The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 297

297. Look Over There (6)

[Choi Su-won!! That’s our Choi Su-won!! His home runs had stalled for the last few games, but he’s broken through again in spectacular fashion!]

[This game is being broadcast all over the United States right now. You might ask, what’s so special about that? But the broadcasting system is quite different in the US compared to Korea. Especially Sunday games, the start times are different, and they’re special in many ways. Ah, of course, it’s 8:20 AM on Monday morning in Korea, but originally, this game should have been played around 3 AM yesterday.]

[I see. Anyway, just having a game broadcast nationwide is a big deal. Choi Su-won is marking the beginning of that stage with a truly impressive performance.]

[I’ve felt this for a while, but this player always seems to deliver in the moments that matter, when he needs to stand out.]

[Hmm… Isn’t that just because Choi Su-won is always doing something in any situation?]

[Ah…]

***

The game continued.

A pitcher who has made it all the way to the Majors has already proven his skill and talent. Moreover, Reniel Diaz, who is on the mound for the Mets today, is a young starter at 22 years old. The magnitude of his talent is immense.

-Clang!!!

[Tyler Beat hits it!! To center-right!! A fast hit!! It’s a hit.]

However, no matter how great Reniel Diaz’s talent may be, his opponent is also a Major Leaguer. The Yankees’ batters unleashed a barrage of hits against him, shaken by the home run he allowed to Choi Su-won.

[Manager Aaron is visiting the mound.]

[It doesn’t look like a pitching change. It seems he’s trying to calm Reniel down. After all, he’s a player who’s better described as young rather than just inexperienced.]

[Top of the 1st. The score is already 2:0. One out, runners on 1st and 2nd. It’s becoming a harsh national debut game for Reniel Diaz.]

[But it’s still okay. The Mets have enough power to overturn a 2-point deficit.]

[That’s right. The Mets are the second-highest scoring team in the league this season. Besides, it’s only the top of the 1st. The game has just begun.]

Austin Battle, the 6th batter, steps up to the plate. He’s a solid 3rd baseman in his 4th year of service time.

Strike.

Ball.

And a foul.

Reniel Diaz’s pitches gradually regained stability.

Fifth pitch.

-Clang!!!

A slightly mis-hit ground ball to the infield.

The Mets’ infielders move swiftly.

6-4-3

A clean double play.

[Top of the 1st. The Yankees’ attack is over. The score is 2:0. They succeeded in scoring additional points against Reniel Diaz, who seemed shaken by Choi Su-won’s home run, but unfortunately, they didn’t create a big score.]

“Alright!! It’s okay. Let’s go!!”

A slight point difference.

The Mets’ dugout raised the momentum.

The mound at Citi Field.

There was a time in the past when the Mets were amazing and the Yankees were doing well, when there were more Yankees fans than Mets fans even at Citi Field’s away games, but it wasn’t quite like that now.

However, even though it was still an away game, the pinstripes [Yankees fans] were quite noticeable among the towering stands behind the catcher.

I lightly stepped on the dirt of the mound.

The feeling is definitely good. The dirt itself is all the same, but the firmness is slightly different depending on the management.

In the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], since the 2020s, all but two teams have been importing Major League dirt, so the texture is quite similar, but since they originally used the soft Japanese-style mound, they tended to sprinkle a bit too much conditioner to keep the mound soft.

And today, the mound at Citi Field was a bit similar to that. It’s the softest mound I’ve stepped on since coming to the Big Leagues.

Mets’ leadoff hitter Juan Romero steps up to the plate.

He’s a man who has shown an on-base percentage of 40% this season, and he’s a reliable helper who adds an RBI [Runs Batted In] to Alex’s home runs at a very high rate.

Jose Trevino holds out his mitt.

A fastball deep inside.

-Clang!!!

Juan Romero immediately followed that ball.

But it was high.

A high foul ball that goes over the foul line on the 3rd base side.

Let’s start by getting one ball count…

[3rd baseman Austin Battle!! He catches it. A very good defense that washes away the double play in the previous at-bat.]

[This is a very good start. From the pitcher’s point of view, it’s very reassuring to have this kind of defense once in a while.]

[That’s right. Besides, the next batter is Alexander McDowell, isn’t he? This player is really scary. It’s more comfortable for the pitcher to have as few runners on base as possible.]

I was lucky.

It’s a defense that would be hard to even imagine in the Marlins.

One out, no runners.

Finally, Alex steps up to the plate.

***

‘Randy Johnson displayed an old age that would go down in history from his 40s, but even so, he only became a pitcher who ‘rivaled’ Greg Maddux. He couldn’t surpass Greg Maddux.’

Bryce Harper’s words lingered in Alexander McDowell’s head.

10 games played. 8 games started. 34 plate appearances, 29 at-bats, 15 hits, 5 walks. 0.517/0.588/1.276. And 7 home runs.

These are the batting stats that Choi Su-won is currently recording.

Two-way player isn’t the issue.

This was already a record that would go down in history with batting alone. Unless he messes up badly for the remaining two weeks, the Player of the Month is already Choi Su-won’s. Even if he strikes out in every remaining plate appearance in the remaining games, wouldn’t he still be able to take the Rookie of the Month?

There are two ways to be number one.

I can run out with overwhelming momentum, or the person in second place can be worse than me.

It’s the same thing in the end, but the mindset and process are completely different.

Alexander McDowell had been anxious every time he heard news of Choi Su-won’s amazing performance. It was because he thought that he, his ‘rival,’ had to show a performance worthy of that rival name.

And now, when he witnessed Choi Su-won grabbing his teammate Reniel Diaz’s first pitch and hitting it over the fence right in front of his eyes. Alexander McDowell felt his heart beating fast.

His eyes sparkled.

‘As expected, Su-won. You’re worthy of being the man this body recognizes as a rival.’

His unseen performance had put a lot of pressure on him.

But seeing his greatness in front of his eyes made his heart race.

Alexander McDowell was that kind of man.

He doesn’t want the person in second place to be worse than him. Rather, he enjoys someone going ahead of him. Because he believes that one day he too will be able to move into the area where he is running.

Holding his bat, he looked at Choi Su-won in the batter’s box. The way the guy adjusted his hat and gripped the ball in his glove looked very natural.

First pitch. High course. The ball was red.

That means it’s a curve with a topspin.

-Swish!!!

He didn’t swing his bat.

“Strike!!!”

[A curve with a big drop that slightly catches the zone. Alexander McDowell. He doesn’t swing his bat. The count is 0-1.]

[Choi Su-won’s pitches are very good today. It’s actually hard to properly attack a ball like that even if you know it’s coming.]

These days, umpires are increasingly tending to be more generous with curves. That last ball was one that might not have been called a strike depending on the umpire. However, apart from that, Choi Su-won’s ball was surprisingly excellent. A curve that drops sharply from the high outside course and slightly goes out to the outside.

Alexander McDowell engraved the course of the last pitch in his head.

‘Today, this far is a strike.’

Second pitch.

A ball deep inside at knee height.

It was a little deep.

-Swish!!!!

99.1 miles.

The umpire’s hand didn’t go up.

The count is 1-1.

‘Hey. Su-won. You shouldn’t be complaining about this. I’m the one who should be complaining about giving you the first pitch strike.’

He pressed down on the bat with both hands and waited for the next pitch in the batter’s box again. The last two pitches were truly pleasant pitches. It’s already been three years since he first saw Su-won. During that time, Alexander McDowell has developed remarkably.

‘Of course, I was a genius beyond my age back then too.’

But Choi Su-won has grown as well.

And that growth wasn’t just as a batter. No, although it’s been overshadowed by his overwhelming batting record, if you only consider the growth itself, his growth as a pitcher might be more noticeable.

Third pitch.

Choi Su-won on the mound wound up greatly. A clean form. But the strange swing of his arm, which feels disconnected from that form, creates a unique deception.

But it’s not difficult.

I’ll hit it.

Alexander McDowell’s bat struck Choi Su-won’s ball.

-Clang!!!!

A huge foul that directly hits the top of the spectator seats in the first base infield.

[A 100.7 mph fastball!! Choi Su-won’s fastest ball since the start of this season.]

[If you look at this player’s record from last year, his highest speed was around 101 mph, but he bulked up considerably this winter. Besides, he’s only 20 years old. That means there’s plenty of room for his speed to increase.]

Choi Su-won on the mound touched the rosin bag several times.

Alexander McDowell retightens his gloves and grips his bat strongly.

The count is 1-2.

It was a very unfavorable count. But Alexander McDowell’s face showed no signs of anxiety.

Choi Su-won on the mound shook his head.

He was an aggressive pitcher. The lesson he learned from his experience in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] was that his pitches were ‘reliable’ enough.

But Alexander McDowell, who is now in the batter’s box, was exceptional.

Just sticking the ball in the zone? That’s not believing in his pitches. That was just giving up on thinking and throwing the ball.

What is the best ball he can throw now?

Choi Su-won chose that.

A curve similar to the first pitch.

But a curve that goes out just a little more subtly than that.

It wasn’t the difference in course.

The difference was in the grip of the ball.

It was a truly absurdly difficult challenge to drop the ball further through the difference in the amount of drop. If he made even a slight mistake, there was a risk that it could become a bland ball or a ridiculously missing ball.

But to deceive that Alexander McDowell, who is now burning brightly with a joyful heart, saying that he has met his rival, that level of adventure is necessary. Choi Su-won judged so.

The round ball left Choi Su-won’s hand.

That ball wasn’t the fastest ball Su-won could throw.

But at this moment.

It was the best Choi Su-won could choose, and it was the most powerful ball he could use.

A trajectory similar to the first pitch.

Looking at that red ball, Alexander McDowell judged.

‘It’s a ball that comes into the zone similarly to the first pitch.’

The three-dimensional strike zone was drawn in his head.

If you look at it as a two-dimensional plane, it’s a ball that goes out of the zone, but if you look at it as a three-dimensional space, to hit that curve that skims somewhere in the zone, it was necessary to pull the point of impact a little more.

His bat began to move.

And the flow of air created by the seams of the baseball changed the movement of the ball.

Perfect?

I don’t know. But at least that trajectory was infinitely close to the best one that Choi Su-won, who threw the ball, had drawn in his head. Yes, it was a perfect bait ball that didn’t pass through the zone at any point that moved a little further out.

Alexander McDowell realized at some point.

‘Damn it.’

Clearly, that judgment was the ‘experience’ that Alexander McDowell had gained by skipping high school and dominating the college league, and being drafted two years faster than others. And it was the culmination of his innate ‘talent’.

‘It’s too late.’

And on top of that, superhuman balance, agility, and coordination modified the trajectory of the bat toward the ball that was moving further away.

-Crack!!!!

3 years old? 4 years old?

It wasn’t exact. But the moment he first put on the children’s glove that his father had given him as a gift. The time of immense effort that the genius who realized his destiny had built up added the power of ‘strength’ to that bat.

Choi Su-won’s finger pointed to the hit ball.

The Citi Field’s terrible right field fence.

Tyler Beat ran towards the ball that was stretching out.

It wasn’t too late.

Tyler Beat judged that the hit ball.

But the ball that rose to that high place didn’t fall easily.

Yes, as if only he was free from the gravity of this earth.

Tyler Beat judged.

Nevertheless, I will be able to catch it.

He stepped on the fence and jumped up, stretching out his arm.

But it was a wrong judgment.

It was still not enough. Even if his arm was about 10cm longer, it would not have been enough.

Bottom of the 1st.

Alexander McDowell recorded his 9th home run of the season against Choi Su-won.

Choi Su-won on the mound smiled.