Chapter 511 – Episode 503. First Watershed? (1)
-AT Thunders recorded a winning series in Jamsil.
… AT Thunders recorded a winning series against UG Overlords on Thursday. …
-Ji Maeng-ho is silent! AT Thunders, losing series!
… AT Thunders’ main gun Ji Maeng-ho was silent, recording a losing series. Ji Maeng-ho’s performance in this series was 3 hits in 10 at-bats, 1 home run, and 4 walks, records that do not fit the name ‘Ji Maeng-ho’…
┗The Fierce Protector series is underperforming even at 30% haha
┗Honestly, it’s a shame haha
┗It looks like the enteritis lasts a long time haha I wasn’t feeling well even before UG
┗┗ㅅㅂ I get sick because I eat just about anything.
-No sluggishness! Ji Maeng-ho explodes!
… AT Thunders solidified its first place by defeating NV Rex in a series sweep thanks to the performance of Ji Maeng-ho, who recorded 3 hits in 8 at-bats, 3 home runs, 5 walks, and 8 RBIs throughout the series. Meanwhile, NV, who lost the game that day, fell to 10th place…
-Ji Maeng-ho is sad about the falling rain.
… Ji Maeng-ho, who recorded 4 hits in 4 at-bats and 2 home runs in the previous day’s game, is disappointed by the rain. … Ji Maeng-ho said, “It happened to rain when we were doing it in Jamsil. “Today’s starter was Wonho, so I was trying to improve my batting skills, but it’s a shame,” He said, expressing disappointment at the heavy rain. According to the Meteorological Administration’s forecast, there is a high possibility that tomorrow’s game will be canceled…
-2025 KBA League June 1st Professional Baseball Rankings
1st place AT Thunders 40 wins, 14 losses, 0.741
2nd Place Hwasan Falcons 33 wins, 22 losses, 0.600 7.5
3rd place Hyunseong Mad Cats 29 wins, 23 losses, 1 draw 0.558 10.0
4th place Shilla Triggers 30 wins, 26 losses, 0.536 11.0
5th place Charlotte Blue Mariners 27 wins, 26 losses, 0.509 12.5
6th place Future Buffaloes 23 wins, 29 losses, 1 draw, 0.442 16
…
-Two months after the opening of the professional baseball season. Can you already see the outlines of fall baseball?
… It’s already been two months since professional baseball started. However, there is public opinion that the rankings that have already been decided are lacking. In particular, the dominance of the first-place team, AT Thunders, is unusual. Experts say that the current league situation is one of the best, the best of the best, the best of the three, and the worst of the five. …
The AT Thunders, considered by experts to be the best, recorded 25 wins and 6 losses in March and April. In particular, the AT Thunders, who had won 11 consecutive wins in the opening game and had not lost first place since the first game, recorded 15 wins and 8 losses in the month of May…
┗The winner this season is the AT Thunder. Even if they fall from there, they will at least go straight to the playoffs
┗┗In the past, I would have been teased for being a DTD, but I have already won 2 times in a row and there is no damage haha
The Hwasan Falcons, who are considered to be the best, have also not let go of second place since the beginning of the season. The pitching staff led by Seonghyun and the batting line led by Choi Si-woo and Lee Yong-gi are in harmony… In particular, it was a great help that Tinier, who had been out for a month due to injury, has been showing overwhelming pitching since returning from injury, allowing 1 run in 2 games and 16 innings. Oz said, “While going through rehabilitation, I wondered if my baseball career would end here. However, because I was worried about injuries, I think paying more attention to my lower body helped me improve my control. “I am grateful to Ji Maeng-ho for giving me a new baseball life.” …
┗The foreign worker was suddenly caught in control. Is that because of Ji Maeng-ho? As expected of a fierce tiger
┗┗Ji Maeng-ho, the GOAT of the physical therapy world who treats even foreign players from other teams
Meanwhile, the fall baseball stables Hyunseong, Silla, and Charlotte recorded a winning percentage of .500, showing a large difference from the Mirae Buffaloes, who recorded a winning percentage of 0.442…
┗May is over, but has it already been decided?ㄷㄷ
┗┗Honestly, I’m not really surprised by Hyeonseong or Silla, but I’m a bit surprised by Charlotte.
┗┗You went to Waka last year too haha Charlotte is just a strong fan haha They are sending fall baseball in their second season back haha
┗┗But it was in 2nd or 3rd place in April, but it fell a bit haha
-Who are the MVP candidates for May?
… In the May MVP candidate batsman category, Ji Maeng-ho appeared in 20 games and recorded ratio stats of 0.448/0.619/1.121/1.740 with 26 hits, 11 home runs, 30 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases… Sung Hyun and Jang Woo-joo are selected as candidates in the pitcher category…
┗Just give the monthly MVP to Fierce Tiger LOL
┗ Wow, Seonghyeon and Jang Woo-joo each had 4 wins at 1 point, but honestly, Ji Maeng-ho’s performance is overwhelming haha
-1st and 2nd place clash! A real sword battle in Daejeon!
… The 1st place team AT Thunders and the 2nd place team Hwasan Falcons will clash in Daejeon. The gap between AT Thunders and Hwasan Falcons is 7.5 games. If the Hwasan Falcons take a sweep in this series, it is a golden opportunity to reduce the game gap to 4.5 games.
Hwasan Falcons coach Moon Ki-taek said, “I think this series will be the first watershed. “This series is going to be Sunghyun-Tainie-Chae Jae-hyun,” He said, naming the three starting pitchers who are currently recording the highest level of performance in the league. …
┗Ha, the rotation was messed up a bit as plannedㅡ
┗LOL 7.5 games left, this is a watershed moment LOL Chutaek, let’s come to our senses and keep at least 2nd place. What are we going to do if we put in 3 starters before AT?
┗Fuck, Seonghyun’s 4-day break wasn’t Seonghyun 10 years ago, but you’re so crazy, you crazy bastard
┗Honestly, those who are a bit scared are ㄱㅊ
┗┗ㅋㅋㅋ ㄱㅊ But I have a strong sense of defense, so I think I will rob him.
*
“Wow, these bastards are clenched. What is these guys starting rotation? From Seonghyeon to Chae Jaehyun.”
Among the left-handed pitchers currently playing in the KBA League, the top four would be Choi Jung-hoon of Hyunsung and future mercenary pitcher Trey. And I was able to select Hwasan’s Seonghyun and Chae Jaehyun. Among them, Seonghyun and Trey were competing at an MVP level.
“So, 7.5 games left, and they are still sniping at us.”
“Oh, that sucks. Even though it’s an overwhelming first win, are you still sniping left-handed?”
In particular, a lot of left-handed seniors were upset when they heard the news, but they had no choice but to be that way. Not to mention Seonghyun, Chae Jaehyun’s growth has been so rapid over the past two years that people are saying he’ll make it to the major leagues. It was natural for senior left-handed hitters to be worried about such two people appearing. My grades were already bad because I was a loser, but if I met Seonghyun and Chae Jaehyun in succession, even if my stats were lowered, it wouldn’t normally be lowered.
In addition, Chae Jae-hyun, who appeared in the last game of the series, was a nightmare for left-handed hitters, and his pitching form was quite poor, so there were many left-handed hitters who lost their batting skills while dealing with him and were unable to recover for about a week.
In other words.
‘I guess I’ll have to do it this time too.’
It may have been a little difficult for Seonghyun, but when I watched the video, it seemed like he had less strength than last year, perhaps because he was older. Well, the scary thing about Seonghyun was not his pitch, but his ability to manage the game and the ball combination that seemed to be in the batters’ minds, but it was meaningless to me.
Rather, I was more worried about Tinie than Seonghyun. Allowed 1 run in 16 innings in two games after returning from injury. Even though his highest velocity was over 160 and his average velocity was in the mid-150s, the decrease in his pitches was definitely something to be wary of. If I could control that level of velocity, it wouldn’t be strange to say I would go to the majors right now.
‘If you think about it again, Hwasan’s advance team is really strong.’
The three pitchers in this series, foreign pitcher Oz who is a fastball type, and Kim Min-jun, the 5th starter who can immediately take over as Korea’s number 1 starter if he goes to a team with a weak starting pitcher. If they met on the Korean Series stage, the strong starting lineup was bound to be difficult.
‘This time, since they’re fighting with all their might, I’ll have to step on them, so they can’t get up. Today’s selection…’
The starter who will face Seonghyun today is Jang Yoon. And tomorrow, Jun-hyung will give it to his brother.
‘… Fuck. The starting matchup is so disastrous. If Crongs didn’t show up and at least Bellingham was there.’
Realistically, when looking only at the starting matchup, a sweep was the order of the day, and even in the losing series, it was a matchup where you could hear people say they made a save. … And my role is to break those expectations and create the minimum winning series.
‘Ah, fuck. I’ll just keep trying until I make it.’
Fortunately, unlike last week when I had enteritis, my condition has definitely improved.
‘Seonghyeon is behind.’
A match against Seonghyun, whom we meet for the first time this season. When we met in the Korean Series, my heart trembled at the thought of instilling trauma in him so that he could not even hit the ball into the zone.
“… Strike!”
… That is, until I deal with Seonghyeon.
“This is a strike?”
When the circle change-up was called a strike after the ball hit an absurd position, my trembling heart sank coldly.
“It’s a strike. It’s Meng Hao. This isn’t my first time dealing with Hyun-hyung. Why are you acting like an amateur? Let’s do it like a professional.”
“No, a left-handed pitcher throws a circle change-up from the outside to a right-handed batter. Is this a strike?”
“Are you going to protest further?”
“Under…”
In the top of the first inning, with one out, the ball Seonghyun threw was an outside circle changeup. The trajectory was clearly outside the zone… He wanted to protest more, but the referee’s voice was so irritated that he couldn’t protest anymore. It was an asshole to get kicked out for protesting in such an important game.
‘Mr. Rossby. Are you sure you came in?’
‘I came in. Well, if it had been last year, I wouldn’t have come in, but I should have kept in mind that the zone had expanded.’
‘Ha, fuck.’
When watching the video, the performance clearly seemed to be lacking, but the secret is achieving better results than last year. After seeing Seonghyun’s overwhelming control over the borderline of the widened zone, I had no idea how to hit this ball.
No matter how good I was, when I hit a ball like this, there was a high probability that I would get a hit, and it was clear that if I got just one ball out of there, I would immediately get a missed swing. And considering Seonghyun’s command, it wasn’t a problem to just take one ball out of there.
‘It’s a change-up this time too.’
‘Ha, fuck.’
And veteran batteries Seong Hyeon and Lee Yong-gi did not miss the opportunity. Once again, Seonghyun puts the bat in a position where he couldn’t even hit it.
“Strike!”
“It was comfortable not seeing Hyun-hyung for a while, right? You are behind “It’s Meng Hao.”
“… “Let’s just shut up and play, right?”
“You said that? I guess I’m a bit scared. Then, shall we add another one to the same location?”
‘It’s a fastball.’
‘Wow, that’s a relief.’
The ball the battery chose this time was a fastball. Thinking of a changeup that would probably miss at least one ball, I guessed that I wouldn’t bat, so I threw an outside fastball to the same spot and thought I’d get a three-ball strikeout.
‘I’m glad though. A fastball is fast, so even if it’s a little far away, if you apply the right force, you can hit a home run…’
The ball to aim for this time is an outside fastball. Thinking that this might be his last chance at bat, he focused more on Seonghyeon’s pitch. And Seonghyeon’s fastball was thrown.
‘Uh… ?’
A fastball in the late 140s that goes toward the body, contrary to the expectation that it would come outward.
Perfect!
Somehow it got caught by the bat, but there was no way I could hit the ball properly because I was thinking outside. I quickly threw the bat and ran to first base, but the ball floated inside the infield, and Lee Yong-gi caught the ball comfortably, ending my first at-bat.
“Meng Hao, how are you?”
I bowed my head and headed back to the dugout. The weatherman calls me to check Seonghyun’s condition. There is only one thing I can say to such a weatherman.
“Today won’t be easy, will it? “I’m screwed.”
Seonghyun’s balls are really fucking awesome. As long as the outside circle changeup was held like that, it was clear that today’s game would not be easy.