The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 362

“I knew this would happen. That’s why I said we should have gotten rid of McMillan a long time ago. Danny is the problem, acting like he’s some kind of brilliant strategist when he’s just being useless.”

“Exactly. In Game 2, he kept ordering intentional walks to Choi Su-won with no outs and no runners on, just giving away runs. And then, in a crucial game like yesterday, he starts a rookie who’s only been in the big leagues for two months? If we get eliminated this pathetically in the Championship Series, we need to fire the manager first.”

The Kansas City Royals reached the Championship Series after a Wild Card Series and a grueling Division Series that went to five games. As a result, they had to pitch their ace, John McMillan, on three days’ rest in Games 2 and 5 of the Division Series.

And because they pushed him so hard in the Division Series, the Kansas City Royals couldn’t use their ace until Game 4 of the Championship Series. It’s not uncommon for an ace to pitch on three days’ rest in the postseason, but doing it in two consecutive games is rare. Besides, didn’t we see Boston collapse after using their ace that way?

“The public opinion isn’t good right now, Manager.”

“Well, if the public opinion was good after losing three straight, that would be even stranger.”

“Of course, but I’m saying it’s all directed at you. Honestly, the player decisions came from above, didn’t they?”

“I thought it was the best option at the time, so it’s not entirely wrong. Besides, isn’t that what managers are for?”

“But!!”

“And the important thing now isn’t assigning blame. It’s not looking good, but the series isn’t over yet. You’re not giving up already, are you?”

“No, of course not, but…”

“Game 4 is McMillan’s start, isn’t it? We have to trust our ace.”

The Kansas City Royals were able to barely win the Central Division this season thanks to their strong bullpen and the performance of their ace, John McMillan. Baseball ultimately starts with a 1:1 battle between the pitcher and the batter. There were various psychological and situational factors, but the Kansas City Royals were overwhelmingly defeated by the Yankees because they didn’t have a pitcher who could stop the Yankees’ insane power hitting.

It’s not that the Kansas City Royals’ pitchers are bad. It just means that the Yankees’ lineup and their momentum are that overwhelming. But momentum tends to lose its power the moment it falters.

In the previous games, manager Daniel Lewis tried to create that ‘stumble’ by excluding batter Choi Su-won from the game, but he failed.

“Now, we have no choice but to trust McMillan…”

The head coach felt that Daniel’s words were not about trusting the ace, but about clinging to the last remaining hope.

***

‘If you have a good lineup, you play baseball in the fall, but if you have a good pitcher, you win the championship.’

That’s a common saying in baseball.

Some people agree with it, and others don’t. Usually, pitchers agree, and hitters scoff.

I was originally a pitcher, and I’m currently doing both pitching and hitting, but if I had to choose an identity, I’d still lean towards the hitter side, since I played as a full-time hitter for 14 years before my regression. That’s probably why I don’t really agree with that saying.

No matter how good the pitcher is, if the lineup is bad, you can’t even make it to the postseason in the first place. But once you get to the postseason?

Yeah, pitchers are very important. That’s why our team went out of its way to get Stan Owens, even though we already have a top-tier one-two punch in the league.

The reason is simple.

In the regular season, a hitter plays in a maximum of 162 games, while an ace pitcher starts 33 games. That’s almost a 5x difference.

But in the postseason, for example, in a best-of-seven Championship Series or World Series, a hitter plays a maximum of 7 games, while an ace pitcher usually starts 2 games. That’s a 3.5x difference. This is why the postseason is pitching-dominant.

Moreover, a hitter with a 0.8 OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging, a common baseball statistic] doesn’t perform at that level against all pitchers. They might do well against weaker pitchers or pitchers they match up well against, and struggle against ace pitchers. Their year-end performance averages out to 0.8. But the teams that advance to the postseason are usually the strongest teams of the year, and their aces are likely to be outstanding players. This is why teams that boasted powerful lineups in the regular season often go silent in the postseason.

-Clang!!!!!

[He hit it!! Mike Trout!! To center-right!! Choi Su-won on second scores easily!! Aaron Judge on first also reaches third safely. Mike Trout’s RBI double!!]

[Ah, Aaron Judge. People who have been watching him for a long time will feel bad seeing this.]

[You’re talking about his baserunning.]

[Yes, that’s right. In the last few years, or since this year because of Choi Su-won, many people who entered the major leagues might think that Aaron Judge is big and slow, but he originally had great athleticism as a former football player. In his prime, he even recorded double-digit steals.]

[That’s right. As a player’s career gets longer, they get minor injuries. These things often make people who remember him from 10 years ago feel a little sad. But even so, the fact that he still plays hard is also part of his charm, isn’t it?]

[Okay, the score is now 9:4. The Yankees add another run.]

But silence or whatever.

That’s only the case when the teams are at a similar level. The Central Division, to which the Kansas City Royals belong, recorded the lowest winning percentage among the six divisions in both leagues this season. They won 6 fewer games than even our division’s second-place team, Tampa Bay, let alone Boston, but they made it to the postseason simply because they’re in a different division.

In the first place, if the skill level in baseball is such that one team wins 7 out of 10 games or more, it means they’re not even at the same level to play in the same league. And this season, we had a record of 117 wins and 45 losses, with a winning percentage of 0.722. Yes, it means we’re a different level team than the Kansas City Royals, who had a winning percentage of just 0.512.

John McMillan, the ace of the Kansas City Royals?

Yeah, he might not have fully recovered from the Wild Card Series and Division Series, where he pitched on a tight schedule with only three days of rest. But judging by his performance today, he’s only slightly better than Stan Owens at best. It means there’s no reason why we can’t attack him.

As always, the Kansas City Royals’ starter was taken out before completing 5 innings. Their bullpen, which was already overloaded through the Wild Card Series, Division Series, and the past three games against us, continued to be worn down.

-Clang!!!!

[It’s gone!! Dennis Martinez’s second home run of the game!!]

[Dennis Martinez, who recorded his first career postseason multi-homer game. Top of the 7th, one out. The score is now 16:7. Kansas City Royals fans are leaving the stadium.]

A clean series sweep.

We secured our spot in the World Series without a single loss.

[No upset!! The New York Yankees win their 7th straight game!! They conquer the American League!!]

[MLB or NFL!! The Yankees score a total of 131 runs in 7 postseason games!!]

[4 home runs in 4 games!! Tyler Beet named American League Championship Series MVP!!]

[Tyler Beet: ‘I think I was able to get this award because the monster on our team didn’t even have a chance to swing his bat. I hope he doesn’t have to swing his bat in the World Series either.’]

***

The ALCS [American League Championship Series] ended anticlimactically.

However, despite the one-sided nature of the game itself, the average viewership was a whopping 18.7 million. Of course, that was 5 million less than the Division Series against the Boston Red Sox. But considering that the opposing team was the unpopular Kansas City Royals, and that the average viewership of the World Series over the past 10 years was around 12 million, it was nothing short of a huge success.

Moreover, this number only includes viewership within the United States, and the number of overseas viewers tended to increase compared to the game against the Boston Red Sox, which ultimately proves that the New York Yankees, and furthermore, Choi Su-won, are driving overseas viewership in Major League Baseball.

Numerous proposals related to broadcasting and advertising poured in.

Among them were various proposals related to a brand named after Choi Su-won, which Seiko had proposed to Choi Su-won in the middle of this year. In particular, the offers pouring in from sports brands were incredibly generous. Of course, Choi Su-won had performed overwhelmingly, but it was hard to believe that these offers were being made to a rookie in his first year in the big leagues.

“Choi Su-won is predicted to have a high probability of becoming the LeBron [James] of the baseball world.”

The world’s best shoemaker has already proven how great marketing using a player who is competing for G.O.A.T [Greatest Of All Time] status in the sports world can be. Even if that’s not the case, making this kind of bet based on that possibility alone is worth it for them.

“I’m sorry. Choi Su-won will not be discussing these matters until after the World Series is over.”

Of course, Su-won’s agency was well aware of these facts. There was no need to rush. It’s not too late to proceed with something after the season is completely over. So, for now, they just need to pick out the best options. Of course, even that task alone required a tremendous amount of manpower amidst the flood of offers.

And what was Su-won doing at a time when his agency was suffering from such a manpower shortage? He was watching baseball with his family.

Even at the most vivid scene.

“This stadium feels very steep.”

“Yes, it does have that feeling.”

“Postseason tickets must have been hard to get, and it’s not even your team’s game. To be able to watch another team’s game in such good seats…”

“Ah, it’s my friend’s home stadium game. He said he didn’t need them, but he insisted on getting me tickets and told me to come.”

“Friend?”

“Yes, ah, I see him over there. That guy over there.”

Citi Field.

The sixth game of the series between the LA Dodgers and the New York Mets began.