The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 349

Manager Jeff Clark shot up from his seat without realizing it.

‘Why now?!’

He was already aware that Jose’s form had been declining recently. Even though Jose had won three Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves as a catcher, he was already thirty-five years old this year. He was bound to be physically exhausted.

However, it was difficult to use the backup catcher because, although he was slightly better than Jose in offense, his defense was much more unstable. Above all, the starting pitchers generally had their preferred catchers, and most of them preferred catchers who were good at receiving the ball.

For example, when Jose’s batting average was struggling to stay above .190, Gerrit Cole was the most dissatisfied. When they paired him with a different catcher, he had his worst pitching performance of the season that day.

“Sigh… What’s Oswalt’s record now?”

“He struggled a bit after being called up from Somerset [Yankees’ Double-A affiliate] last month, but if you look at his stats for the last two weeks, he’s still hitting .256/.362/.462.”

He was a player I hadn’t expected at all.

However, he showed a decent performance during spring training, so I paid a little attention to him. He broke through Single A and made a name for himself in Double A.

Today is the last day of August.

Tomorrow is the day the 28-man expanded roster starts.

The catcher from the 17th round.

It was the moment when Oswalt Wells, who was said to be the most successful lower-round draftee since Mike Piazza in the future timeline that Choi Su-won had erased by going back in time, was about to make his slightly early debut.

***

First, I gestured to Jose that it was okay.

Right, even the best catchers make mistakes once in a while during the season. Besides, the pitch was too good just now.

But the timing is not good at all.

No, an error in a situation where the next batter is Rafael Devers. *That* Rafael Devers. Maybe it’s because he’s been runner-up for the MVP twice, but I feel a certain fondness for him. But apart from that, he was definitely the most difficult hitter.

Wander Franco was repeatedly denied the Player of the Month award because of me, but in June, when I was the only one who couldn’t win it, Rafael Devers suddenly beat him to it.

Considering that this season is Wander Franco’s breakout season, who was originally an All-Star level player, you can infer how powerful Rafael Devers is from the fact that he dominated him for even a month.

I calmly looked at Rafael Devers.

It’s the third time already.

His record in the previous at-bats was 1 hit in 2 at-bats. He was gradually getting his timing down. Should I try to make it as difficult as possible to compete? Jose wouldn’t drop the ball again, would he?

Damn it, it wasn’t easy to shake off the thought that the catcher couldn’t catch the best pitch I threw. It’s a slightly different kind of pressure than when the fielders make errors.

But I’ll overcome it.

When I was pitching to Choi Jin-woong or Han Gyo-cheol in the Marines, it was even worse than this. And even Jjou-yu occasionally missed pitches. Jose was great for catching every pitch perfectly all year round. He truly deserves to be a catcher who has won 3 Gold Gloves and 2 Platinum Gloves.

Okay, let’s trust him.

Let’s trust him.

I prepared to pitch. I stepped on the pitching rubber and glanced at first base for a moment… Huh?

-Thwack!!!

“Out!!!”

[Wow!! Choi Su-won’s amazing pickoff throw!! Trevor Story seems to be protesting to the first base umpire?]

[Are the Red Sox requesting a video review? Ah, they are requesting it now. Video review in progress.]

Three steps.

But I felt like my center of gravity was subtly leaning forward. Was he trying to steal? Or maybe he intended to run all the way home if he got a decent hit. Anyway, I threw a pickoff throw, and I didn’t know it would lead to such an amazing out.

[Ah, the video review result is out. The call stands, out!! It’s an out!! Top of the 5th inning. Inning over!! Choi Su-won adds an out count with a pickoff throw, cleanly making up for Jose Trevino’s mistake.]

[Wow, this is really amazing. Trevor Story is a very fast player. His stolen base success rate is also quite good at around 0.8. Maybe that’s why he requested a video review. There’s no other way to explain it other than Choi Su-won threw an incredibly amazing pickoff throw.]

[He’s a very experienced player for someone who’s only twenty years old. He has a very wide field of vision.]

“Good job.”

“It’s a little early to say that. I still haven’t given up any runs and I have about 70 pitches left. I need to pitch at least one more inning.”

I answered Jose casually, who hesitated a little before speaking to me.

If this were the Marines, I would have been all over him. But there’s no need to push these guys. It’s obvious that they are greatly disappointed in their own play.

Bottom of the 5th inning.

2:0.

Our attack starts with the 9th batter, Angel Cabrera.

Chris Sale came to the mound again.

A pitching that intimidates the opponent.

Angel Cabrera struck out swinging, and now it was Anthony Volpe’s turn.

“Anthony.”

“Huh?”

“Just swing. Looking at your previous at-bat, your timing is about right. Don’t try to see too many pitches. That old man is a little tired now.”

“His velocity is at 93 miles per hour though?”

“So what? He’s just throwing fastballs like crazy.”

“Wasn’t that because he was facing Angel?”

“Of course. If I were the opponent, he wouldn’t be able to throw fastballs so freely. So…”

“So?”

I shrugged, acting like he understood what I meant, to the guy who was looking at me with a strange expression.

“Hey, no way.”

“You’ll know if it’s true or not if you go out there and swing.”

Volpe’s turn.

-Bang!!!!

The bat swung powerfully on the first pitch, sending the batted ball far to the end of the left field fence.

Masataka Yoshida hurriedly picked up the ball.

Anthony Volpe didn’t stop.

A precarious timing. But it was the right choice.

The time it took for Masataka Yoshida’s throw, who is famous for his weak shoulder, to reach third base was shorter than the time it took for Anthony Volpe’s feet to step on third base.

“Safe!!!”

One out, runner on third.

[Choi Su-won!! It’s Choi Su-won’s third at-bat, who hit a solo home run in the previous inning.]

[Ah, the Boston dugout. They are choosing an automatic intentional walk again. Choi Su-won. At this rate, he’s going to achieve reaching base in every at-bat today?]

The Boston dugout chose an automatic intentional walk once again.

“Seeing me again?”

“Looks like it.”

“I don’t think this is a good choice.”

“I don’t know. It seems like a better idea to just let him walk with a runner on third and one out, rather than facing a batter who’s hitting .400 with 44 home runs?”

“It’s not that simple because our lineup is not easy to deal with.”

“Still, Tyler is a left-handed hitter. And Chris’s slider is pretty good today.”

“I don’t know.”

Chatting with Tristan Casas.

Tyler Beede, who was at bat, swung his bat.

Swinging strike.

Foul.

Ball.

Foul.

Ball.

And the sixth.

-Crack!!!

Tyler Beede accurately pulled Chris Sale’s changeup.

A hit as if he was aiming for it.

The batted ball stretched out to the right-center field.

[Tyler Beede!! A home run that falls into the bullpen!! His 27th home run of the season!! Tyler Beede’s twenty-seventh home run!! A three-run home run!! Bottom of the 5th inning!! The Yankees add three points, and the score is now 5:0!!]

[Tyler Beede!! It’s not even September yet, but he’s already broken his record of 26 home runs from last year!! Wow, at this pace, he’s sure to hit 30 home runs this season!!]

[Ah, the Boston dugout is moving. It’s a slightly late timing, but the score is still 5:0. It’s a score difference that they can definitely catch up to.]

It was a little different from the 4th inning, which only ended with 2 points despite smelling like a big inning was about to happen. Aaron Judge’s back-to-back home run, hitting the first pitch from the replaced pitcher. It was a huge home run that cleanly broke the unlucky streak.

And Mike Trout, who hit a double, came in on Dennis Martinez’s hit.

[The New York Yankees score again, and the score is now 7:0!! The Yankees add a whopping 5 points in the bottom of the 5th inning!! But the attack is not over yet!! One out, runner on 1st!! Austin Battle is at bat!!]

[Austin Battle is batting 7th right now, but his slash line is .277/.353/.450. If he went to a lower-ranked team, he would be good enough to be in the cleanup.]

[That’s right. The fact that this player is batting 7th right now is proof of the Yankees’ incredible power.]

Austin Battle drew a walk after taking 9 pitches.

Our lineup showed an insane explosiveness that no one could stop, and the Yankees fans who came to the stadium were burning with excitement.

-Bang!!!

And then a very clean ground ball.

Jose Trevino, the 8th batter, cleanly cooled down the overheated atmosphere. Well, he’s almost a firefighter at this point.

‘No. No. Good thinking. Good thinking. Jose is still good at catching the ball.’

[A record that will never exist again!! Choi Su-won is now just one game away from 100 consecutive games on base!!]

[Choi Su-won finally gets his 10th win of the season!!!]

[Choi Su-won achieves double-digit wins!! 6 innings, 2 runs, 1 earned run!!]

[Score? Just score more to pay it back. The Yankees’ terrible defense!! But an offense that overwhelms it!!]

[4 errors in one game. The Yankees’ shaky infield. Is this okay?]

[Jeff Clark: ‘The addition of new players always creates some hiccups. So that’s not important right now. What’s important now is that we are still continuing a victory that will go down in history.’]

[New York Yankees!! A 16-game winning streak!! Tied for 3rd place in team history!! Now, only 3 games left to break the team record!!]

[Yankees season record 90 wins and 38 losses!! Only 10 wins left until 100 wins!!]

[September expanded roster begins!! New York Yankees call up Donald Harrison (24 years old, LHP), Oswalt Wells (24, C)!!]

“Donald. You’re a little late?”

“Hey, anyone listening would think I came up a month or two earlier and waited? You only came up three weeks earlier at best. If you’re going to say that, you should be at least Su-won’s level, right?”

It was the first time since spring training in March, so it had been a long time.

“Yesterday’s game was a little disappointing.”

“Yeah. I wish I had just given up a home run instead of that pickoff in the 5th inning. Then I could have had 3 runs and no earned runs.”

“Ugh, Josh. You always talk at your level. Huh? I mean, I was disappointed that I gave up a home run.”

“No, even 1 run increases your ERA [Earned Run Average] by 0.05 points even if you pitch 162 innings.”

“Hey, is Su-won the same as us? He’s not in a position where his standing will be shaken even if his ERA increases by 0.05 points.”

“Ah, right… I don’t know when the gap widened this much. I definitely didn’t feel this way six months ago.”

I shook my head firmly at their conversation.

“No, that’s not true. The difference between us has always been this much.”

“What? Wow, Su-won, were you always this arrogant?”

“More importantly, where’s Oswalt? Didn’t he come up with us?”

“Oh, he said he had a lot of luggage to unpack at the hotel. He’ll be here soon.”