Chapter 641 – Episode 628. Tweezers Instructor. (3)
Perfect!
“Nice!”
The weather warning bat is swung in a perfect trajectory. A hit that falls squarely in front of right field. A home run would have been nice, but getting on base like this wasn’t bad either. Anyway, there is one runner. Except for teams like Volcano, automatic unintentional balls rarely occur at first base with two outs, so this was okay.
Of course, good balls won’t come.
‘Well, I have to take that risk.’
Two outs, first base. Timing that you never want to give a long hit. In that case, the place the opponent’s battery should aim for is outside.
“Ball.”
And as I expected, NV’s battery hit the outer corner from the first pitch.
‘Write it. Even if there was just one more hit, it would have been a strike. As expected, Kim Si-hyun…’
Today’s starting pitcher is NV’s ace Kim Si-hyeon, a national team pitcher. When it comes to choosing the league’s left-handed ace, he was one of the best pitchers along with Hwasan’s Seonghyun and Chae Jaehyun and Hyunseong’s Choi Junghoon. Of course, compared to Seonghyeon or Choi Jung-hoon, his name value is less, but Kim Si-hyun also had definite strengths.
He is in his late twenties. Unlike Chae Jae-hyun, who is slightly younger, and Seong-hyun and Choi Jung-hoon, who are now too old, Kim Si-hyun was in his prime as a pitcher, and in my opinion, the best left-handed pitcher this season was Kim Si-hyun.
… There was also Seonghyun, but what can I say about Seonghyun? It felt like he was throwing less and less often in the regular season, perhaps because he was older. There was a strong feeling that they were taking care of themselves due to the risk of injury.
Anyway, for a pitcher like that, the first pitch that hit the outside corner like a ball was quite sharp.
‘Well, it’s not like I can’t deal with it.’
However, these left-handed pitchers had problems. Since Randy Johnson, it is safe to say that the basic skill of a left-handed pitcher is a slider, and to me, a right-handed hitter, a left-handed pitcher’s slider was not that scary.
The left pitcher’s slider was a ball that bent towards my body, and if it was bent, it was a pitch that went over the fence.
That’s why left-handed pitchers tend to have balls that bend outside right-handed batters in order to catch right-handed batters. Such as sinker or changeup.
And Kim Si-hyun is the type of person who throws a change-up…
To put it simply, it was no different from my own food.
Of course, the distinction was not as perfect as Mr. Rossby had told us, but…
“Ball.”
“Strike!”
“Strike!”
‘Now!’
… If only we could roughly create an environment for throwing changeups like we do now!
Ta – Aak!
The sound of the hit was good because the ball that was going out was forcefully pulled in, but the hit seemed to have been slightly eaten… The batted ball slowly begins to sink toward the fence.
And…,
“Ground rule double!”
… A batted ball that gets stuck under the fence.
‘Oh, fuck. This is stuck.’
Even if he hadn’t gotten stuck under the fence, the timing was such that Sangju senior, who started as soon as he heard the sound, could have run all the way to home. However, my batted ball became a double, and Sangju senior, who was a runner on first base, had no choice but to return to third base.
Now the only thing I can trust is Seongtae!
‘Seongtae hyung! ‘Please!’
“… Strike! Out!”
However, Kim Si-hyun was a pitcher who was difficult for left-handed batters to hit even if he was told the type of pitch. So he’s the best left-handed pitcher out there.
“Ugh, sorry.”
“Are you okay. I didn’t expect much anyway.”
“… A little bit. Hehe, I guess I should hit a home run or something.”
“Please play good defense. Because Junhu is in ace mode today. Right? “Junhu.”
“Of course. Just trust me. Seongtae, really just trust me.”
… You can really trust this guy, right?
*
2023 draft in which Ji Maeng-ho was selected. For Korean baseball fans, the 2023 draft was synonymous with the term ‘golden generation.’
From Ji Maeng-ho, who won the MVP for three consecutive years, to 100 Mile Man Jang Woo-joo, to Kim Won-ho, who is expected to advance to the major leagues, players who are currently considered the future of Korean baseball were drafted in the 2023 draft.
In addition, the reputation of the 2023 draft was quite famous as several players from the first round to the lower drafts, including Hwasan’s setup man Oh Hyo-jun and Hancheol’s fifth starter Park Ji-hwan, debuted in the first team.
Even in AT, quite a few players occupied a spot in the first-team lineup, such as starting center fielder Jeong Hwi-cheol, last year’s starting catcher Kim Hyun-seong, and fifth starter Lim Jun-hoo.
So why are there so many talented players in the 2023 draft?
The reason was Joo Hyung-jin’s performance. Joo Hyung-jin, who was called a ‘national hero’, was a key hitter who led the team to victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In addition, excluding injuries, he was a Korean baseball hero who played as a starter for seven years in the major leagues and hit 20 or more home runs five times.
There is no need to talk about the popularity that Joo Hyung-jin enjoyed in Korea. There was even a rumor going around that the LA Dodgers and Texas Rangers, who recruited Joo Hyung-jin, made up all of Joo Hyung-jin’s salary with Korean broadcasting rights.
It was natural for him to record a viewership rating of at least 10% and over 20% in important games, and his popularity was so great that even schools would broadcast his games when Joo Hyung-jin appeared in major league fall baseball games.
Needless to say, in statistical surveys, he was voted the number one favorite among Koreans, beating out various celebrities.
In 2013, when Joo Hyung-jin returned to Korea to retire.
It was natural that a large crowd of spectators flocked to see Joo Hyung-jin, the ‘national hero’, and that season, Joo Hyung-jin showed a performance worthy of his name, winning the Golden Glove.
In addition to his Olympic victory and consistent performance in the major leagues, his batting average of .327 and 28 home runs in his final season back in Korea were enough to attract many active boys across the country.
And at that time, the 2023 draftees were 10 to 11 years old. It was just the right age to start playing baseball.
Among the many boys who dreamed of becoming a post-Joo Hyung-jin, only those with talent survived, and only the talented among talents were nominated, also called ‘Joo Hyung-jin Kids’, and the 2023 draftee, now called the ‘golden generation’.
-2023 draft, AT Thunders 2nd 1st round selection. In fact, he was a player I was worried about selecting in the first round of nominations, but when our turn came, we were able to select this player without any hesitation. The AT Thunders’ first round pick is Hwiyungo pitcher, Lim Jun-hoo.
And Lim Jun-hoo was proudly selected as the 4th pick in the 2nd 1st round of the 2023 draft.
[Lim Junhu! The inning ends with a three-way throw!]
He was a player who could not have been less talented.
Although he is inferior to big names like Ji Maeng-ho, Kim Won-ho, and Jang Woo-joo, he is a sparkling starter who pitched 97 innings in his first year of debut and started in the 5th starting rotation in his second year, and won 10 games in his third year. A player with talent.
[Hey, Lim Jun-hoo, the ball is perfect today. There was talk that he only pitches well in Daegu. Was the match against Daegu Hyunseong a good stimulus? I think the conditions today are similar to Tuesday’s game, right? If Lim Jun-hoo, the 5th starter, throws like this, I think AT fans will really like it.]
And the talent that was about to explode was now shining brighter and sparkling.
If he had not met Meng Ho and focused more on sports rather than women, this talent could have shined faster than it does now, but there was no if in baseball, and the important thing was that Junhu was shining anyway.
‘Is it really a good fit? Why haven’t I thought about my nails until now? Ha, fuck. If I had known sooner, I would have won 15 games last year…’
“Oh, what is Junhu? Are you really going to work today?”
“I told you. “I feel good today.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Junhu was an untouchable pitcher who couldn’t attack.
[Two runs! Two run! NV takes the lead thanks to Lim Jeong-gyun’s two-run performance! Score 2:0!]
[Hey, Lim Jun-hoo was recording 12 scoreless innings, including 1.1 innings in the last game, 7 innings in the previous game, and 3.2 innings in this game, and that record is broken here.]
[At the bottom of the 4th inning, there is a shot that breaks Lim Jun-hoo’s scoreless streak. … Out! Lim Jun-hoo hits a home run and concedes a run, but ends the inning safely!]
However, the mindset of an ace is to not be shaken even after conceding a goal.
And Lim Jun-hoo was in a sufficient environment to have such an ace mindset.
“Bro, can you make me a winning pitcher today?”
“Bitch, are you talking about it? Just keep throwing like this.”
Because the team had the best hitter in the league, and possibly the best hitter in the world.
‘Because Meng Ho will give you points again anyway…’
Of course, this mindset did not come about because Junhu had a stronger mentality than other ordinary pitchers.
‘Brother Meng Hao, I will trust you!’
However, Maengho’s performance and records over the past three years were just enough to naturally create that mindset in AT’s pitchers.
[… Two outs in the top of the 5th inning! Full count! I swung the bat! This batted ball! Go over the left wall! Ji Maeng-ho’s two runs bring the game back to square one! The game starts again now!]
And Ji Maeng-ho was a hitter who did not betray the pitchers’ trust. As he has shown so far.
[… Lim Jun-hoo ends the 5th inning with a three-way comeback! The game is turning a corner!]
Whether you are born with it or made with it, what matters is the result. The pitcher trusts the batter, and the batter does not betray the pitcher’s trust.
That simple but difficult virtuous cycle was turning his brilliant talent into an ‘ace’.
[Game over! Final score 6:3! AT Thunders takes the winning series thanks to Lim Jun-hoo’s 7-inning, 3-run pitching and Ji Maeng-ho’s 4 RBIs, including 1 home run!]
*
-Lim Jun-hoo, pitched well, allowing 3 runs in 7 innings!
… Lim Jun-hoo, who became the winning pitcher that day, said, “After the last Daegu game, I was able to get advice from Meng Ho. Based on that advice, I think I performed well in today’s game. He said, “I think he can continue to show his fans the same performance he showed this week.” …,
… Lim Jun-hoo recorded 2 wins while allowing 3 runs in 14 innings this week…
┗Kk, the flower snake finally exploded hahathis is the first round haha
┗That flower snake bitch is crying haha. If she sucked slowly for 2 years, she would have sucked at least 6 billion won haha
┗┗ㄹㅇㅋㅋㅋ If Junhu is at this level, the FA price is at least 6 billion won?
┗┗Could it is 10 billion?
┗Is it you again? Fierce Tigerㄷㄷ A true leader of this era who now even teaches pitchingㄷㄷ
┗┗Maengho ‘The True Coach’ Ji
┗┗How are you going to stop ETR, STS, and LDS from winning the triple crown?
┗These days, when you interview AT batters or pitchers, they all talk about fierce defense. Does this guy have something?
┗┗The mere existence itself is a cheat haha The team quality changes ㅅㅂ
┗Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God! Flower Snake God!
-Asian Games roster announced.
… On the 15th, KBA announced the list of national baseball teams that will participate in the 2026 Aichi*Nagoya Asian Games.
… Meanwhile, from the AT Thunders, three players, including Ji Maeng-ho (24), starting pitcher Lim Jun-hoo (23), and starting center fielder Jeong Hwi-cheol (23), were selected…
┗ㅅㅂ All the pillars are being pulled out
┗ㅋㅋㅋㅋ He shined in the last week of the flower snake scene and made it to the national teamㅋㅋㅋ I’m tired of turning my life around haha
┗┗I heard Meng Hao taught me something. Isn’t this a lifesaver? Please stop the snakes, give me advice, let me take the national team, and give me military exemption.
┗┗Not exempt from military service yet?
┗┗Maenghosin is going to give me military exemption anyway, so why worry?
┗If this is the case, what should we do this fall? Looking at their form these days, it looks like they’ll be competing in the fall. They’re taking the starting pitcher, second base, and center fielder.
┗┗Ji Maeng-ho was exempted from military service and had to come when the country called.
┗┗Do you think we should make a decision for fall before then? About 2–3 weeks?
┗Military exemption broker Ji Maeng-ho is coming!! Everyone holds on tight!!
┗┗I have to promote national prestige as a fierce defender haha
┗Ha, I’m already feeling like shit just thinking about watching two weeks of shitty baseball without a fierce protector ㅅㅂ
┗┗There are still two months left haha I’m excited
┗Wow, Manghoshin is still 24? My age is legendary haha
┗Olympic, how are you going to stop the WBC MVP from playing in the Asian Games? LOL
┗Fighting, Korea!!!