Chapter 556 – Episode 548. Opened Eyes? (2)

‘So what do you see?’

‘Slightly?’

I continued to spin Trey’s helmet in my mind for a long time. As I continued to watch Trey’s pitches, except for the time I went on defense, I was able to understand the sense of discomfort I felt.

The identity of the discomfort, which left-handed batters could not see and was visible only to right-handed batters, was the man’s hand covering the ball. At the moment of throwing the ball, did you catch the guy’s hand covering the right side of the ball?

When he threw a change-up, the area of ​​his hand covering the ball was clearly large. Is he covering the ball? I couldn’t see each finger, but if I concentrated, I had the strange feeling that the ball would turn white and invisible in a split second.

Of course, not all pitchers were visible. I tried several times to see if I could see other pitchers’ grips in my mind, but all I could see was his grip, especially his changeup.

I’m not sure, but the fact that his fingers were so hairy was the same factor that made me feel uncomfortable. There was quite a bit of hair on the guy’s thumb, and it seemed to create a strange sense of discomfort in me as it covered his white skin and the baseball.

‘Blessed bastard. My eyes are useless.’

‘It’s useless. I’m writing it right now.’

‘So are you going to aim for it?’

‘… ‘No.’

But the feeling of such discomfort was truly a fleeting moment… If you ask me if I have the confidence to focus on the guy’s hand and then check the trajectory of the changeup the moment it is thrown and aim for it to make a good hit, my answer would be NO.

It was clear that if a fastball was thrown while he was concentrating on his reaction would be delayed, and even if he confirmed that it was a changeup, it was not easy to accurately hit the trajectory. Moreover, looking at the shape of the hand at the moment of throwing requires greater concentration than looking at the pitcher’s general hand gesture…

It was a problem of a different level of difficulty than hearing a pitch from Mr. Rossby and hitting it.

‘Then you did something useless.’

‘Hey, Mr. Rossby. Why are you acting like an amateur? Just because you know the pitch doesn’t mean you have to hit it right.’

Even if you know the type of pitch, you don’t need to hit every pitch correctly. If you feel like it’s a change-up, just filter it or remove it. Although it is difficult to make a correct hit, it is not difficult to deal with it if you wait and be prepared to remove it the moment you feel a sense of discomfort.

‘It certainly seems like we’re at the level of pseudo-humans these days.’

‘I’m glad the ape escaped.’

Mr. Rossby knew that too, so he was smiling as if he was satisfied with my answer. Does it feel like you passed a test given by your teacher? When I was feeling that small amount of satisfaction, I felt someone touching my body.

“Meng Hao, it’s soon your turn.”

“Ah, … “Senior.”

It was Jincheol, the batsman behind me. The situation is in the top of the fourth inning, with one out and senior Sangju at bat. Although there was little chance that Sangju senior or Williams, who was a left-handed hitter, would get on base, they still had to stand by for Williams’ at-bats, so they called me.

“Are you having a hard time? “He doesn’t do that these days, but he’s sleeping when the defense is over.”

“It’s not sleeping, it’s meditation. Meditation.”

“No excuses. Hey, my bones are sore. You have to have sex in moderation.”

“Ah! That’s not it, I really meditated!”

“The excuse is…”

“It’s real!”

“It’s done. Let’s do it well. “You always hit a home run after you sleep, right?”

“Ah… I didn’t really sleep… “I thought about it.”

“What are you thinking with your eyes closed like that?”

If I didn’t say more here, people might have misunderstood that I was really sleeping, so I released the special information.

“Senior. Do you know what? Ha, I’m not supposed to tell anyone about this… “Did you know that when that guy throws a changeup, he’s covering the ball with his hand?”

“What do you mean?”

“So, when you throw the ball, you hold the grip with your hand. At that time, the changeup becomes more obscured.”

“… Do you see that?”

“Yes. The senior is also a right-handed hitter, so check it out.”

Moreover, in order to win today’s game, it was good information for Jincheol, a right-handed hitter, to know, so I willingly handed over the information I found to Jincheol.

Perfect!

Just then, Senior Sangju’s batted ball slightly passes the second baseman and rolls toward right field. The team’s first on base today. I applauded at that sight, prepared the bat, and walked to the waiting box.

“… Who can see that? Hey?! Hey!”

I heard senior Jincheol calling me from behind, but I left him behind and walked to the waiting box. Because I don’t have time to explain further now.

Perfect!

As soon as he enters the waiting box, Williams swings the bat strongly from the first pitch. However, his timing was not right, and his batted ball flew backwards and hit the net.

‘Are you being pushed? Actually, I’m a bit tough, but it’s probably more difficult for left-handed hitters to hit, right?’

The battle between Williams and Trey continued after that. As it was a match between foreigners at the top of the league, the game continued for quite a long time,

“Strike! Out!”

In the end, Williams struck out as he was unable to respond to Trey’s sinker. Well, in a way, it was a natural result. Because baseball was originally a sport where pitchers were more advantageous. Still, it didn’t mean there was no income. I was able to check the timing one more time by checking all of his pitches while at bat.

“[Sorry. Ji…]”

“[Are you okay. I didn’t expect much anyway.]”

“Choi, Song. “I do.”

Williams apologizes in broken Korean despite saying it’s okay. To be honest, I didn’t really care because I didn’t really have any expectations. In fact, isn’t it better than expected that Trey brought out all of Trey’s pitches at the plate?

‘But, it’s been two years since this kid came to Korea, and he still only speaks Korean like that… I’ll have to practice discipline once it’s over.’

Williams’s mental education was planned as he entered the at-bat. I put all thoughts of Williams out of my head and started focusing on Trey. After some time has passed, the guy’s ball is thrown. I didn’t feel the strange sense of discomfort I had when I saw my eyes closed in the image, so I decided not to bat.

“Ball.”

His first pitch was a fastball that went out.

‘It’s not a hunting trip… If the first ball is outside, will the crystal ball come towards the body? Since it is advantageous, let’s look at one more thing.’

After quickly organizing the information I could get from his first pitch, I waited for the second pitch.

“Strike!”

His second pitch was a backdoor slider from the outside into the zone. Although it was worn strangely, it was a ball that could be caught well enough…

‘Sseu-eup, even if you come in just a little bit, it’s okay…’

One ball, one strike with only two balls. But it seemed like he could read Battery’s thoughts to some extent. Although there are two outs, the runner is on first base. Throwing an ambiguous ball like this and aiming for a strike means not throwing a ball close to the body, which has a high risk of giving up a long hit!

‘Then we can just aim for the outside and go in.’

After reducing my options to 1/2, I feel much lighter. The third ball I am waiting for with such a light heart. The moment he threw the ball, I didn’t feel any discomfort, and I felt like I was entering the zone, so I hit the ball back.

Ta – Aak!

A cheerful sound was heard, and the ball quickly disappeared to the left. … Go well beyond the foul line.

‘Sweet, did you pull it too far? It was on the outside anyway, so I got hit too far in front.’

I wasn’t conscious of it, but I guess I was in a bit of a hurry after striking out in my first at-bat. The fourth ball I waited for, thinking about watching the ball as slowly as possible. And the moment he threw the ball, I felt the sense of discomfort I had been waiting for.

‘… Change-up!’

“… Ball.”

‘Phew, I almost got screwed. It would have been dangerous if we had gone a little further in.’

A change-up from a guy that will make your stomach drop. If he didn’t know it was a changeup, he would have swung the bat. If it was their mistake to throw it out because of two strikes, would it be a mistake? As far as I knew, I couldn’t be fooled by a ball that was this much different from John’s even if I wanted to.

“Hey, this kind of ball doesn’t work. “Did you think it would work again just because you were lucky enough to strike out?”

“…”

Plus, a little seasoning for the catcher. The sound of the catcher rolling his head can be heard up to here. And the replacement of the battery, which is slightly longer than before.

‘When the exchange of signs goes on like this, the pitcher usually throws the ball he is most confident in… Then a fastball? No, you struck me out with a changeup earlier, so it could be a changeup again.’

Looking at Battery’s ball mix today, the decisive pitches thrown against right-handed batters are sinker and changeup. Both are pitches that bend outward from my perspective… When I think about the three possible cases, including the fastball that pitchers are confident in, my mind becomes a little complicated.

When your mind is complicated like this, the simplest way is to go.

‘I’ll just watch and hit.’

When I finished worrying, the pitcher took a pitching stance, as if Battery had also finished worrying. And his left hand rose high into the sky.

… With a strange sense of discomfort that I had seen in my mind all day today!

‘Change-up!’

It was a little late because he was focusing too much on his hands, but the guy’s changeup was just as slow, so he quickly checked the trajectory and swung the bat.

The guy’s changeup curves slowly and outward as it gets closer to home plate.

… And, what was waiting at the final destination was my bat.

Perfect!

A well-timed hit that almost takes the ball out of the mitt! The batted ball, which seemed to have been hit by the tip of the bat, took a gentle curve and flew toward the foul line, and since it was two outs, senior Sangju, who was the runner on first base, was already running toward second base.

‘Inside! ‘Inside!’