Chapter 708 – Episode 695. Grapefruit League. (1)

“This is the starting lineup for today’s game. Second baseman Ji in No. 1, designated hitter Judge in No. 2, right fielder Soto in No. 3, third baseman Vientos in No. 4, first baseman Hall in No. 5, center fielder Kelnick in No. 6, left fielder Verdugo in No. 7, and No. 8. Ohhapi, the catcher, and Volpi, the shortstop, at No. 9.”

The lineup that Mattingly called was the lineup that was expected. Because we tested the batting line while using this lineup in the last Blue and White match.

Since it was an exhibition game, they could have used several players, but it seemed like they wanted to check it out by sending out their best players for the first game.

‘By the way, I feel a little dizzy.’

Since it was a major league game, I thought they would take a private plane to exhibition games, but I was a little disappointed, perhaps because I had to travel by car. Besides, I hadn’t bought a car yet, so I drove Judge’s car all the way here, and my ears hurt from hearing him brag and nag the whole time.

He asked me to ride with him during the exhibition game, but since he was the captain, it was difficult to refuse.

‘But it’s still better than a fucking bus.’

Honestly, it was better to ride in a car with Judge and listen to nagging than to ride on a bus that looked like a chicken coop.

“Let’s do well today. Ji.”

“I’ve heard that sound more than 100 times in the car.”

“Was it like that?”

After blocking the judge who was trying to nag me again, I gathered my gear and went outside, where I saw fans almost filling the stands even though it was an exhibition game. Since neither we nor the opposing team, the Detroit Tigers, had any connections, it seemed like a variety of fans flocked in.

Today’s starting pitcher is Detroit’s ace Skubal. He was a good pitcher, recording more than 10 wins in ’24 and ’25, and even posting a 2.37 earned run average over 190 innings in ’24. Well, last year wasn’t that good with 9 wins and 11 losses at 4.17.

Still, since he was a pitcher who was scheduled to become a free agent at the end of this season, it was clear that he gritted his teeth and prepared for this season.

‘Did you say that the average four-seam speed is around 94 to 96 mph, and the sinker is slightly faster than that? Other than that, changeup, slider, curve.’

Watching Skubal practice pitching, he definitely looked sharper than last year’s video. Did you feel like he was gritting his teeth and preparing? Well, he may have picked up the pace quickly, but the important thing was that he was throwing a pretty threatening ball.

‘Mr. Rossby, are you checking properly?’

‘Yes.’

Fortunately, he was throwing a variety of breaking balls in practice, and Mr. Rossby was able to check his grip.

‘Well, we’ll just confirm it during the exhibition period anyway.’

In fact, an exhibition game is literally an exhibition game. Even if I was hitting .100, there was no way they would replace me in the starting lineup just because I couldn’t play the exhibition game, so my goal for this exhibition game was to see as many balls as possible. And when I get on base, I try to steal bases and see what the level of the catchers is.

“Play ball!”

It was my first at bat with the intention of seeing as many balls as possible.

‘It’s a body sinker.’

‘Okay.’

“Strike!”

A strike is declared when the first pitch selected by Skubal passes through the strike zone. Because it was a sinker thrown by a left-handed pitcher, I even had the illusion that it was a hit. Moreover, the speed is about 96 miles (154.4 km/h).

Surely he’s not a major-leaguer for nothing?

‘He said he was Ace here, so there are about 30 bastards like this, right? ‘It’s fun.’

‘Next is the four-seam. ‘Body side.’

This time too, the ball he chose was an inside four-seam. It felt like something was trying to keep trying to compete with me.

But I wanted to see the major-leaguers’ breaking balls, so I decided to hold out this time,

“Strike!”

This ball also entered the zone. If it had been during the KBA days, I don’t think he would have thought about striking and stabbing me again, but he didn’t seem to have any fear of me.

‘If this continues, I’m in the mood to throw a strike again…’

‘It’s a change-up. They are telling me to throw it low.’

‘Okay.’

Still, it seemed like they had done a basic analysis of me and didn’t intend to put me in the zone this time.

‘Let’s take a look at the major league changeup.’

Of course, I also saw Seong Hyun’s changeup, which was considered the best changeup in the major leagues, but he played against me after he was past his prime. I waited with excitement to see what kind of changeup the current major league starter would throw.

“Ball.”

And the result was a changeup that was about two feet below the zone. Now that I know what a changeup is, I guess it just looks like a piece of shit? At this level, it seemed like there would be no problem with hitting a changeup.

‘Slider. ‘Body side.’

‘Okay. It’s finally been decided.’

To be honest, there were roughly two types of sliders thrown towards the body by left pitchers in the KBA. A slider that sticks too close to your body from the start, making you wonder if you should avoid it, or a slider that doesn’t bend as much as you think and comes in just right.

My heart was already pounding to see what kind of slider the Major League 1 starter would show.

The 4th district was greeted with such anticipation. The guy’s slider seemed to come from the outside batter’s box, and gradually fell towards my body.

Perfect!

‘Sseuup, did you get hit a little early?’

I thought I would have struck out if I waited any longer, so I swung the bat and kicked the ball away, but I thought that the major league is the major league. If it were Korea, it would have been enough to put it in the ground…

‘What did you see just now? Sinker, slider, and changeup. What’s left is to fix the curve?’

I thought for a moment that I wanted to see the curve of the last ball, but before I knew it, Mr. Rossby was telling me the next ball.

‘Four-seam. It’s outside.’

‘Okay. Well, the ball mix is ​​not much different from Korea. Show a changeup ball on the inside and a fastball on the outside.’

After all, is there a reason why a good ball mix is ​​a good ball mix? The opponent presented an almost standard ball combination,

Perfect!

This time too, I kicked the ball away. To be honest, I thought I could hit it, but even if it was an exhibition game, wouldn’t it be a shame to spend my first at-bat like this? I wanted to see Ace’s balls as much as possible.

Since it was an exhibition game, the pitcher could have changed next time.

Perfect!

“Foul!”

Perfect!

“Foul!”

Perfect!

“Foul!”

After removing three more, the guy covered his mouth with his glove and screamed something.

‘It’s a four-seamer on the body side.’

‘Okay.’

Four-seamer on the inside after yelling? Since it was so obvious, I waited for his ball, prepared to dodge it, and his ball came so close that it almost grazed my uniform.

“Ball.”

“You just look at me now, but next time you throw a ball like this, you won’t tolerate it?”

“What will I do if you don’t bear it?”

“Why not try it out?”

The ninth ball I waited for after warning the catcher.

Perfect!

“Foul!”

His ninth ball was a four-seamer that hit the body again, and this time it flew along the line and slightly missed the line at the end.

‘Ah, what a shame. I went in with the right aim.’

Now the tenth ball. I was slowly getting used to his pitch, and he chose the outside curve.

“Ball.”

And see the results. Before we know it, the game has expanded to 11 pitches.

‘It’s a sinker. The mitt position is outside.’

‘Okay.’

In the end, the ball he chose was an outside sinker. And the guy’s ball flew almost toward the outside of the strike zone. However, the left pitcher’s sinker tended to flow outward, and at this rate, considering the trajectory, it was a ball.

“Strike! Out!”

But the result is a strike.

‘Fuck, hold this for me?’

No matter how much I thought about it, it looked like an outside ball, but I laughed at the strikeout call. If this game were in the regular season, I would have wanted to question the referee, but it was an exhibition game anyway. I just picked up the bat and walked to our team’s dugout.

‘What’s going on? ‘Are you holding on?’

‘Well, maybe John is a broad judge.’

Moreover, since I was the first batter in the top of the first inning, I didn’t really know what the umpire’s zone was like.

Even though I still struck out, I was quite satisfied with the result. I can’t believe I see this many major league balls.

“It was disappointing. Ji.”

“It looks like the outside of the referee is a little wide? Be careful.”

“Okay, let’s figure it out first.”

I passed by the next batter, Judge, and gave him a warning, and when I returned to the dugout, manager Mattingly greeted me.

“It was a good match. J.I. “I also regret the last ball.”

“Is that so? “You didn’t come in, right?”

“Well, it’s better to be careful in a two-strike situation. “The referees are so old, they tend to look at the zone broadly when it comes to rookies.”

Hmm… I thought I heard this from Seungcheol. Seungcheol also said that he had a bit of a hard time because of John at first. Once the league started, I felt like I would have to be more active with the bat for a few months. If I have to judge and fight, it’s my loss.

‘But should I remember that bastard’s name? What is the referee’s name? Ned Green? Okay.’

Of course, I returned to my seat, promising myself that if I were to pull off pranks like this during the regular season, I would show off the skills I had honed in Korea. Still, I was wondering if I had struck out against an idiot pitcher, and Skubal ended the inning by getting Judge and Soto out in turn.

The game went on without a hitch, and my second at-bat came in the top of the third inning, with the score still at 0:0, with two outs and first base.

Skubal is still on the mound.

‘Okay, I’ve seen the ball a lot, so I’ll aim straight this time. Let’s go.’

‘The first pitch is a four-seam. ‘Body side.’

‘Okay.’

And Skubal chose a four-seamer on the inside from the first pitch. Seeing that he boldly chose the first pitch in both this and the last at-bat, it seemed like he thought I was the type to watch the ball a bit. I definitely had that tendency during my KBA days.

‘Well, that doesn’t mean I don’t hit it at all.’

I waited for the first ball, thinking that if I came in carelessly, I would immediately jump over the fence.

‘… ‘Huh?’

Contrary to what Mr. Rossby said, I felt that his ball was heading toward the outside strike zone. Although the location was different from what Mr. Rossby said, it felt like I was going to be in the zone!

I swung the bat at that ball without delay.

Perfect!

“Run! Run!”

‘Write… !’

Although it was slightly off, it was a timing that could have been overlooked in Korea, but unfortunately the launch angle was not that good. Fortunately, the ball was hit as fast as it was pulled, so it didn’t get stuck in the infield, but unfortunately, the left fielder caught the ball and didn’t have time to go to second base.

Certainly, as expected from a major-leaguer, his performance was not bad. If it had been Korea, it would have been at least a direct hit if it had felt like this.

‘Ac, if it was on the body like you said, I would just pass it over.’

‘So, are you going to run?’

‘I have to run.’

The opposing catcher is Jake Rogers. What I confirmed before the game was that he was one of the top five catchers in the Major League last year for stealing bases. Of course, he wasn’t nervous or anything. Anyway, it was the same for Korean pitchers and major league pitchers who couldn’t throw a check if they got a grip on a breaking ball.

If there was no check, it was natural for my lead to increase, and in a battle of 0.1 seconds, going one step further was a huge advantage.

‘It’s a curve.’

‘Okay.’

And fortunately, the opposing pitcher didn’t seem to have any intention of going with a fastball from the first pitch against Judge. Moreover, he had already been given a green light through training.

I was making eye contact with the guy, but I had already grabbed the grip of the curve. As soon as he made the pitching motion, I immediately ran toward second base.

‘Okay, this is enough… !’

When you are so confident that it is safe and are about to slide into second base,

Ta – Aak!

A loud hitting sound came from the batting box.

“And…”

A batted ball flies far toward the center fence. The judge raises his hand at the hit that even the outfielder stops.

‘It’s definitely not just lip service.’

After all, Jersey is Jersey, right? With that many batters behind me, I didn’t think I would have to worry about it being flagged as an intentional throw.