Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 16

Mound Villain – Episode 16

A taxi pulled up in front of Security Bank Ballpark, home of the Rockhounds.

The door opened, and a young Asian man stepped out.

He frowned, observing the stadium buzzing with cheering fans.

“Of all the luck, my flight gets delayed, making me arrive late.”

Blaming the passenger who held up boarding because he was busy eating a hamburger, the Asian man, Baek Jun-ki, entered the stadium.

“Waaah-!!”

The roar of the crowd washed over him as he stepped inside.

You might think the minor leagues would be less popular.

However, minor league teams often focus on community engagement, making them quite popular locally.

“Whew~”

Baek Jun-ki was impressed by the sight of home fans decked out in Rockhounds gear.

“America truly is the home of baseball.”

He marveled at the stadium filled with spectators, even for a minor league game.

“They’re still cheering even though they’re losing.”

The score was 2 to 1.

The Rockhounds were down by one point.

“Is that a pitching change?”

He noticed the manager striding out from the dugout.

Baek Jun-ki found his seat, his eyes glued to the bullpen.

“Huh? That’s……”

The bullpen door swung open, and a familiar figure emerged.

“Jeong Ha-seong.”

It was Ha-seong.

“I got lucky. Ha-seong’s pitching as soon as I get here.”

Baek Jun-ki quickly pulled out his camera and adjusted the settings.

It wasn’t a professional-grade camera, but it was still a DSLR [Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera], offering better performance than most.

‘I should record a video this time, too.’

While Baek Jun-ki fiddled with his camera, Ha-seong reached the mound.

The manager handed him the ball, and Ha-seong accepted it, taking his place on the rubber.

‘The Double-A mound……’

It felt different.

From here on out, it was the real world of professional baseball.

He still had to juggle two jobs, but this was a place where he could earn a respectable living.

‘You can tell if you’re a pro by whether you can earn enough to live off of it.’

Ha-seong’s definition of a professional was clear.

Double-A was a level where you could at least support yourself.

It met his standards for being a professional.

So, it couldn’t help but feel significant.

Thwack!!

“Good! Very good!”

After Ha-seong finished his warm-up pitches, the manager approached him.

“It’s your first appearance, but no need to be nervous. With your stuff, even these guys will have trouble hitting you.”

“I’m not nervous. I’m just……”

“Just?”

“I was just wondering how I could pitch well enough to have a good debut.”

“What?”

The manager looked dumbfounded.

He had seen countless players over the years.

Some had even become stars.

‘Even those guys were a little nervous for their first appearance. This guy isn’t nervous at all?’

He seemed like a seasoned veteran.

“Whatever you do, just show them what you’ve got.”

“I understand.”

Watching the manager walk away, offering words of encouragement, Ha-seong scanned the stadium.

‘There’s a runner on second. If he scores, the lead extends to two runs. It’s not a huge margin, but today’s game is particularly low-scoring.’

Every game has its own rhythm.

Some days, the hitters are on fire, and runs pour in, but other days, like today, the bats are silent.

‘These kinds of trends ultimately depend on how well you protect the mound.’

Ha-seong knew this from experience.

That’s why his role was crucial.

‘No outs.’

He couldn’t afford to give up a single hit to the next three batters.

Even if he did, it had to be a single.

The moment he allowed an extra-base hit, the runner would try to score.

It was best to end the inning without taking such risks.

‘It’s a good opportunity to showcase my abilities.’

His goal was to be a middle reliever, not a starter.

To achieve that, he needed to dominate in short stints.

“Hoo……”

He took a deep breath and stepped onto the rubber.

Then, leaning forward, he looked for Zack’s sign.

‘Throw it outside.’

Zack’s sign was simple.

He didn’t specify high or low, just outside.

It was a good way to manage a rookie.

‘It’s too much to expect pinpoint control from a nervous rookie.’

In a high-pressure situation.

Rather than demanding perfect accuracy, he had to give him a chance to settle in.

In that regard, Zack’s approach was spot on.

‘Then, in this situation, to the spot I want……’

Ha-seong straightened up.

‘Let’s do this.’

“Play ball!!”

The umpire signaled the game to resume.

* * *

“Hoo……”

He focused on his breathing to sharpen his concentration.

“Waa……”

The cheers of the crowd began to fade.

“Wa……”

Then, the noise vanished completely.

All that remained were the catcher and the batter.

A state of intense focus.

He had experienced it before.

He had felt this level of concentration in the Olympic finals and on the Korean Series stage.

“Hoo……”

Focusing solely on his breathing, he began his pitching motion.

The windup was tricky.

Because there was a runner on second.

‘What I need to throw is……’

He adjusted the ball in his glove.

‘Four-seam.’

The first pitch should always be a four-seam fastball.

Because it makes a statement.

‘I’m going all out.’

Deciding, Ha-seong glanced at second base.

The runner, who was trying to extend his lead, hesitated and retreated, shifting his weight back to the base.

Even if he threw now, the runner would safely get back.

He hadn’t intended to check second base from the start.

The purpose was to make him adjust his weight.

Seizing the moment, Ha-seong took a slide step.

Thwack!

The cleats dug into the mound as he quickly moved his foot.

At the same time, he rotated his lower body.

And the moment his hips faced home plate.

He stopped the rotation of his lower body and transferred the power to his upper body.

Whoosh-!!

Without resisting that force, he rotated his upper body as well and swung his arm with everything he had.

Whooong-!!

His arm whipped over his head with a whoosh.

And the moment he reached the release point.

Sharrr-!!

He scraped the seams with all his strength.

Wheeeeeek-!!

The ball shot out of his hand with incredible speed.

The batter tracked the ball leaving Ha-seong’s hand and stepped forward.

And just as he was about to swing.

Wham-!!

A white streak zipped over home plate and slammed into Zack’s mitt.

The batter’s eyes snapped to the mitt at the sound of the impact.

“Strike!!”

At the same time, the umpire’s hand shot up.

* * *

“Waaaaaaah!!”

The spectators erupted in cheers.

Among them, Baek Jun-ki, who had been intently watching the pitch, glanced at the scoreboard.

’96 miles.’

A fastball reaching 154 km/h [kilometers per hour].

‘To throw in the mid-150s even from the set position, not a windup.’

The word “monster” was fitting.

‘His throwing form is incredibly stable. You can tell his lower body is well-developed. On top of that, his pitching motion is smooth, perfectly transferring power.’

Pitching is a series of fluid movements.

If those movements aren’t synchronized, you can’t throw a good ball.

‘Ha-seong’s every movement flowed seamlessly. That’s why he was able to put his full power into the ball.’

Are there any players in Korea who utilize their lower body that well?

Only a few immediately came to mind.

And none of them were Ha-seong’s age.

Just then, Ha-seong threw his second pitch.

Wheeeeeek-!!

Thwack!!

This time, the batter reacted a fraction of a second faster.

The well-struck ball hurtled towards the third base line.

‘A hit?!’

Surprised, Baek Jun-ki shot to his feet.

Then, the ball curved and landed outside the line.

“Foul!!”

As the foul was called, the runner, who had been trying to advance to third, kicked the ground in disappointment and returned to second.

“Hoo…… That was a well-hit ball. Was the timing just a bit off? Anyway, that’s a relief.”

If that ball had stayed fair, it would have been a hit for sure.

The trajectory was also good enough for the runner on second to score.

‘As expected, the level of hitters is different in Double-A.’

People often say that the real pros start in Double-A, not Single-A.

The reason is that players who have experience in Triple-A often cycle back to Double-A.

‘That guy Carlos also played in Triple-A until last year. His swing is definitely sharp.’

Baek Jun-ki shifted his gaze from the batter to Ha-seong.

‘From here on out, he has to mix in breaking balls.’

The reason why breaking balls become more prevalent in Double-A is for survival.

As the level of hitters increases, pitchers also increase their arsenal with breaking balls.

He assumed Ha-seong would do the same.

‘I can finally see Ha-seong’s breaking ball. His cutter was already high-level, so his other breaking balls must be good, too, right?’

Baek Jun-ki recalled Ha-seong’s cutter from the national competition.

It wasn’t a breaking ball, but a moving fastball, but the fact that he could generate that much movement suggested that his other breaking balls were likely to be impressive as well.

He was excited to finally see them.

Just then, Ha-seong took a slide step.

And threw his third pitch.

Wheeeeeek-!!

There was no change in the ball’s trajectory.

‘Another fastball?!’

While Baek Jun-ki was surprised.

The batter had already reacted.

Whooong-!

The bat swung with a compact motion.

The moment the path of the swing and the path of the ball intersected.

Thwack!!

A dull sound echoed.

The batted ball didn’t travel far and rolled back towards Ha-seong.

“First!”

Ha-seong, fielding the grounder, fired it to first base.

Thud!

“Out!!”

The first out was recorded.

‘The timing was off.’

The batter’s swing was too early.

‘He definitely timed the second pitch. Why was the timing off this time……’

Then, the ball he threw in the national competition flashed through his mind.

‘Was it a cutter?’

* * *

Ha-seong, having secured the first out, returned to the mound.

‘From Double-A, you have to increase the proportion of breaking balls.’

That’s what he learned while studying the minor leagues in his past life.

‘There’s no reason to do that.’

But Ha-seong still had no intention of throwing breaking balls yet.

‘Even with just a fastball, there are endless variations.’

In the 2000s, variant fastballs were becoming popular in Major League Baseball.

However, it could be argued that they developed even further in the 2010s.

This was the era when the second generation of pitchers specializing in these pitches was in full swing.

And Ha-seong also used one of these variant fastballs as his primary weapon during his prime.

‘If I had mastered this earlier, I could have pitched for longer.’

He adjusted the ball in his glove.

It was gripped with the index and middle fingers close together, not like a normal four-seam fastball.

‘Cutter.’

The official name is cut fastball.

It was nicknamed “cutter” because it sharply broke horizontally near home plate.

“Hoo……”

Ha-seong first learned the cutter in the summer of his 27th year.

He learned it from Ryan, a AAAA-class [players who are good enough to play in the major leagues but are not stars] player who bounced between Triple-A and the majors.

Ha-seong loved this cutter and used it as his main weapon.

In particular, when his elbow injury worsened, he reduced his slider usage and greatly increased his cutter usage to prolong his career.

‘Sliders can put a strain on the elbow. I have to save it as much as I can.’

Ha-seong’s body was still developing.

Above all, the muscles around his elbow weren’t fully formed yet.

That was why he was still cautious about breaking balls.

‘In today’s game……’

Whoosh!!

Ha-seong, taking a slide step, threw the ball for the second out.

‘I’m going with the cutter!!’

“Hup!!”

Wheeeeeek-!!

The ball shot out of his hand with incredible speed.