The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 276

276. The Answer Exists (1)

“Puhahaha. Hey, Domingo. Did you see this guy’s interview?”

“What about it?”

“Harper seems like he’s about to cause a big stir, but since it’s the National League, it’s not our problem. Seems like you guys have a real crazy one coming in as a rookie?”

“I’ve told you a million times. He’s a real psycho. He heard guys talking behind his back in the locker room and drilled 97-mile fastballs into their thighs during the scrimmage without a second thought.”

“Oh, really? Good for him. You gotta give those guys a taste of something right away. But what kind of morons badmouth a pitcher? Especially one who throws 100 miles? Are they trying to get killed?”

“······.”

Domingo Rodriguez on the smartphone screen was momentarily speechless.

Ah, right. This guy was always like this.

“Anyway, I heard this guy’s specialties are fastball and curveball?”

“Yeah, he throws a slider sometimes and messes around with a changeup, but it’s not great…”

“Well, he’s only twenty, so he’ll get better. No, wait. He’s already doing that in the big leagues at twenty, so he might not have enough time to train? Plus, he’s a two-way player.”

“I don’t know. Won’t he switch to being a hitter in the long run? Aaron said his hitting is the real deal.”

“That’s hard to say. If a 100-mile prospect can throw strikes and has this kind of mentality… Anyway, I’d like to see his face sometime. I’m the world’s best at giving quick tips for curveballs and changeups. Your changeup was terrible, but you became a decent player thanks to me.”

“It wasn’t that terrible to begin with. And if you thought that, you should have come to camp this time.”

He shook his head.

“Nah, even if I have a connection with you, it’s not right for me to go to Yankees camp. The reporters will be digging into who my father is again.”

“He retired like 20 years ago. I don’t think many people care anymore…”

“It’s only been 19 years since I retired, and someone like me will be remembered even after 100 years. Think about it. What would people say if Sandy Koufax went to Giants camp?”

“······? I don’t think there would be much to say? Wasn’t Sandy Koufax not on good terms with the Giants?”

He doesn’t even know about the LA Dodgers-San Francisco Giants rivalry, which is considered one of the fiercest rivalries along with the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry.

He clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, these kids these days don’t know history. Anyway, bring him with you next time you come to train.”

“But I’m not on good terms with him. I told you, he’s crazy.”

“Looks like you’re not normal either, Domingo. So, abnormal guys can become friends.”

Domingo Rodriguez frowned.

***

Opening Day.

The 45,000 seats of Yankee Stadium were completely filled. Seeing this, you could tell how crazy Americans are about sports and how popular the Yankees are.

The outfield seats were over $20, and the most expensive seats behind the catcher were over $10,000. The average price was about $100. Of course, it’s not always this price, but today was Opening Day and the opponent was Boston, so it was a bit more expensive.

The Yankees’ starting pitcher today was, of course, Domingo Rodriguez.

Domingo’s performance had been consistently slightly ahead of Gerrit’s [Gerrit Cole] for the past few years, but in this spring training, the difference was so significant that you could say there was a clear gap in skill.

In fact, it was natural because Domingo was 29 this year, a prime age for a pitcher, whereas Gerrit was 37, an age where he could decline at any time.

Domingo, standing on the mound, threw the ball with a confident face.

I also watched his pitching with interest. Of course, I won’t be pitching against Boston in this series. However, the Boston Red Sox are in the same American League East division, so as long as I’m pitching for the Yankees, I’ll be facing them someday, so it will definitely help to observe the hitters’ habits.

Lead-off hitter Alex Verdugo gets a lead-off hit.

And then Trevor Story gets a hit that advances the runner.

And Rafael Devers, currently the hottest hitter in Boston, hits a deep fly ball to the outfield, scoring a run for Boston in the first inning.

It was a hit that could have easily reached second base, but Rafael Devers stopped at first, perhaps conscious of our right fielder Tyler’s arm.

One out with a runner on first.

The score is 1:0.

I was thinking, “Domingo, that confident face of yours doesn’t match the results,” when he induced a ground ball against the 4th hitter, Masataka Yoshida. Anthony [Anthony Rizzo] easily picked up the ball and threw it to second. And then back to me at first.

“Out!!!”

A clean double play.

“Ah······.”

Yoshida let out a sigh full of regret. Honestly, I didn’t think it was a hit to be that disappointed about, but if that’s what he thinks, there’s no reason to argue.

Today’s starting pitcher for Boston is Juan Montero.

Boston had many solid starters, but none that could be called an ace, so they traded for him in the winter of 2026 and gave him a whopping 8-year, $200 million contract two years ago.

He’s from the Dominican Republic or Mexico, anyway, from South America, and he had an ERA [Earned Run Average] in the low 4s last year before getting injured in the second half and getting some flak. He recovered from his injury over the winter and showed a decent performance in spring training, but honestly, he’s not quite the ace-level pitcher for a contender team.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!”

98.9 miles.

High fastball.

Anthony Volpe’s bat swung and missed.

[Juan Montero!! It’s only early April, but he throws 98.9 miles on the first pitch. But it’s too early to be surprised. This player throws up to 104 miles during the season. He’s definitely a pitcher Boston is willing to pay $30 million a year for.]

[That’s right. He struggled a bit last year with a hip injury, but if Juan Montero is healthy, he’s definitely a pitcher who can aim for the Cy Young Award.]

The trajectory feels like it’s extending more than I expected, not just the speed.

Of course, I’m watching from the fence, so it’s not accurate. I’ll get a more accurate read from the on-deck circle. And I’ll have to go into the batter’s box to know for sure.

Next pitch.

-Thwack!!

Anthony Volpe’s bat hit the ball.

But was that a sinker? A two-seamer? Anyway, it seemed like a breaking ball that curved in towards Volpe’s body.

[Slow ground ball to the third baseman!! Rafael Devers fields it and throws to Tristan Casas!!]

“Out!!”

Volpe walked towards the dugout with a disappointed expression.

“Juan, that guy seems to be in great condition today? The ball seems to be extending a lot.”

“Half a ball?”

“Yeah. About that much?”

I took out my bat and went to the on-deck circle while having a brief conversation.

Aaron Judge went to the plate.

He’s the Yankees’ best franchise player.

There was no loud cheering like in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization]. But the grandeur of 45,000 cheers and applause had a slightly different flavor. In fact, most of the fans who came to the stadium had the number 99 on their backs.

One out, no runners on.

The score is 1:0.

It was a very familiar scene to me from last year.

Perhaps it was because the pressure was different from Anthony Volpe? Juan Montero, who had boldly thrown high fastballs to Anthony, carefully approached the at-bat.

Ball, foul, ball, ball, strike, foul.

Four-seam fastball and two-seam fastball. And changeup and curveball.

I tried to imprint the trajectories of those pitches in my head as much as possible.

3-2 count.

Seventh pitch.

Full course inside.

Aaron Judge, who was halfway through swinging, dodged back.

-Boom!!

Deep inside course.

But it didn’t seem like a dangerous pitch that would require him to dramatically dodge like that, and tremendous boos poured out towards Juan Montero from all directions.

The call was, of course, a ball.

Aaron Judge walked to first.

[Okay, one out, runner on first. At the plate is the super rookie who joined the Yankees this season from across the Pacific. The new Asian two-way player. Choi Soo-won is coming up.]

[Some fans may question giving the 3rd hitter spot to a rookie who is only twenty years old and has no major league experience.]

[That’s right. Only those who watch regular season games, never check internet news, and, above all, never turn on our YES Network [Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network] in the winter might think that way.]

[Haha, Sterling. It’s only Opening Day, so it’s not good to start with the harsh words already. Anyway, the young player’s performance during the spring training was really great, as Sterling is saying. Well, even if we put aside the fact that he hit 74 home runs in just 114 games in the KBO last year, he hit four home runs in 51 at-bats in 17 spring training games. He had 16 hits and 7 walks, the best record in the team.]

[That’s right. That rookie is fantastic. Personally, the only thing I’m a little disappointed about is that Aaron Judge is batting 2nd and that player is batting 3rd. In fact, I think those two should switch their batting order.]

[Whoa, whoa, Sterling. I’ll say it again, it’s only Opening Day. You can postpone the harsh words a little bit.]

According to Anthony Volpe, half a ball. But when I saw it from the on-deck circle, it seemed to be rising even more than that. What should I do?

Juan Montero on the mound glanced at first base.

Still, Aaron Judge was three steps off, unlike during spring training. Of course, he wasn’t in a stance to steal.

Slide step.

And the first pitch.

The ball left Juan Montero’s hand like an arrow.

The trajectory drawn in my head is not the exact trajectory of the ball Juan Montero is throwing now, but a virtual trajectory of a fastball created by my experience. Therefore, I added the appearance of Juan Montero’s ball that I had observed in the on-deck circle to that virtual trajectory.

When other people’s words and my judgment differ, my judgment is usually correct. That’s usually the case in baseball, even if what others say is direct experience and what I do is indirect experience. Moreover, even if I fail, it feels better to fail because my judgment was wrong than to fail because I listened to others.

So, a little higher than the half a ball that Volpe said.

My bat moved quickly towards that virtual point.

High fastball.

99 miles? Maybe 100 miles.

The bat I swung hit the ball.

-Thwack!!!

And I felt it right away at that moment.

‘Ah, Volpe knows how to see the ball.’

Slightly low angle.

Even the timing was slightly off.

Second baseman Trevor Story dove.

[He hit it!! A fast ball!! It flies past second baseman Trevor Story’s glove!!]

[Left fielder Masataka Yoshida!! He’s running towards the ball quickly, but he’s too late!!]

[Aaron Judge!! To second base!! And!! And!! Ah, he stopped. In the meantime, Choi Soo-won safely reaches first base. Choi Soo-won’s clean hit!! The super rookie from across the Pacific records a hit in his debut at-bat.]

[Okay, to continue the story from earlier, this is why I said Choi Soo-won should bat 2nd and Judge should bat 3rd. Look at that just now. Honestly, if it was Choi Soo-won’s legs, he could have gone to second base. But!!]

[Whoa, whoa, Sterling, calm down first. Okay, Tyler Beede at the plate!! Tyler Beede is coming up.]

Damn······.

Yeah, still faster than Senior Gyuman. Faster than Senior Gyuman.

The game continued.