Chapter 780 – Episode 767. A Pitcher’s Grave? (3)

‘Caleb, the average fastball ranges from 92 to 4 mph (148 to 151.2 km/h). His top speed is around 96 mph (154.5 km/h). His speed is not that fast, but he has the advantage of being a left-handed pitcher and his unique form. However, his breaking ball and command style is not that good. He throws a slider and a curveball, but he doesn’t have any special pitches.

His record is 25 years, 16 games as a starter, 3 wins, 3 losses, and a 3.84. He appeared in 19 games in 26 years, 10 as a starter, with 7 wins, 5 losses, and 4.41. And this year, he appeared as a starter in two games and averaged 9.53 in 5.2 innings. Does it seem like the hitters have adjusted and this year’s results aren’t that good? A style that will self-destruct if left unattended.’

I keep thinking about the data about Caleb, who will be the Rockies’ starter today, and check the video. Caleb in the video was throwing the ball slightly to the side, as if his unique form was his advantage, and the deception seemed quite good.

‘You work hard. ‘You can’t believe you memorized that much with that stupid brain.’

‘You have to memorize it hard. Today, we will be held without Mr. Rossby.’

It doesn’t look like Caleb will pitch more than three innings, but it looks like he’ll get at least two at-bats, so like Mr. Rossby said, I spent a few minutes memorizing information about Caleb and checking his pitches through video.

“Shall we go soon?”

“Let’s win today too.”

“Tomorrow is Woodruff, so we have to win today to be in the winning series.”

Before we knew it, it was time for the game to start.

“After…”

My heart is pounding. I feel my heart shaking. There was a time in Korea where we played without Mr. Rossby for several months, but I wasn’t that nervous at the time, perhaps because it was a familiar place.

However, thinking about playing in the major league without Mr. Rossby made me feel like I was making my major league debut.

However, considering that Mr. Rossby, like the ghost that followed Soyoung, would one day leave my side, it did not seem a bad idea to occasionally practice adjusting to the Major League without Mr. Rossby, like now.

‘What, why are you looking at me like that?’

‘It’s just that I feel a bit sad thinking about Mr. Rossby leaving me one day.’

‘… Joy. Don’t worry, I won’t disappear until you become the best player in the major league.’

‘Then it will disappear soon. I will be promoted to that position in a few years. ‘Poor Mr. Rossby.’

‘This dog’s baby speaks… !’

‘Oh why?! If I become the best, won’t Mr. Rossby be good too?’

‘Shut up, you monkey. ‘Get ready for the game.’

‘Yes.’

Well, it might still take about 10 years. But how do I know I’m the best? Are you seeing it as a human-made record like WAR? Or people’s approval? We’ll have to wait and see, but what’s certain is that the day Mr. Rossby disappears is the day I become the best player of all time, so he won’t be able to wander aimlessly.

‘I will make sure you attain Buddhahood. Mr. Rossby!’

‘… ‘Shut up.’

‘… ‘Yes.’

It seemed like if he said anything more, he would get angry at Rossby, so he held back his words and headed to the dugout. No matter how familiar Mr. Rossby’s swearing was, he didn’t want to pay attention to it ahead of his historic debut.

‘Huh, now let’s not think about random things and just meditate.’

Because it was the first pitcher he had ever met, it was difficult for him to train in his mind, but he still felt at ease when he closed his eyes, so he sat in the dugout and meditated for a few minutes. Just as I was about to lose consciousness, someone tapped my shoulder. When I checked the face, it was my keystone combo, Volpi.

“It’s time for the national anthem. Did you sleep well?”

“I didn’t sleep, I meditated. Mystery of the East. Okay?”

“Hmm… No matter how much I think about it, it feels like I’m sleeping. I think I used to snore too.”

… In fact, on days when I was tired after having too much sex, I sometimes sat in the dugout and slept, so I went outside the dugout and lined up to avoid Volpi, who was looking at me with a suspicious expression.

‘Sweet, but I dozed off a little, or rather, I guess it was because I meditated that all the tension went away.’

My heart is beating normally, unlike when I left the locker room. I think this is why baseball players have a routine, a routine.

“… Land of the free and the home of the brave~.”

While I was controlling myself, the national anthem ended and Rockies starting pitcher Caleb came up to the mound and started throwing practice pitches.

‘It’s similar to the video?’

Since it was a video of a recent pitch, it was fortunate that there was no difference from the video I was constantly watching in the locker room. As I was watching his pitch and swinging the bat at the right time, the umpire gave me a signal to come in.

‘Okay, let’s give it a try.’

“Play ball!”

I regained my resolve and came to bat and smelled my gloves as usual. The smell of the gloves awakened my spirit, and the game began with the umpire’s start call.

Since there were no instructions from Mr. Rossby, each second of waiting for the pitcher’s pitch felt like one minute, but fortunately, the pitching tempo was fast, so the time was not that long.

And the first pitch of the guy who was thrown.

‘… Outside?’

Since it was thrown from a form close to the side, I decided to hold on to the ball from the guy who felt far outside and held back the bat.

“Strike!”

And the result is a strike that hits the borderline.

‘Okay, if it feels like this, it goes outward. Speed: 92.3 miles (148.5 km/h)? ‘Not that fast.’

Although we did allow one strike, it wasn’t a bad exchange because we checked the trajectory.

‘What will the next ball be? . Slider? Curve? Or fastball again?’

Caleb was closer to the side, so when he threw a curveball, it was not a typical curveball with a slightly lateral movement, so a slider would be a good target. Of course, the best option here was to watch the breaking ball one more time.

‘Let’s watch it one more time. Because I have room.’

“Ball.”

And luckily, his curveball hits low and outside, turning into a ball.

‘Hmm… The curve trajectory is definitely not normal as seen in the video.’

Because it was close to the side, it was difficult to feel the unique floating feeling that is felt when a curve is thrown, but the velocity was around the late 120s to early 130s, so it didn’t seem that difficult if you hit it with the timing of the hit behind.

After keeping his curveball in mind, I wait for his next ball. How many seconds passed like that? The guy took a pitching stance as if he had decided what to throw,

‘… This course!’

Feeling like the first pitch was being thrown on a similar course, I immediately swung the bat. However, the ball, which was coming straight, gradually falls downward. Backdoor slider aiming for the outside… ! I slowed down the bat, but by the time I realized it, it was already too late.

Perfect!

‘… Fuck!’

The batted ball quickly heads toward the shortstop. I ran at full speed toward first base, but the result was an out.

‘Under… Still, I saw all the pitches.’

There was plenty of room in the ball count, so I wondered if it would have been better to see more, but I was satisfied that I had figured out all the pitches in my first at-bat and walked toward the dugout.

“Out!”

“Out!”

And my loyal colleagues are getting kicked out one after another, covering up my embarrassment at having to step down after a bad performance. To be honest, I would have been a little embarrassed if the next batter had hit him after I was the only one out, but I feel fortunate to see Judge and Soto walk away with a hit.

‘Yes, Judge and Soto don’t always hit.’

The top of the first inning ended with a three-way strike, and the Rockies’ attack began in the bottom of the first. Our starting pitcher is our second starter, Logan Gilbert. He currently has a record of 8 wins, 2 losses, and an earned run average of 2.22 over the last 10 games. He has forgotten his early struggles and is currently performing better than Cole, so I wasn’t particularly worried about Coors Field.

“Out!”

“Out!”

“Strike out!”

And as if to prove that Gilbert is in good form these days, he ended the first inning with a three-way retirement. However, our attack did not go down that easily either. Stanton, who was the leadoff hitter, hit a single, but Caleb hit the next three batters with consecutive base hits, leaving no runs scored in the top of the second inning, and Gilbert also finished the bottom of the second inning cleanly, maintaining the balance of 0 at the top of the third inning. It came.

The lead batter in the top of the third inning was Vientos, the 8th batter. Last year, I heard that he had 34 home runs and an OPS of over 0.8. Although he barely hit double-digit home runs this season, his performance wasn’t that good, so I gave up my expectations and was about to grab my bat.

Ta – evil.

… Vientos’ long hit resulted in a chance to reach second base with no outs. Now at bat, Ohapee is the number 9 hitter. Ohapee fought tenaciously and led the game to a full count, but eventually struck out, turning 2nd base with no outs into 2nd bases with one out.

‘Well, thanks to a lot of balls being removed, I was able to accurately measure the timing. Okay, now you’re behind.’

So I went to bat, determined to show my skills clearly in this at-bat,

“Intentional Work!”

‘… Fuck.’

… It’s been a while since I was able to get an intentional phrase.

The number of intentional throws was slowly increasing, and with 1 out and 2nd base, it was a situation where an intentional throw was called, but I felt a little discouraged when an intentional throw was declared in a situation where the battle was in full swing.

‘But he’s standing behind me…’

Moreover, the hitter behind me is blocked.

Although the performance I was recording was a performance that called for intentional thrown balls, the number of intentional thrown balls was low compared to those scores, and the reason was, of course, that there was an MVP-level hitter named Judge waiting behind me.

And Judge was the type of player who would not tolerate such arrogant tactics.

‘Just looking at it makes me angry.’

Ta – Aak!

Judge, who looks uncomfortable, swings the bat as if to show off, and Judge’s batted ball flies behind right field.

‘Run!’

‘I’m running!’

I hoped it would be a home run, but the ball was a line drive, and it seemed unlikely that the right fielder would catch it, so I ran straight to second base. Then, after rounding second base and heading to third base, the third base coach gives a signal to run to home.

I glance toward right field and see that they are just about to throw. I knew that the Rockies’ right fielder didn’t have a particularly good arm, so I trusted the coach and ran all the way home.

‘To the right!’

‘Okay!’

“Safe!”

And of course the result is safe. 2 points go up at once.

“Good!”

“Ji! It was good base running!”

“You’re filtering with the jersey in front of you, those bastards…”

After that, Soto’s hit and Stanton’s sacrifice fly made the score 3:0.

‘If this continues, the pitcher will change in the next at-bat? Wow, I was wondering if it would be better now.’

The sport of baseball doesn’t always go as planned, but as much as I prepared hard, I wanted to hit a home run, but I felt a little disappointed.

However, as a team, it was disappointing that he couldn’t start quickly, but personally, fortunately, he didn’t waver after giving up 3 runs and saved the inning, protecting the mound, and in the top of the 5th inning, with him on the mound, I got my third run. The time to bat has arrived.

In the meantime, Gilbert gave up one run and the score was 3:1, so there was no pressure.

‘Okay, let’s stick together properly.’

The number of pitches he has already pitched is around 70, and I have gotten used to it by watching him pitch from the dugout and standby at bat.

‘You’re also a major league pitcher. Let’s not be scared and stick together properly.’

I waited for his first pitch, hoping that he would compete properly this time.

‘… Uh? This!?’

And the first pitch from a guy who felt something close.

A moment of hesitation as to what if it was a breaking ball passed by, but it was a dereliction of duty as a hitter to just watch the ball like this, so I swung the bat right away.

Ta-ah!