Chapter 779 – Episode 766. A Pitcher’s Grave? (2)
3.78, 4.32, 5.65, 7.92.
What number is this? This is the average ERA of the Colorado Rockies starters in the rotation. The reason there were only 4 numbers was because the 5th starter kept changing. In addition, except for the closing pitcher, White, all the pitchers of the Colorado Rockies had an ERA in the 4 to 6 range.
In particular, the fact that Woodruff, whose career ERA was 3.06, hit 3.78 as soon as he came to Colorado shows how hitter-friendly this stadium is.
Ta-ah!
And now, I was feeling the reason.
‘Wow, it looks like I missed a bit, but did the batted ball fly like that?’
I was aiming for the first pitch from Colorado’s starting pitcher, Porter, who is in charge of 7.92 out of 3.78, 4.32, 5.65, and 7.92. I was able to parry the fastball, and the slightly missed ball flew toward the pole.
“Foul!”
Unfortunately, the result was a foul as it slightly missed the side of the pole.
I’ve never done drugs before, but would I feel like this if I did drugs? I couldn’t wait to swing the bat.
“Ball.”
“Ball.”
However, he must have been aware of the foul home run, so he decided not to give me a chance and started throwing the ball out of the zone.
‘Oh, fuck. ‘Put it deep into the zone.’
‘It’s a change-up. Outside.’
And the ball he chose was an outside changeup. Two balls, one strike. I felt like a pitcher would want to put it in the zone, and considering the characteristics of this stadium, I felt like a ball out of the zone could make a good hit, so I looked wide in the zone and waited for the guy’s ball.
‘… ‘It’s coming!’
As Mr. Rossby said, his ball was heading near the outside zone. At a speed of around 130 km/h, swing the bat along the trajectory of a typical changeup.
‘… ‘Huh?’
But the guy’s changeup that doesn’t fall… If I miss, I could be out, so I try my best to control the bat so as not to hit the ball. However, since the bat had already been released, precise control was difficult,
Perfect!
… The ball grazed the bat.
“Foul!”
But fortunately, the ball was aimed backwards rather than forwards, and a foul was called.
‘Is there a problem here? Anyway, this is luck.’
If the changeup had fallen like it did in the video or during the practice pitch, it would have gone over the fence right away, but here, at the right time, a misfire came out. This guy was very lucky.
‘Slider, towards the body.’
But his luck didn’t last that long. The slider aimed towards the body fell exactly near my thigh,
Ta – Aak!
I was measuring the timing of the slider and didn’t miss the ball.
‘Is this going to be 39 years old? If you hit one more, it’s 40.’
I round the bases with the confidence that I can surpass the 40 home run mark in this series.
“Great! Let’s go! Ji!”
“You crazy bastard, is it starting from episode 1 today?”
After receiving the cheers of my colleagues, who I had become accustomed to, I sat down on her bench. And perhaps stimulated by my home run, both Judge and Soto started swinging their bats wildly.
Ta – Aak!
Ta-ah!
“Out!”
“Out!”
Both batted balls are caught in front of the fence.
‘I got caught in front of the fence, but if I bat like this, I’m sure I’ll score double-digit scores today, right?’
Stanton struck out later, and the score was 1:0 at the end of the first inning. However, the hitting pitches proved that today’s game would not end with just one score.
Now the problem is Cole’s condition today.
“Strike! Out!”
Cole, who faced the first batter, struck out Grisham to get off to a good start, but Coors Field was Coors Field.
Coors Field was not only a graveyard for Colorado pitchers, but also for visiting pitchers,
Ta – Aak!
With 2 outs and 1st and 3rd bases, the ball thrown by Cole went into the middle and a cheerful hitting sound rang out.
‘This has passed.’
Goodman’s home run by the 5th batter.
Goodman was a hitter who had hit 20 home runs for three consecutive years since 2024, but he was sluggish this season, hitting .266 with 3 home runs. He was the 2nd most wins and 6th ERA in the major leagues. It was a home run hit by Cole, who was recording.
‘I thought some kind of rocket was going up.’
And with that home run, I felt once again that I was at Coors Field, the ‘graveyard of pitchers’.
Now the score is 3:1, 2 points behind.
But I wasn’t particularly worried. It was clear that we would score more points between Colorado’s hitters getting called and our batting line hitting a 7-run pitcher.
Besides, I have ‘myself’ and I lose in a strike battle?
That was ridiculous.
This was my second at-bat, confident of victory. My opportunity presented itself in a situation where Ohapee got on base with a single and one out and one on first base.
What I should aim for here is a tie. There was nothing to be afraid of with the rising air of Coors Field.
‘Let’s go, Mr. Rossby.’
‘It’s a fastball. ‘Body side.’
‘Okay.’
“Ball.”
Resist a ball that comes in about one ball deep from the body. See the results. If I hadn’t been aiming for a home run, I would have swung, but since I had narrowed the zone to aim for a home run, fortunately I held back and the second at-bat got off to an advantageous start.
“Ball.”
Ta – Aak!
“Foul!”
“Ball.”
By picking out the best balls possible, I was able to meet the batter’s count of three balls and one strike.
With Judge and Soto behind me, giving a walk was the worst.
It’s probably more likely to be thrown near the zone here.
‘It’s a slider. Outside.’
‘Okay.’
In this situation, the ball he chose was a slider.
‘After all, fastballs are burdensome?’
Well, the guy’s pitch was a little fast, but you can read that he feels it’s burdensome to hit an obvious fastball into the zone against the league’s home run king.
I wait for his ball, thinking about the trajectory of the slider I hit in the first inning.
“Hmph… !”
And with enthusiasm, the guy’s ball was thrown,
‘… What?!’
Perfect!
… The guy’s slider shouldn’t have fallen, but my bat just grazed the bottom of his ball.
“Second base! Second base! Second base! “Second base!”
And Colorado’s second baseman quickly repeats the call and approaches the fly ball…
“Out!”
The second baseman lightly handles the infield fly and is declared out.
‘Fuck, there was a disagreement here? Just the right timing? How does this guy have such luck that his ERA is in the 7 range?’
For a moment, I was shocked by the misfire that came out at good timing.
If I had decided to just hit it lightly, I would have been able to respond, but I was a little disappointed that I got hit because I was trying to hit a home run. Br〉
‘Tch. This is the problem when aiming for a home run. Well, there were about two more at-bats left anyway.’
There was no need to feel intimidated just because I missed a single at-bat, and there was nothing worse than coming into the dugout after hitting a bad hit and showing a dejected appearance, so I leaned against the railing and raised my voice.
“Go! Jersey! “Blow it away!”
“Base on balls.”
As if he heard my cheering, Judge gets a walk.
“Base on balls.”
Then, against a shaky pitcher who gave a walk, Soto also walked, and before we knew it, the situation was over with one out and the bases loaded.
‘They are definitely veterans. Even in a stadium like this, I think I’ll get a walk.’
Coors Field is a unique stadium, and I was excited about my first home run, so I went in aiming for a home run in my second at-bat, but when I saw that both Judge and Soto hit a ball that was caught in front of the fence in their first at-bat, they calmly got a walk, making the veteran After all, I feel like a veteran.
And at the plate, Stanton is the veteran among veterans.
“Show me! Page! “Blow it away!”
Stanton hasn’t hit a home run in almost 10 games, so I’m rooting for him with a slightly worried heart.
Just.
Stanton contacted the ball with his unique strange form,
“Oooh! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
-Wow!!!!
“What! Is this over?!!”
“Has Jean been acting like that for a day or two? Haha.”
The batted ball, which comes from a batting form with absolutely no power, goes over the fence as a line drive. Even though it is Coors Field, it has tremendous power…
‘I’m glad though. Because this is a turning point.’
Stanton’s grand slam instantly brought the score back to 5:3. And the grand slam that came early in the game, in the top of the third inning, was enough to break Colorado’s fighting spirit. Cole continued his momentum by allowing no runs in the bottom of the third inning, and in the top of the fourth inning, doubles from Kelnick and Ohapee added one run.
And the third at bat with 2 outs and 2nd base.
“Foul!”
“Ball.”
“Foul!”
“Ball.”
“Ball.”
‘Fastball, it’s toward the body.’
“Strike! Out!”
‘… It’s outside! Ha, this guy was thrown in a strange place earlier… From the next at-bat, I won’t listen to the location.’
The inning ended with a looking strikeout on an opposing pitch thrown with a full count.
‘But even if you’re a 7-point pitcher, this is a bit harsh… There are too many pitches against pitches?’
As I tried to walk to the dugout, grinning like that, Judge, who had been watching me from the stand-by batting box, approached me.
“Hey Ji. “I’ve been feeling it since before, but it seems like something doesn’t suit me.”
“… It’s not a big deal, because the opposing pitcher is so subpar. “Isn’t that bastard too much of a loser?”
“Haha. That’s natural. “This is Coors Field.”
“What does Coors Field have to do with silt? “Isn’t this just a place where the batted ball extends further?”
I didn’t really want a solution, and I was just saying it as if I were having a normal conversation, but unexpectedly, Judge knew the answer to my question: why pitchers have so many misfires.
“I don’t know, but the air density here is probably lower than other stadiums?”
“What does that matter?”
“I don’t know because I’m not a pitcher, but I think it’s because the air density is low, and it’s difficult to control the ball mechanically. The angle of the breaking ball gets smaller.”
“… Really?”
“Maybe so. Well, we’re good. Because you can hit a lot of flat balls. Oh, you’re not so good? “I’m definitely doing guest-hitting, but I think people might not like it if there’s criticism.”
Even though he didn’t seem to know the exact scientific cause, he knew one thing for sure.
This is a place where there are a lot of missed pitches and pitchers often have poor ball control.
The reason why Coors Field is called a ‘pitcher’s graveyard’ is not just because the pitches are pitched well, but also because there are problems with pitchers.
And the fact that there were a lot of poor pitches and poor ball control was like my natural enemy.
‘Hehe, it will be your grave, not the pitchers’ grave.’
‘… Mr. Rossby, do you think that’s funny now?’
After that, the game ended with a score of 6:5, although there were sporadic hits and home runs, but the game was not overturned. However, I missed the ball in my 4th at-bat, and my results on my first visit to Coors Field were 1 hit and 1 home run in 4 at-bats.
I won and hit a home run, but the game ended that day with a bad feeling.
Even though I won the game, I somehow felt like I lost…
I felt this way for the first time in a long time, so I continued to worry in bed without even going to have sex.
Of course, if Hyun or Jia had come, they would have gone straight to have sex, but since they were in New York and spending time with Soyoung, they wanted to relieve this shitty feeling rather than have sex.
‘Tsk, I might not be able to play one game. Let’s just go have sex. Quickly pick one person and call him as a DM or something. Will a solution come out of your stupid head? I heard there are only 3 games here anyway? There are no games next year. ‘I’ll just tell you the pitches tomorrow.’
‘No, if there is a loss again… Uh?! Mr. Rossby! How about playing without listening to anything at all? I think that would be better.’
‘Huh? What?’
‘I think it would be better not to listen and just play. In any case, a lost pitch occurs once per at-bat, so wouldn’t it be better to just hit a lost pitch in this situation? I practiced for several months in Korea as well.’
And, the result. I felt like I had found a clue.