The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 188

188. Leading Batter (11)

Slide step.

In reality, this quick motion is quite difficult from the pitcher’s perspective.

‘There is no such thing as a free lunch.’

I don’t know who said it, but it’s a famous saying. It means that everything comes at a price.

The same goes for quick motion.

For a pitcher to disrupt the runner’s timing means they can’t throw with their usual rhythm.

Pitching is a delicate operation, like small gears meshing together intricately. Throwing with a quick motion is like forcibly skipping or speeding up something in that process.

The slide step simplifies the lifting motion and immediately goes into the stride. Naturally, the timing of the lower and upper body is thrown off, and the arm that should be out in front is still behind. This causes a rushing phenomenon where the upper body moves forward hastily, resulting in a lower angle at a later timing than usual.

This naturally affects the pitch’s power, control, and velocity.

In a very negative way.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!”

But despite all that, Jo Chang-hyuk’s pitch worked. There were three main reasons for this: despite the negative effects, the pitches he threw still had top-level power and velocity by KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] standards. Also, Jo Chang-hyuk controlled the rushing phenomenon quite well. Finally, the timing of the pitches from the slide step was quite tricky.

The last part, in particular, was worth learning from.

A pitcher isn’t just someone who throws fast, powerful pitches accurately. Hitting is about timing, and pitching is about disrupting that timing. In that sense, even if the pitch is slower, less accurate, and weaker, it’s enough if it can disrupt the batter’s timing.

And Noh Hyung-wook was clearly not adapting to Jo Chang-hyuk’s quick motion timing.

But…

Fifth time.

-Clang!!!

A huge foul ball that hit deep into the first base infield stands. Noh Hyung-wook’s bat was gradually catching up to Jo Chang-hyuk’s pitches.

He was clearly a talented hitter.

He learned the timing through his body during the repeated slide steps.

And the sixth time.

A quick motion pitch couldn’t always be good, and the slider was a bit flat. This was welcome news for Noh Hyung-wook, who was slowly adapting to the quick motion timing.

-Clang!!

And Noh Hyung-wook didn’t miss that flat breaking ball. His bat pulled Jo Chang-hyuk’s pitch.

The high fly ball went far beyond the infield. It flew almost to the warning track. Center fielder Kang Ho-chang ran towards the ball.

But it was no use. It was a fly ball that couldn’t be caught unless you had Lee Joo-hyuk’s speed. The ball hit the bottom of the fence directly.

I was already past second base and running towards third.

I couldn’t see what was happening behind me.

[Kang Ho-chang with a very clean cover!! He caught the bouncing ball perfectly.]

One, two, three.

Sliding.

If the cover had been a little sloppy or an error had occurred, I could have gone all the way home. But the coach’s reaction made it clear that wasn’t going to happen.

I cleanly stepped on third base.

-Thump!!

“Safe!”

And a long throw came in about a second later.

It wasn’t particularly outstanding, but it was clean and solid. I understood why Lee Joo-hyuk was heavily criticized for every error he made at the beginning of the season. But that didn’t mean it was a defense that could aim for the top of the KBO. If Lee Joo-hyuk’s coin had exploded to the maximum, wouldn’t he have made an amazing play in the same situation and turned it into an out?

No outs, runners on first and third.

Lee Gyu-man stepped up to the plate.

-Clang!!

Hitting the first pitch.

The ball headed between first and second base. The speed of the ball wasn’t that fast.

The distance to home wasn’t that far.

I ran straight towards home.

If it were our Kang Ra-on, he might have shown an aggressive defense, receiving the ball with a dash and throwing it home. But Shin Hee-sung, the Braves’ second baseman today, was a solid defender who could handle both the infield and outfield stably, but he wasn’t a defender capable of crazy highlight plays.

When Shin Hee-sung caught the slowly flying ball with his glove, my body was already close to home. In that situation, Shin Hee-sung chose to throw safely to second base.

The Braves’ shortstop, Chan-min hyung [older brother/friend], caught the ball and threw it to first base again.

Double out.

But instead, we succeeded in adding one point.

[The Marines add one point in the bottom of the third, taking the lead over the Braves again, 5:4.]

[It was a clean double play, but it’s a bit disappointing. The game is very close today, and I think they should have tried to prevent giving up a run more aggressively. Considering Lee Gyu-man’s slow feet, they could have aimed for a 4-2-3 play.]

[Well, Choi Soo-won’s start was excellent, and his speed was very fast. Anyway, Choi Soo-won is strongly emphasizing that his speed is a very powerful weapon in this series.]

[Yes, if this continues, it will be increasingly burdensome to give Choi Soo-won a walk with no runners on base.]

***

This season, several players, especially Choi Soo-won, were being overshadowed, but Baek Ha-min was doing his part more than expected.

Even though he was a highly touted rookie with an 850 million won contract, he was only in his second year. Last year, he was just a promising player who pitched in the bullpen, not as a starter. The fact that he was playing the role of the team’s stable fourth starter was definitely a great thing.

And one more thing.

From the team’s front office perspective, there was one more factor that made Baek Ha-min look so good.

“Ha-min’s jerseys are all sold out again.”

Choi Soo-won was showing such sensational performances that his jerseys were selling like crazy, which was natural. Even fans from other teams were saying that he would eventually go to the major leagues and succeed there, so buying his debut year jersey from his debut team was meaningful.

On the other hand, Baek Ha-min was performing well, but not to that extent. He was definitely a solid fourth starter, but not quite a top-tier domestic starter.

Nevertheless, his jersey sales were currently second in the team.

He was even slightly ahead of Mr. Marines Lee Gyu-man, who was retiring this year, so no one could deny that the reason was his shining looks.

In fact, the number of female spectators at Sajik Stadium had increased significantly recently, and there was a meaningful difference in the gender ratio on the days when Baek Ha-min pitched, and the same was true for the comments on internet articles.

A hot day in July.

It rained just yesterday, and even though it was cloudy today, the temperature was humid and muggy instead of cool. Baek Ha-min came up to the mound.

Baek Ha-min was the main character in his school days.

As the ace of Cheonnam High School, a decent regional powerhouse, his story of struggling against the overwhelming ‘axis of evil’ Gyeongha High School was definitely an attractive story.

Although a monster named Choi Soo-won appeared in his final years, it was Baek Ha-min who won the Cheongryonggi [National High School Baseball Championship], the last national tournament.

Drafted first overall.

And debuted in the KBO in his first year.

It was a very smooth start.

But he learned while playing games last year.

That every player who plays in this professional scene has one or two stories of their own where they were the main character.

Baek Ha-min wasn’t the only main character.

There were main characters who had filmed even more dramatic stories in the generations before him, and there were even real main characters who became main characters in a world where those main characters gathered, and there were even people who left those people behind and made a name for themselves in the big land of America.

That’s why what he learned in the past year was humility in the name of reality.

And this year.

Choi Soo-won appeared.

Carrying the absurd name of a 2 billion won prospect on his back.

Choi Soo-won, who he once thought of as the villain who appeared as just the final obstacle in the story that once made him the main character, destroyed the humility in the name of reality that Baek Ha-min had learned in the past year in a very unrealistic way.

It was like a storm. And Baek Ha-min was just a small sailboat drifting in that storm. All he could do was try not to be swept away. But surprisingly, just by doing that, he was able to steadily grow into a promising player worth 850 million won.

I saw Choi Soo-won’s expression as he went down the mound.

And I captured his face as he ran hard between the bases.

Just two days ago.

Choi Min-hyuk, who stood on the mound as his enemy, said this.

“That guy is completely crazy.”

His expression wasn’t good, even as a compliment. But it was definitely a living expression. Yes, maybe it was similar to Baek Ha-min’s own expression when he couldn’t hold back his resentment and cried in bed in high school.

Baek Ha-min thought.

Maybe the past few months, when he thought he was just a small sailboat drifting in a storm, were actually times when he was just sailing safely in the eye of the storm.

And maybe what he learned in the past year wasn’t humility in the name of reality, but resignation disguised as it.

Baek Ha-min adjusted his hat.

His curly hair, which strangely wasn’t wet with sweat despite the humid and hot weather, swayed. His eyes, which resembled a character from a romance comic, were filled with firm determination.

The Braves’ batting order starts from number 7.

As a team that has consistently advanced to the fall playoffs for the past ten years, you can’t let your guard down just because it’s the bottom of the order.

He tried to attack the inside with a well-controlled 149.7 km/h fastball.

But it was a bit off.

-Clang!!!

Even professional hitters sometimes miss fastballs that come right down the middle at around 150 km/h, but unfortunately, the Braves’ number 6 hitter didn’t seem to have any intention of doing that today.

His swing created a huge hit.

Ah, in movies and comics, the main characters usually awaken just by making a strong resolution at this point and then beat their opponents…

And Lee Joo-hyuk ran.

Although it was inaccurate, his speed, which boasts a defensive range 20% wider than the league average at its maximum, accurately caught the direction this time.

“Out!”

I took a light breath.

Still, the pitch was good. It was a pitch that was completely in the middle, but the hit was slightly weak.

Following the number 8 hitter.

Foul and two balls.

And another foul.

He threw the fifth pitch at a 2-2 count.

A slider that went out of the zone.

-Whoosh!!!

The batter’s bat swung through the air.

“Strike! Out!”

Jo Yu-jin gave a thumbs up.

Starting with Lee Gyu-man at third base, Noh Hyung-wook at shortstop, Kang Ra-on at second base, and Choi Soo-won at first base.

The ball, which had passed through the hands of a rather unique combination of infielders, returned to Baek Ha-min.

It was a ball with the energy of the strikeout and the support of the infielders.

Especially, Choi Soo-won’s eyes as he threw the ball to him were very impressive.

‘Hyung [older brother/friend], the Braves are nothing special, so let’s finish them off quickly and get some conditioning done.’

***

I finally witnessed Ha-min hyung’s [older brother/friend] unique, deep eyes that I had only heard about.

To be honest, I didn’t know much about that expression because I didn’t have many opportunities to see it properly. Ha-min hyung [older brother/friend], who is the 4th starter, always had a day off on the day after I started.

“So, what should I say? It’s like he knows he’s handsome and is trying to look cool? It’s so annoying.”

And Jo Yu-jin’s assessment was very accurate.

Ha-min hyung [older brother/friend] on the mound was quite annoying than usual.

‘Ah, hyung [older brother/friend]. It’s not even an important moment, so let’s just get this over with quickly. It’s going to be dawn soon.’

And Jang Jin-gyu, the number 9 hitter, came to the plate.