak was broken!! Wow, how should I put it? It was like all the stress I had received from being harassed by the client was gone.”

Thursday evening.

For the Marines fans who decided to come to Sajik Stadium despite being on a 4-game losing streak, I decided to provide the best service I could.

-Clang!!!

Lead-off hitter gets a hit on the first pitch.

It’s a bit disappointing, but if it’s the Marines fans, even if it’s not a perfect game, a no-hitter is enough······.

“Ah, ptooey, ptooey, ptooey.”