The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 174

The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well – Episode 174 (174/404)

174. What He Needs (1)

[Alright, Elitz and Marines. Game 2 of the series between the Marines and Elitz. The first game was a real pitching duel, wasn’t it?]

[Yes, a showdown between Jake Bauer and Diego Rodriguez, former teammates last year! Both players were a bit shaky at the start, but they quickly recovered, and Elitz won yesterday’s game 2-3.]

[Well, let’s see what today’s game will look like. David Cohen is on the mound. The Marines’ starter to face him is Choi Soo-won.]

[Looking at it this way, the Marines are really impressive. It’s already their 38th game of the season, and they’re really sticking to their starting rotation.]

[Well, that’s only possible because the Marines’ starting lineup is so solid. Two decent foreign starters, Choi Soo-won, Baek Ha-min, and Han Myung-hoon, who took over Choi Min-hyuk’s spot after the recent trade. No one can deny that their starting lineup is the best in the league, right?]

Cy Young.

Hank Aaron.

Two legendary players who played in Major League Baseball, but in completely different eras and positions.

Hank Aaron was a player from about 70 years ago, a hitter who set legendary records. His name is somewhat familiar, and his records are often remembered whenever a new record is approached. But Cy Young, well…

Honestly, isn’t the Cy Young Award, given to the best pitcher, more famous than the pitcher Cy Young himself?

When I got to that point in my thoughts, I quickly shook my head.

Now is not the time to worry about that.

Today is my pitching day, and the game is about to start…

-Bang!!!

“Strike!!”

Ah, it already started.

The count is 2-1.

So far, Kang Ra-on was doing a good job.

Today’s Elitz starter, David Cohen, is Jewish, as you can tell from his name. He is a left-handed pitcher who joined the team instead of Diego Rodriguez, and he’s the type of pitcher Elitz is clearly looking for.

A ground ball pitcher.

He’s a type that’s a bit awkward to work with in MLB, but he has the ability to reliably induce ground balls in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization].

However, he was a bit different from Jake Bauer or Diego Rodriguez. While they induce ground balls with cutters, a type of moving fastball, he focuses entirely on outside low-course matchups, using a fastball and a two-seam fastball against right-handed hitters and a fastball and a slider against left-handed hitters.

Of course, there is no pitcher in the world who can always put the ball perfectly in the corners.

Basically, the most common pitch a pitcher throws is right down the middle. Pitchers with good command have a slightly lower percentage, but usually 1 or 2 out of 10 pitches go right down the middle.

Of course, guys like Tom Glavine were freaks who only attacked the outside corner, but he’s an outlier that even sabermetrics guys recognize, and David Cohen on the mound today is definitely not that kind of pitcher.

So David Cohen moved his cluster of pitches to the outside of the zone, not the middle.

And that means that…

-Bang!!!

The percentage of pitches that miss outside becomes very high, and therefore, hitters with good eyes can pick out pitches that go outside.

The count is 3-1.

Fifth pitch.

Again, the relentless outside course.

But it was a pitch that caught the zone.

-Thwack!!!

Kang Ra-on threw down his bat and ran.

But it was no use. The weakly hit ball didn’t escape the second baseman’s glove.

“Out!!!”

A changeup.

David Cohen’s finisher that doesn’t distinguish between left-handed and right-handed hitters.

If he didn’t have that pitch, David Cohen, whose average speed is only about 90 miles per hour, would not have had such good results in AA [Minor League Baseball], nor would he have come to the KBO as a foreign player.

“Soo-won, I think my knee is a little off today. Is it going to rain?”

“Yes?”

In the dugout.

I was a little surprised by Lee Jung-hoon’s sudden statement.

“What are you so surprised about? It’s just that on gloomy days like today, the places I’ve injured before ache. That’s how it is when you’re a player… No, no. Don’t you ever get hurt. After being in this business for a long time, the guy who doesn’t get hurt is the best. Well, it’s hard for pitchers to do that, though.”

“……”

“Anyway, in that sense, please let me come in with a big hit today because I don’t want to run around. And don’t send the ball to the outfield. Why is it Jamsil [stadium in Seoul] on a gloomy day like today? Would it be better if it was a Gocheok [domed stadium in Seoul] game right next door?”

“Senior…”

“Hey, why are you calling me with such a solemn expression? If you’ve been a pro for 11 years, you’ll have one or two of these aches and pains.”

“No, that’s not it. If you want to walk in, you have to get to first base first… You barely got on base yesterday.”

“No, that’s because Jake Bauer was so… Ahem, anyway, I’m going to get on base today, so make sure you hit a big one so I can walk in.”

What should I say?

Until now, when Jung-hoon senior said something so grand, it was a kind of death flag [a statement that foreshadows something bad happening]. At least he had to talk about a home run to barely get a hit or a walk, and usually, in this case, it was a clean strikeout.

But today.

-Bang!!!

The count is 2-3.

Three foul balls.

Lee Jung-hoon, who watched seven pitches, finally picked out David Cohen’s eighth pitch and succeeded in getting on base with a walk.

One out, runner on first.

Holding my bat, I walked to the plate.

-Plop

And then, a drop of rain fell from the cloudy sky and brushed my cheek. But the 23,000 spectators in Jamsil were quiet despite the raindrops falling one by one.

They were just staring at me intently.

In that overwhelming concentration, I finally stood at the plate.

[One out, runner on first base! The Elitz dugout quickly requests an intentional walk.]

[It’s a very natural thing to do. In fact, the Marines’ lineup has been excellent overall recently, but it’s not comparable to a hitter who hits 16 home runs in 29 games. Yesterday, he had 1 hit and 2 walks in 2 at-bats. His stats so far are .486/.669/1.300. It would be a problem to make them face such a hitter in this situation.]

And too naturally, I walked to first base.

“How’s your body doing since it’s raining?”

“…… Don’t you remember me telling you not to talk to me?”

“Ah, was it until today? I thought you were just in a bad mood for yesterday’s game… I’ll be careful.”

“No!! It’s not until today!! Ha… No, never mind.”

Kang So-gu’s voice on first base was a little louder.

Well, I feel a little sorry for him. Of course, he started the fight with me first, but the fact that he was hit by a beanball [a pitch intentionally thrown at a batter] was not purely Kang So-gu’s fault, but rather to warn Elitz for Jake Bauer’s reckless beanball against me.

Besides, it’s unfair enough to be hit by a beanball, but he got excited and ran out, so he was picked up and thrown away by Dillon, and he was only hit, but he was fined 200 and suspended for 3 games.

But pity is pity, and the game is the game.

Today, I’m not just a runner here. In a few minutes, this guy will be a hitter who has to compete with me. This trivial psychological warfare could affect today’s game.

Of course, the fact that teasing him is quite fun was a bigger reason.

-Thwack!!!

Noh Hyung-wook swung his bat.

An outside low course.

But a fairly accurate swing pulled the ball.

Left-center field.

Ra Chan-myung ran in the spacious outfield of Jamsil.

It was a hit that could have been a hit, but Ra Chan-myung was still Ra Chan-myung. His judgment of the ball was so good that he had the stigma of playing defense lazily.

His glove barely caught the ball.

Two outs, runners on 1st and 2nd.

-Thwack!!!

The following 5th hitter, Lee Gyu-man, called us all back to the dugout.

It was an infield fly ball.

0:0.

“At least you didn’t have to run.”

“That’s true, but I think it would have been better to run at least once.”

I chatted with Lee Jung-hoon for a while and came up to the mound with my glove on.

Thin raindrops slowly soaked my clothes.

I brought seven sets of underwear, but it looks like I’m going to use them all today.

While Jo Yoo-jin was putting on the catcher’s equipment and walking out, I couldn’t help but think of that meeting with Baek Dong-hwi that I had earlier today.

That human being is not helpful in life.

No, if you’re going to show up suddenly, come out in the winter after baseball is over, or at least come out on a day off. Why do you have to show up on the day I’m pitching, when I’m the busiest, and make me worry?

Kang So-gu entered the plate.

A stern expression.

I greeted him with a happy face.

I could clearly see the twitch in his brow.

I grabbed the baseball.

Thanks to the rosin [a sticky substance used by pitchers for grip] that was properly applied, the baseball with the right amount of rainwater stuck to my hand. No, it stuck to my hand so well that it was almost sticky.

A slightly different feeling than usual.

But after throwing the ball earlier, there was nothing particularly bad about it.

First pitch.

A bold fastball on the inside high course.

It was a pitch that could stimulate Kang So-gu’s nightmare.

-Bang!!!

“Strike!!”

I really got the ball exactly where I wanted it to go, which felt great. And as expected, Kang So-gu’s bat didn’t react properly.

Jo Yoo-jin asked for another one in the same course.

-Bang!!!

“Strike!!”

Kang So-gu briefly raised his hand and stepped away from the plate.

It seemed like he wanted to cut off the timing for a while because my pitches came in too well two times in a row. That’s because the second pitch also went perfectly where I wanted it to go.

Did I get the Cy Young card and get the ability to control like Cy Young in a baseball game?

That can’t be.

It’s probably because the rosin and water mixed well and the ball stuck to my hand well. If I had spit on my hand to maintain this level of stickiness, wouldn’t I have been called for a spitball [an illegal pitch]?

I picked up the rosin bag on the floor and patted it a few times on the palm of my hand.

Perhaps because of the drizzling rain, the rosin bag itself felt slightly sticky.

Third pitch.

Jo Yoo-jin asked for an outside high course.

I shook my head. I have a good feeling about the inside high course right now. I have a feeling that if I throw it this time, it will go there accurately again.

Kang So-gu clenched his bat tightly.

He adjusted his hat once and threw the third pitch as it was.

159.7km/h

Inside high course.

The ball was about half a ball off the center from the previous pitch. It wasn’t as good as the previous two pitches, but it was still a very good pitch.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

Enough to make Kang So-gu strike out swinging in vain.

Leading hitter strikeout.

KBO’s best shortstop at the plate.

Oh Hyung-won, the second hitter, came in.

***

“His pitching is very aggressive.”

“Yes, he’s a very bold friend. In fact, even when he had two consecutive perfect innings last time, he only threw a breaking ball from 0-2 once, and the rest of the time he put the ball in the zone.”

“I guess it’s because he’s definitely surpassed the level of this league.”

“So he should advance to the big league as soon as possible. If an extraordinary talent stays in the lower league, he will get not experience but bad habits. I thought he needed some tempering as a pitcher, but the KBO is generally a bit slow.”

“It would have been more beneficial to have him play in AA even if he was evaluated at a similar level. That’s what you’re saying.”

“Yes, the know-how to play the season and other things may be better here, but at least if he develops the habit of intimidating with just fastballs, it may be worse. Well, that’s it.”

Joshua Pagno only nodded at Kim Jin-gyu’s words.

“Ah, it’s Oh Hyung-won.”

“Is he a good hitter?”

“Yes, he is currently the best shortstop in the KBO and competed with Kang, who advanced to the Pirates, and Kim, who advanced to the Padres. Overall, his ceiling is a notch below them, but he’s still right below that.”

“Hoo… Did you submit a report on that player too?”

“Yes, but his defense is judged to be good enough to work in MLB, but his hitting will be a bit difficult. Besides, his salary is too high as an Elitz franchise to just scratch him. It’s 5 years and 8.5 million dollars.”

Choi Soo-won on the mound wound up greatly.