Chapter 788 – Episode 775. Best Talent. (3)

“Skins. Now it’s 68, what are you going to do next inning?”

In the top of the fifth inning, before the Yankees’ offense began, the number of pitches for the Skins had reached the limit set by the team, so Pittsburgh’s pitching coach approached the Skins and asked a question.

For an average starting pitcher, 70 pitches was an extremely low number of pitches, but Pittsburgh had no choice but to manage the Skins with the utmost care despite knowing that fact.

Because the Skins had the talent to become a top pitcher, throwing at an average speed of 100 mph. But he had a talent that even Skins didn’t have. No, he had a talent he couldn’t have.

That’s a healthy body.

Are the Skins less healthy than the average pitcher? If you ask me that, it wasn’t. It is safe to say that he was rather sturdy.

But even so, it was bound to be difficult for the human body to throw a ball at an average speed of 100 mph, and unless they had the durability of Nolan Ryan or Randy Johnson, all fastball pitchers ended up lying on the operating table clutching their shoulders or elbows. It was a common thing.

Moreover, in modern baseball, it was a trend to squeeze one’s body and throw speeds that exceeded one’s limits, and since Skins was also a product of such modern baseball, he was destined to lie down on the operating table one day.

Therefore, from Pittsburgh’s perspective, no matter how minor the injury was, they had no choice but to protect the Skins even by imposing a limit of 70 pitches. Because we had to extract as much as possible before the Skins’ free agency arrived.

But the most important thing is the pitcher’s intention. Even though he imposed a limit on the number of pitches for protection, he could not force a pitcher who was pitching well from the mound, so although it was red tape, the pitching coach had no choice but to ask the Skins’ intention.

“… “I’ll throw more.”

“Yeah, he was getting ready in the bullpen too…” . Yeah, what?”

“I’m going to throw more.”

And at the end of the formalities, Skins’ answer was unexpectedly that they would throw more.

“Actually, my body was fine when I came back. “If it had been uncomfortable to begin with, I wouldn’t have come back.”

The pitching coach, who has devoted everything to baseball since he first encountered it as a teenager, seemed to understand to some extent why Skins said this.

Today’s game was a match against Ji Maeng-ho, who has the talent to become the best hitter of all time.

The pitching coach was also a pitcher who had stepped on the mound in the major leagues, so it wasn’t that he couldn’t understand Skins’ feelings. Because it was my dream as a pitcher to strike out a batter like that and bring him to his knees.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“And from now on, you won’t have to worry like this.”

And I heard the Skins say that it would be good to remove the pitch count limit in the future. It seemed like the Skins felt something during today’s game.

‘… Well, it will probably last for about 3 years.’

The Skins’ free agency begins after the 2029 season. Considering the player’s life, he must be thoroughly managed now that he has suffered his first injury, but since the team’s situation was urgent, Pittsburgh’s pitching coach nodded to the Skins’ suggestion.

Honestly, even from the coach’s point of view, I was glad to see Skins’ choice.

There was no possibility that Pittsburgh, a small market, could catch the Skins, who were scheduled to sign a large free agent contract, as a free agent, and they could be sold in a trade within 1–2 years.

As a coach, I wanted to see the team achieve as good a performance as possible this season, with Cortes pitching well, rather than the future of a player who might leave in a few years.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll tell the director.”

“I understand.”

And when the coach gave permission, Skins smiled. Both the specialist and his personal trainer persuaded him to limit the number of pitches due to the risk of injury, but as a pitcher, Skins did not want to leave the mound until the game was decided.

Moreover, up until now, he had been listening obediently because he had somewhat sympathized with the idea that it was for the sake of his own body, but after seeing Ji Meng-hao in person, he thought that it couldn’t go on like this.

His current performance with Ji Maeng-ho is 1 walk and 1 strikeout. He gave up a walk and then allowed a stolen base to score, but he couldn’t even touch the ball.

Even Ji Maeng-ho, who is considered the greatest talent of all time, is ultimately just a hitter who cannot keep the timing right in front of his own ball.

If he had kept pitching without being hit by the 70-pitch limit, those evaluations of him would have disappeared, but seeing him being evaluated as the greatest talent of all time, I felt like it couldn’t go on like this.

‘Today, I will completely trample on you, and I will remove the arrogant adjective attached to it.’

So the Skins went up to the mound, determined to give Ji Maeng-ho the ridiculous praise he received.

[In the top of the 5th inning, the Skins come on the mound.]

[Oh, I thought a new pitcher would come up in the 5th inning because the Skins player has been dropping pitches around 70 pitches in recent games, but the Skins player came up.]

[And at the plate is Ji Maeng-ho, the Yankees’ No. 1 hitter. Today, he has one walk, one strikeout, two stolen bases, and one run scored.]

[Skins’ first pitch. Cheek. Ji Maeng-ho nods his head.]

[99.3 miles (159.8 km/h) was recorded. As expected, Skins’ restraint doesn’t seem to be falling, right?]

The first pitch thrown against Ji Maeng-ho, who was in his third at-bat, was a fastball that hit high and outside. Skins laughed when he saw Ji Meng-ho nodding his head as if he realized something.

Because it was this ball that struck him out in the previous at-bat.

‘I didn’t even think about swinging the bat, but I nodded like I realized.’

That guy’s nod is just bravado. It was a known fact among all major league pitchers that he was weak against fastballs that hit the outside, and he had swung and missed such fastballs in his previous at-bat as well. So, it was clear that such behavior was just bravado to intimidate oneself.

‘Let’s see if I can nod my head again this time.’

Of course, the Skins weren’t always able to get the ball over the top. The high outside zone was difficult for any batter except Ji Meng-ho, and if he had been able to throw the ball perfectly into that zone, the Skins would have had an ERA of 0.

However, even if he couldn’t throw the ball into the zone, he could create the illusion that the ball was in the zone.

If you throw a falling ball and move the batter’s gaze downward, the batter’s gaze will be dispersed, and a batter whose eyes have become accustomed to the falling ball will have no choice but to instinctively swing the bat even if the ball hits higher than the zone.

Even in the previous at-bat, the ball did not enter the zone, but the Skins were confident because they used that method to bring out Ji Maeng-ho’s bat.

[Skins’ second ball. Ji Maeng-ho endures. Two balls.]

[It was a Skins-specific splitter just now, and Ji Maeng-ho tolerated it well.]

‘Hmm… Could it be that they are just waiting for a walk?’

If that was the case, the ball to confuse the guy’s eyes could have been a self-destruction rather than a paving stone. So now is the time to strike.

‘Towards the body.’

‘Body side?’

‘It was all outside, so it might not be possible to deal with it. And around this time, I should also plant one on the body.’

‘Okay.’

In a two-ball situation, Skins chose a fastball toward his body where he was most confident, took a deep breath, and made a pitching motion.

The body fastball is a ball that has been thrown tens of thousands of times against numerous batters. That’s why he threw the ball with confidence, and the moment the ball left his hand, the feeling in his fingertips told him he had thrown the best ball.

‘… ‘It’s done!’

And so Skenes watched the ball leave his hand with an inward exclamation, and it flew exactly as he had intended, towards his side of the border. Now all that’s left is the referee’s strike call.

Ta – Aak!

But, at that moment. Ji Maeng-ho’s bat headed toward his ball in the form that has been highly praised by experts, and the moment the ball and bat met, a refreshing hitting sound echoed throughout the stadium.

‘Uh… ?!’

Even the moment you turn your head and check the batted ball, unable to acknowledge reality, the batted ball is already flying quickly toward the fence. And when he turned his head back to the plate, Ji Maeng-ho aimed the bat like a gun and threw it.

“Fuck!!!”

During the signature ceremony, Skins let out a swear word without realizing it, and Ji Maeng-ho laughed as if Skins’ swear words were sweet and ran slowly to first base.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck!’

[Ji Maeng-ho’s hit! Jump over the fence! Ji Maeng-ho adds one more point!]

[It was a fastball that just hit 102.3 miles (164.6 km/h), but Ji Maeng-ho sent the ball over the fence with a perfect swing as it stuck to his body.]

‘I should have continued to compete on the outside… !’

Skins regretted it, but he couldn’t undo what had happened. However, it was too early for him to give up. His starting opponent is Rodon. Although he pitched four scoreless innings today, he was a pitcher who could collapse at any time, so he had to finish his job as a pitcher.

“Out!”

“Strike! Out!”

“Strike! Out!”

After that, the Skins ruled out Judge, Soto, and Stanton in succession and waited for good news from the batters, but the batters did not bring the news the Skins wanted.

[Rodon showing scoreless pitching until the 6th inning! I am in perfect condition today!]

All we hear is that the opposing starter ruled out the team’s batters.

“Skins, there are already over 100 pitches. From the 7th inning, Wolf will be on the mound.”

“… Yes.”

Just like that, the Skins came off the mound with only 2 runs allowed to one batter, resulting in 2 runs in 6 innings.

[Two outs in the top of the 7th inning, Judge comes to bat. … Judge’s hit! Let’s go! Score 3:0!]

[Looking at Rodon’s condition today, isn’t this score big?]

[… Rodon neatly ends the bottom of the 7th inning. … Scantlebury hits a double. Now, at bat, Torrance and, ah, pinch hitter Verdugo are coming out.]

[Verdugo’s cheeks are red? It looks like I got hit somewhere.]

[… Verdugo’s hit goes over! Alex Verdugo hits his 5th home run of the season! Score 5:0! … Volpi gets on base. … Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball goes over the left wall once again! Ji Maeng-ho records multiple home runs! Score 7:0! … The match is over! Score 7:0!]

In addition to Ji Maeng-ho’s multiple home runs, the team boasted poor offensive power and had no choice but to watch as they lost without scoring a single point.

‘If I hadn’t hit a home run… Ha, if he had just thrown to the outside, he would have struck out again. No, if the batters had given up the points in the first place, they wouldn’t have thrown the ball with the feeling of being pulled. Hmm…, I’d rather type… Okay, is there anything I can do worse than that guy? I am a hitter who hit .400 in college.’

And looking at that, the positive inferiority complex of not being able to recognize that guy as one’s superior awakened the desire to be the other within Skins.