Chapter 741 – Episode 728. Fallen King. (1)

-“You crazy bastard! “What if I leave a comment like that?”

“What am I?”

-“No, yesterday in the comments on my star gram… !”

“Oh, thank you? “I gave a harsh rebuke to the kids who were being mean to you.”

-“No, I don’t mind cursing, but why are you writing a strange story there!”

“Huh? “What strange story did I write?”

-“No, it was me the first time too, don’t worry about seeing, things like this!”

“… Hmm. But I’m currently in training, so I can’t use my phone? Let’s meet and talk. Hang up Good work.”

-“Hey! Hey… ! You bitch… !”

I had already been nagged by Mattingly enough, but I was so annoyed by Hyuna who was trying to nag me again about something insignificant that I hung up the phone right away.

‘Well, even Soyoung doesn’t say anything.’

I knew that the article had come out and that there was another uproar in Korea, but honestly, I didn’t really care. This isn’t Korea, so there was no reason to worry about that, and even when I talked to Soyoung on the phone, she just smiled and moved on and didn’t say anything.

‘… But I think I would have nagged her if she was a member of AT.’

If it were Korea, I think I would have nagged them to avoid tarnishing the company’s image, but since I’m not part of AT now, it feels like they don’t really say anything.

Anyway, it was true that I had to train, so I quickly packed up my equipment and headed out to the ground. Today’s opponent is the Texas Rangers led by Seager.

The team is currently at 10 wins and 10 losses, and honestly, other than Seager, it wasn’t a very scary team. Seager was second in MVP last season and was hitting quite well this season, hitting .304 with 4 home runs and an OPS of 1.037, but other than that, there was only one other hitter, Cream, whose OPS exceeded 0.9 even though it was early in the season.

Even Young, who hit .209 and hit 30 home runs last year, has been performing poorly this season, so there really isn’t much for the batter to see?

And so did the pitching staff. DeGrom, a pitcher ambitiously recruited by Texas, continued to suffer from injuries and won 9 times from 3-point range in the 25th season, but he recorded 6-point range last year and 7-point range this year, so it would not be strange for him to retire at any time. ,

All three free agent starters recruited by Texas this season failed.

First, they recruited Snell, whose last season at San Francisco was ruined by injury, as the number one starter, but Snell was 0-0 and had an ERA in the low 3-point range, while Flaherty had 1 win, mid-4 points, and. Olito had 2 wins and 4 early points, so all three did not do well.

Although Dunning had three wins and an ERA in the mid-2s range, there was a high possibility that he would not appear in the series against us since he started the game two days ago.

And when I checked the state of Texas, I breathed a sigh of relief. If he had gone to Texas, it seemed like he would have been able to challenge for the real championship only after his four-year contract ended.

‘I skipped it because I was uncomfortable with the story about moving to first base and the fact that it was Mr. Rossby’s hometown, but after seeing what the team was like, I decided to skip it.’

As I finished training, admiring my pioneering ability, a friendly face walked up to me.

“Meng Hao! Long time no see? “Is this the first time since the WBC?”

“Yes. Probably so? “Sir, I just moved to Texas. How are you feeling?”

That face was senior Younghwan, who settled in Texas this season. Ko Young-hwan, who was praised as Korea’s best closer, showed off his skills to the fullest in the major leagues, and in recognition of his skills, he signed a six-year contract with Texas this season and was doing quite well.

“Do you think we’ll move up to the finish line soon? Nick’s grades aren’t that good. Well, it seems like the director is using it as a finishing touch since I’m young, but if things continue like this, I guess I’ll be able to get to the finishing touch soon?”

“Is it so? Then, let me help you. “If this guy comes out today, I’m going to be a bitch.”

Honestly, even if Texas’ finishing changed, I didn’t think Younghwan’s turn would come. Younghwan senior was in the 3-point range, but Sports, Texas’ sure-to-win team, was in the 1-point range, and Rodriguez was in the 2-point range.

‘Well, no matter who comes out, if we beat everyone and raise the ERA, Younghwan senior will probably go up.’

“Uh…, That’s a bit… You guys are doing well these days. Please share your wins.”

“Hey, it’s 1.5 games between us and Tampa, so it’s tough. “We’ll take a light sweep this time and leave.”

“Haha, your confidence is still the same. Okay, shall we have dinner tonight? “Your brother started looking for a good restaurant as soon as he came to Texas.”

“Yes. Then, see you after the game.”

After talking with Senior Younghwan, I returned to the locker room and started looking at the power analysis data.

-[… …]

Although I was a little annoyed by the unintelligible Latin song, I also put on my wireless earphones and focused on today’s starter, DeGrom’s material.

‘As expected, it was completely delicious.’

Although we checked it during the power analysis, deGrom’s condition did not seem to be very good.

Due to ongoing injuries, his fastball, which used to hit a ridiculous 100 mph, has decreased to an average of 94-5 mph. Last year, he seemed to hit 100 mph occasionally, but his highest speed this season was 96.3 (154.9 km/h), meaning he had lost all of his previous speed.

Well, 95 mph was fast for a 38-year-old, but didn’t he have the same force he had when he was at his best?

The pitch has also completely improved, hitting 6 home runs in 22.2 innings this season, and the slider, DeGrom’s main weapon, has also turned into an ordinary pitch as the velocity of the fastball has decreased.

In a way, it was a natural result. Since the fastball pitcher lost his fastball, it was a law of nature that breaking balls also lost power.

‘Tsk, but he was the best pitcher at one time… I’m going to have to drive a wedge today to stop being ugly anymore. … But don’t these guys get tired?’

Even after looking at the analysis data once, the dance continues. It would have been okay if good players were doing that, but with Vientos, who hit .109 and 5-pointers in the last 10 games, and Verdugo, who has a batting average of .300 but an OPS in the mid-0.7 range, it was a bit disgraceful to see them do that.

In fact, there were a few Hispanic pitchers dancing, but I didn’t mind seeing them because they had good grades.

‘But let’s put it this way, that guy is completely white, so why is he hanging out with Hispanic kids?’

As for Verdugo, maybe he just likes to dance?

“What are you thinking, Ji? Why? Do you want to dance too?”

As I was thinking about that and watching the guys dancing, Soto came up to me.

“No, I was wondering why Verdugo was dancing over there even though he was white.”

“Haha, white people enjoy dancing too. And Alex is of Mexican descent.”

“Oh, really?”

“How is it? You, too, should relax a little before the game. Dancing before a game isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Because it relieves unnecessary tension.”

“Then why don’t you go there and dance too?”

“Haha, I dance a lot at bat.”

“Now that you think about it, why are you doing that at bat? “Don’t you get hit once?”

“Well, there was that crazy psychopath. Although I am retired now. You know? There are a lot of strange pitchers out there. “Children who are nothing special have only their pride.”

Soto quietly muttered his last words so that the pitchers on the team could not hear them. Well, as Soto said, it is true that there are many idiots among pitchers.

“But more than that, you should be careful too. “My friends tell me that there are a lot of guys who are targeting me because of my bat flips and ceremonies.”

“Hey, I’m not the kind of person who just gets hit.”

“I guess so. Ah, the article that came out yesterday was also refreshing. Tsk, as the years go by, the number of mentally ill people on the internet increases. Those bastards need to be met and beat up in person.”

Soto’s thoughts were similar to mine. In fact, he didn’t dance, but Soto was the center of the whole mess, so he didn’t have a very good image, but it turned out that Soto was also a pretty good person. Because there’s no way that someone who thinks similar to me is strange.

“Then, I’d like to ask you to play today as well. Oh, that’s right. Why don’t you come to the party when you get back home? There’s nothing special, just building friendships with the players’ families.”

“My wives speak bad English.”

“Wives? Haha. I knew about it, but it was surprising to hear it in person. Ji is, after all, every man’s idol. Nice… “Are you jealous?”

At first, I thought this guy was fighting with me because he only praised me so much, but Soto’s eyes showed pure envy, just like what he said.

As expected, Soto is a pretty good guy, right?

‘Well, there’s no way he’s a bad guy even though he’s good at baseball.’

In addition, he failed last year, but seeing that he has sharpened his skills this season and is achieving good results, his work routine seems to be good.

“Hey, Ji! Juan! Come out now. “The game will start soon.”

“Okay. Well then, let’s win today and go on to 14 consecutive wins, or even 20 wins in a row. Ji.”

“Yes.”

After chatting with Soto, we headed to the dugout and spent some time watching the crowd and warming up, and before we knew it, the game had started.

And the pitcher standing in front of me is deGrom, who reigned like a king in the major leagues during his prime.

‘Tsk, I thought it would have been more fun if we had met in our prime. … Well, winning is fun too. Mr. Rossby, let’s kill this guy today, right? Don’t let it get any more ugly.’

‘Either way or not. Why are you doing this to me?’

‘… Tsk, there is no mood.’

‘You suck. It’s a fastball. In high? I have the same feeling.’

‘Okay.’

What kind of pitch will deGrom, who is already broken, throw? It’s just a moment of waiting with a trembling heart.

‘… ‘Huh?’

A ball in the low 90s flew toward me, and I had no choice but to instinctively swing the bat at the slow speed.

Perfect!

And the result was an outfield fly.

‘Ah… I was so excited about the timing yesterday. Write… Is it too slow?’

I felt like my timing was messed up as I was trying to deal with a lefty hitting 100 mph and then dealing with a bullshit ball in the low 90s.

‘Write… I need to slowly get the timing right. Well, the velocity is this slow, so other hitters will soon shake it off.’

Although I was out, I entered the dugout with a light heart because I had faith in the hitters behind me, but something different from what I expected happened on the ground.

“… Out!”

DeGrom’s fly to right field,

“Base on balls.”

Although he gave Soto a walk,

“Strike out!”

Today, he ended the inning by striking out Ohapee, who came in as the fourth hitter. And deGrom’s average speed at the top of the first inning was 91.3 miles (146.9 km/h). The speed was 6 to 7 km/h slower than the data confirmed in the power analysis.

‘What? I’m not feeling well… ?’

‘Are you stupid? Just by looking at it, you can see that the style has changed.’

‘Yes?’

‘He reduced his restraints and gained control.’

‘… Is it that easy?’

Reduce restraints and gain control. This method is easier said than done, but few people have succeeded with it. But trying that method… This method was also completely contrary to the trend of the past few years to throw faster and faster.

‘Well, we’ll have to wait and see about that in the future. It seems like the first episode was a success.’

DeGrom is a pitcher who is generally considered to have good control and command. Well, his performance in recent years has been poor, so he hasn’t been at the level of his prime, but if deGrom succeeds in making this change, he looks like he’ll have a pretty interesting future.

‘I guess we were in a hurry because we had 3 losses and 7 points.’

‘Well, this is the place that needs to change in order to survive. If the change is successful, it will engrave a name that will forever be remembered in history.’

Hehe, I can’t see that happening again. DeGrom, you are behind.’