Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 103

Mound Villain – Episode 103

The spectators roared, witnessing the sheer speed.

“Wooaaah!!”

“103 miles?!”

“Is the scoreboard broken?!”

Some even wondered if the scoreboard was malfunctioning; that’s how unbelievable 103 miles per hour was.

The local commentators were equally amazed.

[Unbelievable. 103 miles per hour? Jung Ha-sung has broken his record of 102 miles from last year at the start of the season!]

[No batter can hit that ball. They can’t even react.]

[Jung Ha-sung kept his word! The Untouchable is back!]

The return of the Untouchable.

The netizens went wild during the live broadcast.

-103 miles, is that real?

-How much is that in kilometers?

-165km lol

-헐……. (Korean slang expressing disbelief or shock)

-Crazy.

-Where are the guys who said Ha-sung was overrated?

-It’s just one pitch. Why the fuss?

-Agreed. Do you think he can throw that every time?

-That kind of pitch happens once in a while.

Once in a while.

The naysayers were still talking negatively about Ha-sung.

Since there wasn’t enough data yet, they were trying to set the tone in the online community.

But that was only for a moment.

Thwack-!!

“Strike!! Two!!”

[A fastball that blazes right through! The speed is 101 miles per hour!]

Whoosh-!!

Swoosh!!

Thwack!!

“Strike! Batter out!!”

[Strikeout!! Jung Ha-sung strikes out the lead-off hitter in the opening game with three pitches! He gets the first out with three consecutive pitches over 100 miles per hour!!]

The batter couldn’t even flinch.

He swung at the third pitch, but the trajectory of the swing and the ball were completely off.

Adam Moore, the lead-off hitter for the Seattle Mariners, walked to the dugout, having failed to even graze the ball, and frowned.

Casey passed by Moore.

“Casey, be careful. His ball is much dirtier [more difficult to hit due to movement and speed] than last year. And it’s faster and doesn’t drop as much.”

“What’s that? Are you saying it’s been upgraded even more?”

“Yeah.”

At Moore’s words, Casey looked at Ha-sung on the mound as he stepped into the batter’s box.

‘He was a monster when I met him last year. Did he evolve even more from there? Last year wasn’t the end?’

If that’s true, it’s amazing.

Casey focused and stood in the batter’s box.

[Casey Coochman, number 2 for the Mariners, is in the batter’s box.]

[Coochman, who started the season in Toronto, went through Atlanta, and finished the season in Boston, is now wearing the Mariners uniform this year.]

Casey Coochman, in his Mariners uniform, was no match for Ha-sung.

Crack!!

[He hits the third pitch hard! But the bat breaks, and the batted ball doesn’t leave the infield! The second baseman catches it and throws it to first!]

Thud!!

“Out!”

[The second out count goes up!]

[It looks like he threw a cutter as the final pitch. He easily gets the out count with just two pitches, fastball and cutter.]

Ha-sung threw a cutter for the first time in today’s game.

Thanks to that, Coochman’s bat was split in half.

Shawn Figgins stepped into the batter’s box to face Ha-sung, who had two outs.

[Shawn Figgins, the Mariners’ number 3 hitter, steps into the batter’s box.]

[I wonder if Jung Ha-sung will finish the first inning with a three-up, three-down [retiring all three batters in an inning].]

[Jung Ha-sung throws the first pitch against the third batter!]

Ha-sung threw the first pitch while maintaining his focus.

Whoosh-!

Thwack!

“Strike!!”

The umpire raised his hand at the sharp ball that blazed through.

‘A high fastball for the second pitch.’

Ha-sung nodded at Trevor’s sign and went into a windup.

Crack!!

The spikes dug into the mound as he took a stride, and his body rotated.

Whoosh-!!

The ball, carrying the released power, flew at a fierce speed.

Swoosh!!

It was a high ball, but the batter’s bat came out reflexively as if it was close to his eyes.

Clang!!

The ball hit the bat and flew straight back, shaking the safety net.

“Foul!!”

The second strike went up.

Trevor was in trouble as he gained a favorable count.

‘I think it’s okay to throw a decoy here once.’

He threw too many fastballs.

The batters can get used to it.

It was necessary to confuse them by throwing a changeup here.

Then Ha-sung sent a sign.

Trevor sighed when he saw it.

‘Have we been apart for too long? I was forgetting who you are.’

Trevor nodded and held out his mitt.

‘Come on.’

Ha-sung took a breath as he watched Trevor, who was ready to receive the ball.

“Hoo……”

And he threw the ninth ball with a windup.

Crack!!

The spikes dug into the mound.

Whirr!!

The lower body turned, and the power moved to the upper body.

He gathered the power that had moved to his fingertips and exploded it in an instant.

“Huh!!”

Whoooooosh-!!

The ball, extended with a final shout, pierced the batter’s outer lowest point.

Thwack-!!

A course that the batter couldn’t even budge from.

His gaze turned to the umpire.

The umpire soon raised his hand and shouted the call.

“Strike! Batter out!!”

[Strikeout!! Jung Ha-sung finishes the inning with his second three-pitch strikeout! He strikes out the batter with a 102-mile fastball!!]

[Shawn can’t easily leave the batter’s box as if he’s disappointed.]

[Jung Ha-sung’s game, who completely shut down the first inning, continues!!]

Ha-sung, who finished the first inning, went to the dugout.

At the sight, the Oakland fans seemed to realize something and said.

“That’s right, today was the starting pitcher, right?”

“Haha! When Ha-sung comes up, it’s always the end of the game, so I almost went home.”

“We can watch Ha-sung’s pitching for a long time today!”

“I think I need more beer?”

It was natural for the spectators to be confused.

Since Ha-sung had finished the game as a closer for the past year, the fans thought the game was over this time as well.

But now the first inning is over.

“Hoo……”

Ha-sung didn’t turn off the battle mode in the dugout and prepared for the next inning.

* * *

It was a shocking debut as a starter.

The highest speed was 103 miles per hour.

Except for the cutter, all the pitches thrown recorded over 100 miles per hour.

In such an overwhelming appearance, the internet’s public opinion was instantly overturned.

-Average speed of 100 miles, is that real?!

-Come out, you guys who said he was overrated!!

-This is Jung Ha-sung!!

-The Untouchable has returned!!

-He is God!!

-This is God Ha-sung!

-All the haters are gone.

-Ah! It’s a little cleaner now.

Most of the haters who wrote negative opinions about Ha-sung disappeared.

But not everyone was gone.

-It’s only been one inning.

-Agreed. If you use that much energy from the first inning, you’ll get tired quickly.

-The stans [overly enthusiastic fans] are excited again.

-Starters have to pitch at least 6 innings.

-If he doesn’t control his pace, he’ll be taken down soon.

The haters’ argument was about Ha-sung’s stamina.

They see throwing over 100 miles per hour as an all-out effort.

Logically, it was unimaginable to throw over 100 miles per hour until the end.

Anyway, public opinion was overturned.

The haters’ opinions were quickly buried, and the internet was plastered with praise for Ha-sung.

In that way, Ha-sung was reversing the evaluation of himself.

* * *

Thwack-!!

“Strike! Batter out!!”

[Strikeout! Jung Ha-sung strikes out three batters with 11 pitches in the second inning! He already has 4 strikeouts!]

[It was a perfect pitch this inning as well.]

The highest speed of 103 miles per hour did not come out, but in the second inning, he recorded 2 strikeouts, bringing the total to 4 strikeouts.

Most of all, it was encouraging that the number of pitches was only 20.

Manager Tony was lost in thought as he watched Ha-sung, who came into the dugout and rested.

‘The pace in the beginning is scary. How many innings can he pitch in today’s game?’

Ha-sung was perfect as a closer.

There was no need to worry, and he just believed and perfectly fulfilled his mission.

But it’s a different story as a starter.

‘I can’t figure it out.’

The first was that it was unknown how many innings he could pitch.

Inning digestion ability [ability to pitch many innings] was the most important thing for a starting pitcher.

In addition, controlling the number of pitches was the same.

Since he didn’t know the limit on the number of pitches, everything was unknown as to how to lead the game.

‘I guess I’ll have to watch for now.’

I believe in Ha-sung.

That’s the only way for now.

* * *

The score of 0 to 0 continued.

Thwack-!

“Strike! Batter out!!”

[Strikeout! Jung Ha-sung finishes the inning with a three-up, three-down, recording 2 strikeouts in the 3rd inning!]

Ha-sung has already recorded 6 strikeouts, showing off his overwhelming strikeout ability.

And his opponent, the ace of the Seattle Mariners.

Thwack!!

“Strike! Batter out!!”

[The batter swings at the slider! King Felix Hernandez also continues his perfect pitching through the 3rd inning!]

King Felix Hernandez also showed perfect pitching.

Ace versus ace.

The two pitchers’ match made it impossible for the batters to do anything.

[It’s a pitching battle because it’s a match between aces.]

[That’s right. Major League batters are not doing anything and are being dragged around by the pitchers.]

[It seems important to see where this tense mound battle will collapse!]

Just because a pitcher pitches well doesn’t mean they win the game.

In the end, you have to score.

But I didn’t think I could score against these two pitchers.

-How do you score against these guys?

-Can’t score lol

-At this point, I don’t think the Yankees lineup can score either?

-Agreed

-In the end, who goes down first between the two pitchers will determine the game.

-Who gets taken down first.

The public’s attention was now focused there.

* * *

An amazing pitching continued.

Clang!!

[A high fly ball! The center fielder catches it almost in place! Jung Ha-sung, who doesn’t allow a single runner on base for 5 innings, gets the third out count!]

[He was like that when he was a closer, but he continues to pitch perfectly as a starting pitcher!]

The camera showed Ha-sung going down the mound.

When his appearance appeared on the scoreboard, the Oakland fans gave him enthusiastic cheers.

“Waaaaaa!!”

“Jung Ha-sung, you’re the best!!”

“We believed in you!!”

The number of pitches through the 5th inning was only 60.

He was blocking the innings by throwing an average of only 12 balls per inning.

In addition, he recorded a total of 9 strikeouts, leaving only 1 strikeout until double digits.

Although it was buried in Ha-sung’s performance, Felix Hernandez’s performance was also great.

Clang-!!

[Hit it! But the third baseman is right in front! Easily catches it and throws it to first!]