The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 299

299. Look Over There (8)

Monday, early morning.

Despite setting multiple alarms, I ended up waking up at 8:30 AM. Of course, even this was almost three hours earlier than usual. Since a baseball player’s daily routine is based on evening games, it’s inevitable that their schedule gets pushed back.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I grabbed my glasses and turned on my smartphone. As soon as I accessed the game being broadcast on the portal, what was reflected on the screen was truly a massive home run. Just at a glance, it was a huge home run that soared far beyond the fence and hit the Citi Field scoreboard.

[Top of the 2nd!! Choi Su-won’s three-run homer!!! His seventh home run of the season!!]

[Thanks to Choi Su-won’s second home run of the game, the score is now 5:1.]

[He’s recording his first multi-homer game in the major leagues with back-to-back home runs. Monday morning. Choi Su-won’s cool performance is literally blowing away the Monday blues.]

The number of simultaneous users on the portal has long exceeded 2 million. Considering it’s a weekday morning game, it’s a truly absurd number.

—MarlinsDynasty: Why is our player playing in the US?

—GochonChicken: 90% of professional baseball fans support the Marlins’ grand decision.

—EvenIfISellMyHouse: The Marlins are doing well these days even without Choi Su-won anyway.

—ThisYearIsDifferent: Yeah, it’s still DTD [Down to Disappointment, a common sports term for teams that fail to meet expectations].

—HowAreTheMarlins: Wow, is it real that he’s putting up the same batting stats in MLB as he did in KBO [Korean Baseball Organization]? Honestly, at this point, grand decision or whatever. For the sake of baseball, Choi Su-won should just play in the US.

It’s so amazing that it doesn’t feel real. I used to ‘compete’ against a guy like that. Everything I’m able to do now is thanks to that childish competitiveness back then.

Just 3 years.

The junior who has now gone so far that I can’t even see his tail is stepping on the home plate at Citi Field.

“I should meet Jin-woo for lunch and have a meal together after a long time.”

Professional Baseball 2nd Team.

An Byeong-yeong was still playing baseball.

***

I lightly circled the ground and stepped on home plate.

“How did you know?”

“Huh?”

“How did you know it would come right down the middle?”

Was his name Miles Turner?

The Mets catcher asked me.

“Just. You threw three straight balls. The dugout doesn’t seem to want this kind of walk [intentionally walking a batter]. The pitcher’s ball itself is quite powerful. So, I figured you’d just throw it in there without much thought.”

“Damn it… Alex is right to be worried about you. That’s why I told him to throw a changeup even if I get pulled.”

The score is now 5:1.

As today’s starter, I feel like I’ve earned quite a few points.

-Thwack!!!

Ah….

[Tyler Beede with a back-to-back home run!! The Yankees add another point in the top of the 2nd.]

[Ah, the Mets. They’re finally changing the pitcher. Leniel Diaz’s pitches weren’t that bad today, but his opponent was just too good.]

[6 runs in 1.2 innings. 3 home runs allowed. Leniel Diaz is coming off the mound.]

Well, didn’t they say that frustration builds a man? Like steel being tempered, young pitchers grow by getting hit like this. Ah, what happens if they can’t withstand the tempering and break?

It’s obvious.

They either retire or go to Japan or Korea to make some money and then retire.

[Replacing Leniel Diaz is Raul Jimenez. Raul Jimenez is coming to the mound.]

[He recorded an ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] of 4.68 in 17.1 innings in the big leagues in 2024, right? After that, he played in NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball, the highest level of baseball in Japan], and last year he recorded an ERA of 3.04 in 174.2 innings for the Orix Buffaloes.]

Ah, of course, there are cases where they are lucky enough to return to the big leagues like this.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

[Swinging strikeout!! A very excellent forkball.]

[Two outs, runner on 1st. Raul Jimenez finishes the Yankees’ long attack in the top of the 2nd without allowing any additional points.]

Forkball? Splitter?

The mechanisms for throwing them are quite different—one with topspin and the other with backspin—but both are falling balls, and their movements are not significantly different.

The drop is usually larger with a forkball, and the speed is much faster with a splitter. The risk of injury is also overwhelmingly lower with a splitter, and above all, the talent required to throw it is more bizarre with a forkball.

So, in simple terms, a forkball is harder to learn than a splitter, the power is about the same, but the risk of injury is higher. Naturally, it is almost a dead ball [rarely used pitch] in Major League Baseball these days.

But in Japan, there are still pitchers who occasionally throw forkballs instead of splitters. The reason is probably because there are still some amateur coaches who used to throw forkballs when they were active players.

Of course, I don’t really know if the ball Raul Jimenez threw just now was a forkball.

And it doesn’t seem like that’s a very important thing.

Bottom of the 2nd.

One hit, one strikeout, and a double play.

The inning was neatly finished.

And then our attack.

The guy named Raul Jimenez was still on the mound for the Mets.

[So, that player’s salary this year is $2.5 million, right?]

[Yes, that’s right. In the case of Raul Jimenez, he was receiving $2.2 million including options in NPB last year. There’s also talk that he was offered $3 million including options for a contract renewal. So, you can’t say that he completely threw away money like Choi Su-won, but it’s no exaggeration to say that he came to the big leagues with a desire to play in the big leagues rather than money.]

33 years old this year.

Considering that the peak of a pitcher’s career is generally seen as between the late 20s and early 30s, he’s already past his prime.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

Raul Jimenez on the mound clenched his fist with a very happy expression. He’s a player who spent his time in the minors, played just 17 innings in the big leagues before being kicked out, and then played in NPB for about 5 years. Just the fact that he challenged the big leagues again instead of retiring successfully in NPB shows his mindset.

KKK [Three strikeouts in a row].

But wait a minute.

“The ball drops suddenly at an unexpected timing?”

“The slider is also quite tricky.”

“It seems like we can attack the fastball. But when you swing thinking it’s a fastball, a splitter comes in like a ghost?”

Of course, it’s the lower batting order of 6, 7, and 8.

But still, KKK. No sooner had I sat down than I put on my glove again and headed to the mound.

Top of the 3rd.

If we end it with three up, three down, Alex’s turn won’t come around. To be honest, that guy is a bit annoying. Of course, I know that hitting a ball like that over the fence is something that might succeed once in 40 or 50 attempts. But that itself proves his absurd skill. Besides, I can’t always throw such good balls.

The Mets’ 8th batter is at the plate.

Miles Turner, the Mets catcher who I talked to a bit today and am somewhat familiar with, came up. He’s an ordinary catcher with a batting average in the low .200s.

First pitch.

A fastball deep inside.

-Thwack!!!!

What?

The ball that Miles Turner scooped up stretched out. As expected, even if he’s a hitter in the low .200s, if the ball is a bit centered, it’s inevitable.

[Top of the 3rd. Lead batter Miles Turner!! A deep hit to the right!! Right fielder Tyler Beede catches it and throws to 2nd!!]

“Safe!!”

[Safe!! It’s safe. Miles Turner’s double!! Top of the 3rd. The Mets put a runner in scoring position.]

[The ball was a bit centered. It’s a little disappointing.]

[Top of the 3rd. The current score is 6:1. It’s a moment where the Mets have to take advantage of the opportunity no matter what, right? 9th batter Milton Friedman is at the plate. It seems that they judged that it’s a bit early to take out the starting shortstop and use a pinch hitter since it’s only the top of the 3rd.]

No outs, runner on 2nd.

In reality, a double play is difficult, and now we should assume that Alex’s turn will come around no matter what.

A light deep breath.

I erased the shadow of that guy from my head.

Well, that’s that.

Let’s focus on the batter for now. I feel like I got hit with a hit by an unrelated batter because I was thinking about Alex just now.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!!”

Milton Friedman didn’t react properly to my 100-mile fastball.

To be exact, it was 99.7 miles, but anyway, the bat came out to a place almost a ball’s distance away.

The second is a fastball that’s slightly out of the high course zone.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!!”

His bat came out again.

Milton Friedman, stepping away from the plate for a moment to catch his breath.

With a serious expression, he stood at the plate again.

[The count is now 0-2. It was two consecutive fastballs, but Milton Friedman’s bat is not following properly.]

Third.

Curveball.

The batter didn’t swing at the ball that dropped sharply from the high course.

-Bang!!!

“Strike!!!”

The batter looked at the umpire with a startled expression.

But of course, it was useless. Today’s umpire was giving a fairly generous call on the curve, as the major league umpires do these days.

One out, runner on 2nd.

1st batter Juan Romero came to the plate.

He was lucky enough to get him out with a foul fly in the top of the 1st, but he’s still a man with a .400 on-base percentage. He doesn’t have much power, but we can’t let our guard down.

First pitch, a bait ball slightly outside.

-Bang!!!

[Jose Trevino checks the swing… Ah, the bat didn’t turn. The count is 1-0.]

Outside course.

The bat doesn’t come out at this level.

Then inside.

-Thwack

His bat hit the ball. A foul that hits the backstop behind the catcher.

The count is now 1-1.

Outside.

A fastball that slightly grazes the zone.

-Bang!!!

It was slightly more off than I wanted. Of course, the bat didn’t come out this time either.

“Strike!!!”

He frowned.

He’s the type who has a clear zone [a good understanding of the strike zone].

But now the count is 1-2.

I tried to attack the outside persistently.

Foul, foul, and ball.

It’s tricky.

High outside curve.

-Thwack

The ball went out of the 3rd base foul line.

Huh….

Eighth.

A form not much different from before.

But I really gritted my teeth.

Inside knee height.

The fastest ball I can throw.

It was a ball that was slightly more centered than I was aiming for. But his reaction, having seen 5 consecutive balls on the outside, is a bit late.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!!!”

102.7 miles.

When converted from the terrible yard-pound system to the metric system, it’s 165.3 km/h. In other words, it was the moment when a number that renewed my previous highest speed of 163.1 km/h by not 1 km/h but a whopping 2 km/h was displayed on the scoreboard.

And Alex came to the plate.

Two outs, runner on 2nd.

A situation where I just renewed my highest speed by a whopping 2 km/h.

I was full of confidence.

Jose ordered me to throw a fastball deep inside the slightly high course as the first pitch. It was an order I liked.

Yes, a true fireballer doesn’t hesitate to stick the ball inside. Of course, I wasn’t about to throw it without hesitation even if my grandmother was at the plate, like the romantic pitchers of the 60s, but I could stick it to the friend who hit a home run against me in the previous at-bat.

Here we go.

A 165km/h fastball inside!!

-Thwaaaaaack!!!

!?

Are you kidding me?

***

“Are you kidding me?”