Chapter 94 – Episode 93. We Also Have to Beat Japan at Rock-Paper-Scissors. (4)

‘It was right!’

That was enough… I felt that My hands get eaten up. I ran to first base, but the batter’s instinct tells me. This batted ball won’t go over. And as I expected, Japan’s left fielder easily caught the ball in front of the warning track.

‘164km/h….’

The speed recorded on the electronic board was close to Ohtani’s highest speed seen in the analysis video yesterday.

“Ah-oh! Seed! Foot!”

Empty! Empty, empty.

Arriving at first base, he threw down his helmet, but this anger did not dissipate.

Did I get pushed? Even though it’s 164…. I knew what kind of pitch it was and where to throw it. Nevertheless pushed

‘Tsk tsk. It’s not at the major level yet. It was far. Monkey.’

Rossby is right. Although Ohtani is one of the best pitchers in the major leagues, he was not the greatest pitcher of all time. Even so, it was pushed. It means I’m lacking. I was annoyed at what happened to Ohtani, but I was even more angry at myself for being the only one. Even with Rossby’s help, I couldn’t get this ball over the fence myself… !

‘Tsk, don’t beat yourself up too much. It didn’t hit right.’

‘… Yes?’

‘If I had hit the sweet spot properly, I would have passed. But his ball was faster than you thought, and he hit the bottom.’

‘… Is that so?’

‘Okay. Even if you throw a ball 150 miles, if it hits the sweet spot properly, it is baseball. You got it wrong.’

‘… Where is 150 miles?’

150 miles would be about 240 km/h. The bluff…. Still, hearing Rossby’s encouragement cheered me up a little. Yeah, if I got it right, it would have passed. I was the problem when I went in thinking about the mid-to-late 150 ball.

‘You thought you were in the mid to late 150’s? Rather surprising Still hitting the ball How did you do it?’

‘It just seems like the ball leaves faster when it leaves your hand.’

‘I see that… ? Crazy….’

But what to do with what you see? After I finished talking to Rossby and picked up the helmet I had thrown away, I went into the dugout and the seniors of the national team greeted me.

“It was a waste.”

“No, don’t be discouraged.”

Tuck, Tuck. And the hand that pats me.

“Hey! Don’t worry. Because my brother will block everything.”

“Seniors… !”

“Don’t worry about the other kids, swing with confidence! Understand? As I said before, my brother will block everything.”

*

[Ah! I can’t. Ah! Pass? Pass? Ah…. In the bottom of the third inning, Ohtani hits a solo home run. Now the score is 1:0. Under…. This is where Sung Hyun’s fatal mistake came out….]

[No matter how much the changeup didn’t fall, to roll up the ball at once. As expected, Ohtani player. That’s a good swing…. He is also a man of superpowers who hit 40 homers for two consecutive years in the major leagues.]

[But it’s still only 1 point. Seong-hyun also needs to not be conscious of the score.]

[Since Seonghyeon is a veteran, he is used to situations like this.]

[The moment I speak, Seong-hyun makes a ground ball to second base with his first pitch! I am also Seonghyun!]

[He showed really good pitching in a situation where the atmosphere could be overturned! This is Seonghyun!]

[Seonghyun’s pitch count is now 44, and at this pace, I think he can go up to 5th inning. Now, let’s move on to Korea’s attack at the beginning of the 4th inning.]

“Congratulations on the home run.”

“What is this? Now, don’t worry and wield it. I will catch all the remaining batters.”

Ohtani gave an appropriate answer to the words of his teammates and thought about the number of his pitches.

‘Let’s see, I threw 19 until the 3rd inning, so I’m sure it’s possible to close out at this pace?’

While thinking about that, Ohtani shook his head.

‘As expected, since one wheel has turned, are you going to come out with a different strategy?’

Since one wheel has turned, it will also come out with a different strategy, right? In Ohtani’s eyes, there was no Korean player who could hit his ball.

‘At least, is it the best?’

Teammate Choi Joo-tae’s swing was sharp even to himself. But he was just sharp, not a hitter who could produce long hits. Besides that, he had a Korean designated hitter or left fielder that he occasionally faced in the majors, but he didn’t care.

And….

‘Ji? He seems to have a fast swing.’

Typing for the first time. South Korean second baseman Ji Maeng-ho. There was no video even during the power analysis, so he was a hitter who analyzed only the home run video from the game against Korea and Australia yesterday. The first thing I felt after watching the video was that the bat speed was quite fast.

And the first at-bat. Ji Maeng-ho was a fun opponent for Ohtani, who was bored. He has the courage to not respond to a ball that is carefully poked into his body, even though he is driven for two strikes. And power to the back of left field, even when it looks like a miss.

He didn’t pay much attention to anything other than major leaguers, but the thought of meeting an interesting player made Ohtani laugh out loud. Because he was always welcome to compete with good players.

‘Then shall we go quickly?’

I want to face that hitter again.

154, 157, 146, 156, 141.

“Jitterbug! Strike out!”

He struck out Choi Joo-tae with five balls.

156, 159.

Deep!

“Second!”

He caught Joo Seung-cheol with two balls on the second base fly.

141, 141, 160.

“Strike! Out!”

And he struck out three strikes.

‘Now, if I face only five batters, will I be that batter?’

The ninth hitter in Korea, who burned fighting spirit from the start of his eyes. Did he say he was a rookie? His eyes were full of thoughts that he would hit the ball like a rookie. He has that look and fighting spirit that makes him seem to swing the bat no matter what ball he throws. While I could feel that other Korean players’ subconscious mind was ‘I can’t hit it anyway’, that player was different.

29 balls thrown so far. The number of pitches was enough to lead the game to Korea’s ninth batter.

*

“Thank you for your effort.”

“Sorry. He should have thrown a little more.”

Seong-hyeon took up to one out in the fifth inning and came down from the mound. 4.1 innings, 1 run. All the players in the dugout applauded Seong-hyeon, who endured for a long time, allowing only one run against Japan’s hard hitting line.

And Jung Woo-sung on the mound. A starting pitcher in Pittsburgh. His record in the major leagues last year was 10 wins and 8 losses. 3.97. And 158 strikeouts. A strikeout machine with a career SO/9 (strikeouts per 9 innings) of over 9.00 in the major leagues.

Korea’s national team coach Lee Geum-hyeon raised Korea’s second ace, Jung Woo-sung, just like the strategy he planned yesterday.

‘Woosung, I believe in you.’

Lee Geum-hyeon simply believed in the player. Like Sung Hyun’s pitching, I hope that Jung Woo-sung will also show that kind of pitching. Moreover, Jung Woo-sung is a pitcher who started his career in the bullpen. He was the most reliable player.

“Swing strike! Out!”

“Swing strike! Out!”

And Jung Woo-sung, too, showed the reason he is a major leaguer on the mound. All the Korean fans who came to Japan to watch the game gave a standing ovation to the appearance of Jung Woo-sung entering after striking out two batters with nine balls.

“Director, but can we continue like this? Now that Ohtani has 54 pitches, increasing the number of pitches….”

“No. Go on.”

Anyway, after the 6th inning, a new pitcher will appear. Then you have to instill confidence in the next hitter. If you change your strategy here, the players become anxious.

With that in mind, Lee Geum-hyeon decided to push ahead with the strategy he had talked about before the game.

‘And although the batters are said to be the bottom line, they are the ones who hit the center of each team. I have to believe it.’

-Kim Soo-ho! Kim Suho!

I can hear the crowd chanting Kim Soo-ho.

– Blow a hit! AT Kim! Number! Like! Hit and blow! A! T! Seaweed! Number! Like! Blow it up, blow it up, blow it up, blow it up! AT Kim Soo-ho!

And Kim Soo-ho’s cheering song resounds.

‘Under…. It’s difficult.’

However, Kim Soo-ho, who was listening to the cheering song, had complicated thoughts.

‘I don’t think I can hit it. After all, I just have to do it my way.’

Kim Soo-ho erased his complex thoughts and he decided to deal with Ohtani the way he was good at it. At first glance, the strategy to enter after seeing the fastball made sense, but it was not the way that suited Kim Soo-ho.

When Kim Soo-ho, who hit 20 home runs for 5 consecutive years at NV Rex, first moved to AT Thunders, fans were suspicious of Kim Su-ho.

-Why did you bring in a guy who can’t even hit 30 homers in a hitter-friendly ballpark? In Jamsil, there is a hitter suitable for Jamsil.

However, Kim Soo-ho captured the hearts of AT fans in the first season of his transfer. Kim Soo-ho’s real strength wasn’t his ability to hit the ball far. Of course, as he moved to Jamsil, his long hitting power decreased, but Kim Soo-ho’s eyes were alive.

The difference between Kim Su-ho’s career batting average and on-base percentage is 0.101. And he showed a batting gap (the difference between on-base percentage and batting average) of 0.131 in his career-high season.

Kim Soo-ho decided to play his own way against Ohtani. It was different from the director’s strategy, but Kim Soo-ho firmly believed that he would understand this much.

“Strike!”

“Cheek.”

“Foul.”

“Foul.”

“Cheek.”

“Cheek.”

Kim Su-ho, who held the bat short even when he moved to Jamsil and made a foul, drew a full count from Ohtani.

And.

“Base on Balls!”

He first got first base from Ohtani, who had a perfect streak until the 5th inning.

‘I was lucky.’

Kim Su-ho got the walk because Ohtani’s last ball went out of hand, but in baseball, luck is skill.

“Great runner, Yang Ji-hyeok!”

“Good, Suho!”

“Senior Suho! Nice on base.”

And at first base, the best runner in Korea, Yang Ji-hyeok. The great sword who stole 40 bases last season. The ranking of stolen bases was 3rd base, but a player who is considered the best in Korea for base running and running sense stood at 1st base.

And the choice of bench….

-Bunt!

A bunt strategy came out to take away one point. The next hitter is catcher Lee Yong-gi.

Lee Yong-gi, who had been stepping up the course at Hancheol’s farm, was familiar with the bunt. Although he has not bunts now, Lee Yong-gi was familiar with bunts to the extent that he had 12 sacrifice bunts in one season.

Widely!

“First!”

“Out!”

Now the runners are 1 out and 2 base. With Ohtani’s 4 pitches remaining, Ji Maeng-ho stood at bat.