The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 275

275. The Legend of a Bygone Era? (11)

Zack Wheeler.

A famous pitcher.

Of course, since he was already 38 years old in 2028, I, who debuted in the majors in 2034 before my regression, had never faced him.

I had already received data about him.

Against right-handed batters, he throws outside low curveballs and sliders. Sinkers or two-seamers into the deep inside corner. And a four-seam fastball that breaks away to the outside. The tricky thing is that it’s almost impossible to distinguish between his four-seam fastball and his sinker. They come in looking like they’re going to be right down the middle, but the four-seamer moves slightly to the outside low corner, and the sinker moves deep inside.

Aaron Judge, on first base, took a lead of exactly two steps.

He seemed determined not to run.

In fact, the best way to attack a pitcher like Zack Wheeler is to have the same ‘power’ as Aaron Judge, who is now on first base.

Actually, I was similar to him before my regression. If I were the me from back then, I would have had less power in my batted balls than Aaron Judge in the same situation just now, but I was much faster, so the result itself would have been similar.

“Hey, rookie. You’re pretty famous these days, huh?”

“Thank you. But who are you?”

The catcher who spoke to me looked slightly displeased.

Wait, I really don’t know him. Isn’t the Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto?

“Garrett Stubbs. I’d appreciate it if you knew the names of the batters you’re facing today.”

“Ah, sorry. As a rookie, there are just so many names to remember.”

I remembered him now that I heard his name.

He was a fairly famous catcher in college league during his amateur days and even won the Johnny Bench Award [an award given annually to the top college catcher]. Back in 2034 when I was playing, he was a really old veteran playing as a first baseman instead of a catcher, but now he seems to be the Phillies’ backup catcher.

“You’ve got a lot of guts. I don’t know how long that’ll last, though.”

“Well, I don’t know how long my guts will last either. But what I do know for sure is that it won’t be today.”

To be honest, this level of conversation isn’t much of a provocation.

Just a simple greeting?

Zack Wheeler on the mound glanced at first base and then boldly went into his windup. Even if he doesn’t do a slide step [a quicker delivery to home plate to prevent a runner from stealing], he’s doing a windup with a runner on first? But honestly, looking at Aaron Judge standing two steps away and exuding his determination not to run, it’s understandable.

Middle?

No way.

-Bang!!!

A two-seamer or sinker digging deep inside.

“Strike!!!”

The umpire clenched his fist.

Wait, what’s with this guy? That’s a strike?

I slightly turned my gaze and glanced at the umpire. I didn’t turn my head completely because I’m a rookie by major league standards. Even when I advanced in 2034, some old-fashioned umpires treated me like a rookie rather than a veteran who advanced as a free agent, so it’ll be even worse now that I came on a minor league contract.

“Couldn’t even see the ball, huh?”

“I saw the ball just fine, that’s why I didn’t swing.”

“When are you going to swing if you don’t swing at a strike?”

“Whenever I feel like it?”

Garrett tried to provoke me again. I just gave him a nonchalant answer and focused on the pitcher on the mound.

That last ball was definitely sharp.

In my opinion, it was a ball, but considering that the strike zone is three-dimensional, it might have been a strike even if judged by a machine, as it slightly grazed the front of the zone.

Originally, as people get older, their recovery speed slows down, and as a result, starting pitchers tend to have more ups and downs. In that sense, a pitcher in his late thirties with an ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] in the mid to late 3s means that on a good day, he can show a performance no less impressive than his prime super ace days.

Second pitch.

A pitch similar to the first.

My bat moved.

And, as I felt it, right in front of home plate.

The direction of the ball changed completely from the first pitch.

Outside. Of course, since it was a course that was slightly inside even from the middle, it wasn’t a ball that was going to go out of the zone.

-Clack!!!

The bat, which I brought to the ball almost forcibly, pushed it away.

The ball went out along the first base foul line.

In an instant, the count was 0-2.

With only three days left until the start of the season, the pitching of a top-class major league pitcher showing skills close to his prime was fierce.

Third pitch.

Slightly high on the outside.

‘A waste pitch.’

The prediction was correct.

A curveball that drops sharply to the outside low corner. Certainly, both the four-seam fastball and the other pitches he throws tend to curve slightly to the outside.

Garrett cleanly caught the ball that was almost buried on the ground.

“Not bad, huh?”

“You’re the one who’s not bad for enduring that, huh?”

“Then let’s just say we’re both not bad.”

“······.”

I didn’t check his face closely, but Garrett probably had a look on his face like he was eating poop, right?

Zack Wheeler on the mound prepared his fourth pitch.

Wow, but Aaron Judge, that guy. Is that slow movement of taking one step and then taking another step back for real?

The outside curve can be roughly distinguished.

The problem is that ball that I don’t know whether it’s a four-seam fastball or a two-seam fastball or a sinker.

Aim for one. And be prepared to knock away the rest.

A course slightly pushed to the outside.

A fast ball came flying in.

Will it be a four-seam fastball that goes out of the zone as it is? Or will it be a two-seam fastball that digs into the middle? I was going to prepare with the intention of aiming for one and knocking away the rest, but if this is a four-seam fastball, I’m going to swing and miss.

Should I swing as is? Or should I stop?

The moment of choice.

I stopped my bat without hesitation.

And that choice was right.

-Bang!!!!

Garrett, who jumped up from his seat, checked with the first base umpire whether I swung or not. Half swing or check swing. Personally, I was sure it was a check swing, but considering that the pitcher on the mound is a veteran and I’m a rookie, I had a thought that even this swing, which was about 10cm away from being a half swing, might be judged as a half swing.

But fortunately, the first base umpire’s ruling was a check swing. Aaron Judge, who was wandering around first base, was seen talking to the umpire.

The count is now 2-2.

Zack Wheeler on the mound threw his fifth pitch.

Middle.

A slightly low course.

I still couldn’t tell if this was a four-seam fastball or a two-seam fastball. But I thought that if it was this course, I could somehow get my bat on it even if it wasn’t the course I was aiming for.

And in an instant, that story from Kuroda Hiroki [a former MLB pitcher] that I had heard recently flashed through my mind.

‘Leave a strong impression on the batter. In my case, if I throw a few sinkers that break towards the knees and leave them in the batter’s head, the outside ball looks farther away. This makes the batter mistake an outside ball that’s in the zone for a ball that’s going out.’

In that sense, since he’s shown me three outside balls in a row, isn’t he aiming for a two-seam fastball now?

I swung my bat boldly.

A distance not far from home plate.

Zack Wheeler’s ball broke inward.

The ball came in so deep that I wondered if it was too deep.

I didn’t fully extend my left arm.

And from that position, I did a strong torso swing as is. The rotation of my lower body followed that swing as is.

-Clack!!!

A heavy feeling in both hands.

I ignored it.

And I pulled the bat all the way to the very end.

The batted ball flew as is.

The angle wasn’t very high. But the speed was surprisingly fast. If people watching this game through the YES Network [the television network primarily broadcasting the New York Yankees] were listening to the commentator’s exclamation, right?

A line drive-like batted ball stretching out like a clothesline.

Aaron Judge ran.

If the angle was only about 3 degrees higher, I would have been sure it was a home run, but I ran hard on the premise that it might hit the fence.

I passed first base and was about to run towards second base, but this bastard started before me and has now stepped on second base. If this isn’t a home run, I’m going to end up with a single against my will. That’s the situation I was in.

-Waaaaah!!!

A tremendous roar hit my ears.

The Yankees fans who came to Bright House Field were sending generous cheers even amidst the pressure from the Phillies fans.

Aaron Judge, who was showing a form close to running, was now walking as if he was taking a stroll. It was awkward to catch up, so I just jogged slowly. Even though I ran like that, I ended up walking towards home side by side with him, leaving a gap of almost ten steps when passing third base.

“It seems like the rumors are worse than your skills?”

“That can’t be. The rumors and my skills were probably similar.”

“Is that humility?”

“Ah, you have to listen to the end. The rumors are about my skills last year. I’ve stepped up another level during the winter.”

“How did you know it was an inside ball? That guy’s condition was very good today, so it wouldn’t have been easy to distinguish.”

“I guessed.”

Aaron Judge, who stepped on home plate first, didn’t go to the dugout and turned around to wait for me.

“Excellent. If you can swing your bat without the slightest hesitation in your choice, that alone qualifies you to hit 30 home runs.”

Did he like me quite a bit?

He stretched out his large fist.

-Thud

A light fist bump.

Aaron Judge smiled brightly, revealing his gums, and returned to the dugout with me.

2:0.

The game continued.

***

Bryce Harper sighed.

“Damn it, that guy is even more of a monster than I heard?”

“The team said they tried their best to recruit him. Didn’t they ask you to do some ass-kissing on social media or something?”

“They did.”

“But why didn’t you do it?”

“I didn’t know he was that good back then. And he has more followers than me. It’s annoying.”

Realmuto sighed at Harper’s answer.

“Isn’t that reason a bit too petty?”

“Petty? A follower count of 700,000 wouldn’t understand the world of influencers, you know?”

“Yeah, influencer. But you know this is my last year, right?”

“I know. Zack said this is his last year too.”

Back in 2023.

John Middleton, the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, gave a truly ambitious interview.

“Do you remember the great teams? Of course, everyone remembers them. The 1927 Yankees, the ’29 Athletics, the ’75 Reds. But is there anyone here who remembers how much money they made? Of course not. No one cares about that in the first place. It’s the same with me. It doesn’t matter at all whether I make money with the Phillies or not. No, if the greatest achievement I get as the owner of the Phillies is just not losing money, wouldn’t that be a pathetic thing?”

So, did John Middleton keep his interview?

The answer to that was that he kept half of it and the other half he hasn’t kept yet. John Middleton certainly showed a reckless move that suited his words. In the 2020s, the Philadelphia Phillies were the team that spent the most money in Major League Baseball along with the New York Mets.

But his Philadelphia Phillies still haven’t become great. And the players he recruited for ‘greatness’ have already finished their first free agency and entered into one-year or two-year extension contracts, or are heading towards the end of their 8-year or 10-year long-term contracts.

“Still, I have to be great at least once before I retire.”

Bryce Harper pulled out his bat and went up to the plate.

Top of the 3rd inning.

Choi Su-won was still on the mound.

The score was still 2:0.

A situation with two outs and no runners.

And it’s just a spring training game.

35 years old.

This man, who is slowly reaching the end of his prime, raised his bat towards the two-way rookie who has 1.7 million more followers than him.

He cut the first one and just sent the second one.

And the third one.

High course.

A curveball that drops sharply.

Bryce Harper’s bat hammered the ball.

-Clack!!!

An absurd power that seemed to split the ball.

It wasn’t a perfectly accurate point to hit. But that was enough for this thirty-five-year-old batter.

Power that beats accuracy.

Bryce Harper foreshadowed that this season would be his fourth monster season through that home run.

3 innings, 1 run.

Su-won’s last spring training appearance ended like that.

***

“Choi Su-won, your pitching was quite good today, including the home run. Are there any particular regrets?”

“No, it was a game where I did my best. Honestly, if Harper’s last home run was a bad pitch or something, I would have been disappointed, but it was a really amazing ball, and Harper’s bat was actually pushed back a bit. But seeing it go over like that, I thought, ‘As expected, Major League Baseball is Major League Baseball.’”

“I see.”

“Ah, but it’s okay.”

“Yes? What do you mean by it’s okay?”

“I have a feeling that Harper is going to do a great job this season, but the Phillies are a National League team. We only meet three times this season anyway. So, what should I say? It’s like the house on fire is not in our neighborhood but in the next neighborhood. Something like that?”

“Ah······.”