The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 270

270. The Legend of a Bygone Era? (6)

Max Fried knew Choi Su-won’s name well.

The home run king from Asia.

But so what?

Hitting a full season in AA [Double-A, the second-highest level of minor league baseball in the US] and setting a new home run record? Okay, that’s impressive. But impossible? Absolutely not. The only reason it rarely happens is that someone with that much talent wouldn’t need to play in AA long enough to set such a record.

Yeah, that’s all it is.

First pitch.

A fastball at 91.1 mph, just outside the strike zone.

He’d intended to clip the edge, but it drifted a bit too far. Still, no big deal. Giving up a ball at 0-0 wasn’t the end of the world. Besides, if the batter swung, it would probably be a ground ball or a foul, letting him get ahead in the count.

‘Was I being too careful?’

No, no.

Anyway, this guy has at least proven he can dominate AA, which means he meets the minimum requirements to play in the big leagues.

-Clang!!!

Choi Su-won’s bat connected squarely with the 91.1 mph fastball that was drifting outside the zone. Yes, it was definitely a 91.1 mph fastball outside the zone.

“Huh?”

Tyler Collins, the Atlanta Braves’ right fielder for today’s game, took off running. But his gut told him it was a futile effort.

The high fly ball kept climbing.

It was a familiar sight to those who knew Choi Su-won from his KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] days.

And Tyler Collins’ instincts, honed from eight years in the minors, were right. Of course. No outfielder could catch a ball that cleared the fence.

The ball sailed over the fence.

“Crazy?”

Of course, the Yankees players remembered Domingo Rodriguez and Su-won’s live batting practice two days ago. But that was under the condition of ‘doing their best inside the zone.’

“Hey, what was Max Fried’s line drive rate last year?”

“12.3%? Even including fly balls, it was only about 35%?”

“Wow… And he just teed off on the first pitch against a pitcher like that and hit a home run?”

What if the pitcher on the mound for the Atlanta Braves right now was just some run-of-the-mill 40-man roster player? I guarantee that no matter how suddenly he teed off on the first pitch and made a home run, there would never have been such admiration.

But this is Max Fried. Domingo Rodriguez, who had a live pitching session with Su-won two days ago, is indeed a great pitcher, but if you only add the premise of ‘healthy,’ Max Fried was definitely not a lesser pitcher compared to Domingo Rodriguez.

Choi Su-won casually rounded the bases and returned to the dugout.

The mouths of those who had been chattering noisily just a moment ago fell silent.

“What? Is he pulling ‘that’ even though this isn’t a regular game?” [referring to a celebratory gesture or swagger]

No, no. It wasn’t that nobody had considered it, but it definitely wasn’t the prevailing thought. The strange silence stemmed from the astonishment that this batter, who hadn’t played a single game in the big leagues, truly possessed the presence befitting the title of home run king. The disconnect came from the fact that he was only twenty years old.

“Hey, Swan.”

“Huh?”

Anthony Volpe broke the uncomfortable silence and was the first to speak to Su-won.

“You’re really twenty years old, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

That day, the Yankees players learned that Korea’s resident registration system was far more rigorous than the United States’ social security number.

***

I got lucky.

Ah, of course, by lucky, I don’t mean some absurd fluke where a random swing happened to connect and send the ball over the fence.

Rather, what should I say?

Was Max Fried a pitcher who was a good matchup for me right now?

A fastball in the low 90s.

A great changeup.

A decent curve and slider.

Yeah, it’s a similar repertoire to Im Gwang-hyung, the former ace who played in the KBO. The difference is that Im Gwang-hyung’s speed is a bit slower than Max Fried’s. Instead, his changeup is even more exceptional.

Of course, if the speed difference was as much as 10 mph, it would have been quite difficult.

Anyway, having just come to the majors after playing for a year in the KBO, where even throwing 93 mph would get you labeled a fastball pitcher, it was true that it would take some time to adjust my timing.

But Max Fried’s velocity itself was unremarkable compared to his reputation. I heard he used to throw up to 98 mph in his prime, but the fastest ball he threw last year was only 96 mph, which was 2 mph slower.

Besides, it was fortunate that the first pitch he threw was a low, outside fastball. That was a location I was confident swinging at, even if it was slightly outside.

Max Fried, after giving up a home run to me, continued pitching.

-Clang!!!

“Wow…”

“I told you? His defense is crazy. If he plays more than 150 innings, that guy is definitely getting a Gold Glove [an award given annually to the MLB players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League].”

As Anthony Volpe said, his movements were truly amazing. His pitching motion was already quite compact, but after releasing the ball, he seemed to transform into a fifth infielder. Moreover, even after I hit a home run off him, he calmly continued pitching, which was exactly what you’d expect from a veteran.

“I have to hit it far no matter what.”

“That’s not as easy as it sounds… but maybe it is?”

-Clang!!!

Infield fly out.

Max Fried finished the inning.

The game continued.

Garrett Cole, who had been sitting silently in the corner of the dugout, glanced at me before heading to the mound. What do you want me to do? I considered glaring back, but good vibes are good. I just decided to cheer him on.

“Fighting!! No, Go get ’em!!”

-Pfft…

Volpe, who understood the situation, burst into laughter. As a result, Garrett Cole frowned. A muscular man of 6’4″ and nearly 240 lbs making such an expression was definitely intimidating. But he didn’t pursue it further. Garrett Cole went to the mound and continued pitching.

-Bang!!

A 96.7 mph fastball whizzed into Jose’s mitt. It’s only early March. Considering that Garrett Cole is 37 years old this year, that’s really impressive power.

Ah, of course, not all of the Atlanta Braves’ hitters just watched that ball or swung wildly. Anyway, Garrett Cole was a veteran and didn’t need to ramp up his body in advance, whereas the Braves’ fielders who had come to play an away game were in a desperate situation where they might have to pack their bags as soon as today’s game ended, so they had been pushing themselves.

-Clang!!!

A ball that sailed far beyond the infield.

The runner rounded first and reached second.

“Safe!!”

And allowing such a hit wasn’t just Garrett Cole’s problem. The Braves’ 33-year-old pitcher, Max Fried, also wasn’t in top form.

Bottom of the 3rd inning.

One out, runner on second.

It was my turn.

***

The guy behind me was quite annoying.

Anthony Volpe.

A 27-year-old young shortstop that the Yankees are heavily promoting. Currently, he is one of the most promising shortstops in the entire major league. His defense is slightly below average, but his contact and power are both top-notch, making him a hitter capable of batting .280 with 20 home runs. His speed is also quite good, so he turned what could have been a single into a double just now.

But the reason I’m getting a little annoyed right now isn’t just because of Anthony Volpe.

Choi Su-won stepped up to the plate.

Carelessness?

Yeah, well, you can tell yourself that. But Max Fried was a man who threw only 163.1 innings with a maximum of 96 mph and an average of 92 mph fastball and finished third in the Cy Young Award [an award given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball, one each for the American League and National League].

‘What makes a pitcher great is not a strong arm, but the organ between the ears, the brain.’

That’s what Greg Maddux, the legendary pitcher of the Atlanta Braves, said. Of course, it’s unknown whether Greg Maddux himself considered himself a ‘legendary pitcher of the Atlanta Braves.’

Clearly, Max Fried was the type who was relatively self-aware among pitchers with the title ‘Ace’ attached to them. Therefore, he didn’t underestimate Choi Su-won’s skills.

Although the ball that Choi Su-won suddenly hit for a home run was the fastball with the highest probability of being hit for an extra-base hit among the balls he threw, that didn’t diminish the guy’s power.

Therefore, he was annoyed that he hadn’t received proper information about Choi Su-won before the game started. And he was annoyed that the data wasn’t ready until the 3rd inning started, even though he had requested it as soon as he gave up the home run.

But he could infer one thing from the previous at-bat: the guy had the power to send even a ball that slightly slipped out of the zone over the fence.

There is no hitter in the world whose entire strike zone is a hot zone. Even Mike Trout in his prime, who was the most complete hitter of the 21st century, was like that, and even Barry Bonds, who had transcended the realm of humans, was like that.

Therefore, if you combine these two facts, the guy’s weakness is highly likely to be inside pitches.

Max Fried was a pitcher who could precisely locate a cutter on the inside edge of the plate against a right-handed hitter with pinpoint accuracy. Add a backdoor slider that breaks away at the last moment, and ordinary hitters tend to lose their composure.

First pitch.

A cutter that dives sharply inside.

-Bang!!!

Is he really weak against inside pitches as he expected?

Choi Su-won didn’t swing.

“Strike!!!”

Besides, he got lucky.

In fact, that ball was so far inside that it wouldn’t have been surprising if it was called a ball; it was rather surprising that it was called a strike.

Ball count 0-1.

He’s only a twenty-year-old hitter. He didn’t argue with the umpire, but he would inevitably be a little shaken psychologically since a strike was called on such a pitch.

Second.

Another inside pitch.

This time, it’s a slider that breaks away sharply.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!!”

He was fooled.

Ball count 0-2.

-Hoo.

A light breath.

He doesn’t rashly try to strike him out here. Anyway, he’s a hitter with home run power. The third pitch is a bit of a trap.

To the location he’s confident in. But he throws a bait ball that breaks out of the zone, while also disrupting the timing.

Third.

Outside location.

A changeup that breaks away sharply.

Choi Su-won swung.

‘Got it!!’

The guy was tricked again.

Of course, he doesn’t let his guard down until the end. A pitcher must become a fifth infielder after releasing the ball.

-Clang!!!

Surprisingly, the guy’s bat connected with that changeup.

No, how can he hit that pitch? If you draw a heat map of that guy later, the outside part of the zone will probably be dyed bright red, even outside the strike zone.

Of course, even that has its limits. The ball sailed far beyond the first base foul line.

The ball count is still 0-2.

He had no intention of throwing an easy pitch.

One more bait ball here.

Fourth.

A cutter that dives inside.

If the umpire makes a call like the first pitch, this is checkmate. If he swings, it’s a ground ball, and if he doesn’t swing, it’s a strikeout.

Choi Su-won’s torso twisted dramatically.

What should I call that? Max Fried couldn’t explain it in words.

So he just spat out a curse.

“Fxxx······.”

-Clang!!