episode_0282

Thud!

“Second base!”

“Okay!”

The hit ball rolled slowly towards me. I deftly scooped it up with my glove and threw it to first base.

“Nice!”

“Yuju! Well done!”

With that, three outs were secured. Taiwan’s first inning attack ended in a three-man out.

“Yuju, how are you feeling?”

“Not too bad, why?”

“This guy, acting all cool but starting to resemble Jin Maeng-ho.”

“Oh, come on. What do you mean resembling?”

“Yuju, we can hear everything.”

“Well, if you just give up one run, I’ll even pitch a complete game in nine innings.”

Although there was a slight emotional moment in the middle, looking at Jang Woo-joo conversing with Lee Yong-gi, his confidence seemed unwavering.

“Well, they’re the same players we saw a few days ago, so sudden improvement is unlikely. The question is, Chen Jianhao?”

As I glanced at the Taiwanese players from the dugout, I noticed the confident stride of Taiwan’s starting pitcher, Chen Jianhao.

“That kid’s expression is top-notch. If someone saw him, they might think he’s the next Ohtani.”

His expression, what can I say? It made me want to mess with him. Did I enjoy breaking down pitchers with such cocky expressions?

“Hey, look at that guy’s expression. I’m a major leaguer, do you think you guys can touch my pitches? Isn’t this the kind of expression?”

“What are you talking about?”

I tried to explain my feelings to Won-ho sitting on the bench, but he didn’t seem to understand at all.

“No, just look at his expression. Isn’t it unlucky?”

“…It does seem unlucky. Where have I seen that expression before?”

“Where?”

“…Oh! When you were at bat, you had that exact expression.”

“Just get lost.”

“I was sitting here first, and he came over.”

Ignoring Won-ho’s nonsense, I focused on the showdown between the leadoff batter Kim Dong-jin and Chen Jianhao. True to his confident demeanor, Chen Jianhao confidently placed his first pitch in the strike zone.

“Strike!”

“…Good pitch?”

The sound of the ball hitting the mitt was distinctly different from what I had been hearing lately. Even if he’s a rookie, a major leaguer is still a major leaguer, right?

Thud!

Kim Dong-jin hit Chen Jianhao’s second pitch, but the ball couldn’t escape the infield and was caught by the second baseman.

“That’s a shame.”

“Too bad.”

After the seniors’ comforting words, I approached Kim Dong-jin.

“Hey, Dong-jin.”

“Yeah?”

“How did the pitch feel?”

“It was good? The fastball was around 147? Felt solid?”

“Oh, like that?”

“Yeah. And the deception is good. Lefties will definitely struggle.”

Good deception, fastball movement better than speed? Add to that good command, and for off-speed pitches, he throws forkballs and sliders. He occasionally uses changeups for right-handed batters…

“…It should be fun after a long time.”

Being a major leaguer certainly seemed to help in finding my groove before returning to Korea. So far, facing weak pitchers has been a bit frustrating. The previous Taiwanese starting pitcher was underwhelming compared to expectations.

Thud!

Lost in various thoughts, the second batter Kim Hwan-young grounded out, and Ju Seung-chul successfully sent the ball to the outfield for the first time, but it was caught by the outfielder, ending our first inning attack.

“Hyung, how was it?”

While I heard from Kim Dong-jin, I also needed to hear the opinion of Ju Seung-chul, a fellow right-handed batter, so I took the opportunity before the inning change to ask him a question.

“Did it feel like facing a major leaguer? But it wasn’t that difficult. If I hadn’t fallen for the changeup, I would have passed it. How… Hey, how do you differentiate changeups like that?”

“It’s just slower. You see it and hit it.”

“Seung-chul, don’t ask that guy. He won’t tell you anything.”

“Yong-gi, you’re mean.”

“Seung-chul, did you see that? He’s completely ignoring his senior now.”

“Hyung, stop teasing the youngest. I’m losing my mind over this game.”

“So, what do you think? Anything different from the video?”

“It’s similar, isn’t it? The atmosphere is intense too.”

“Phew, seems tough. Well then, I’ll trust you, Maengho.”

“Yeah. Leave it to me.”

In the middle of the game, after a brief exchange between Uta and Juyeongki, they entered the field to play defense in the second inning.

“Strike! Out!”

“Left!”

“Bases loaded!”

“Strike! Out!”

Although starting pitcher Jang Wooju allowed one player to reach base, they managed to keep the score at zero as the bottom of the second inning arrived.

“Maengho! I’m counting on you!”

“Show us that Korean Stanton flavor!”

“Hey, since you’re at second base, go for an Altuve. Let’s go Altuve!”

“Am I not a dwarf for Altuve?”

“No need to lift this guy.”

Welcomed by their teammates’ high expectations, Maengho stepped up to bat for the first time.

“Strike!”

Chen Jianhao seemed confident in his pitch right from the first delivery, hitting the outside-low corner accurately.

“Hmm, that didn’t seem like a strike, though?”

While the call was somewhat ambiguous, even if it was declared a strike, the pitch wasn’t unreasonable, so Maengho noted the umpire’s strike zone and prepared for the next pitch.

“Probably not a good hit anyway. But the pitch selection is good. What’s next, Mr. Rosby?”

“A forkball.”

“A forkball? I’ll have to watch one first.”

A forkball typically aims to induce a batter to swing and miss. Since the count favored the pitcher in this situation, there was no need to throw a strike, making it challenging for Maengho to anticipate the pitch location.

“Strike!”

…or so he thought, but Chen Jianhao placed the forkball within the strike zone. Realizing the destination, Maengho had no choice but to watch the ball carefully to avoid a potential strikeout.

“Seems like a major leaguer in action. Interesting.”

“A slider.”

“Okay.”

With a 2-0 count, Maengho waited for a similar pitch, easily brushing off the slider towards the outside border.

“The slider was around 130s? Not an impossible pitch to handle.”

Now, the unseen pitch left was a changeup. However, based on analysis, it was unlikely that the changeup would be thrown. So, Maengho patiently waited, eventually facing a full count after seven pitches.

“Not an easy task. Looks like he won’t throw the changeup till the end.”

“A forkball.”

“Forkball? Will he throw it inside the strike zone like before? Or go for a ball like the fifth pitch? But he probably won’t want to walk me, so he might aim inside the zone…? Alright.”

Unable to find a clear answer, Maengho decided to follow Rosby’s advice to watch and hit. As Chen Jianhao delivered the forkball…

Thunk!

He lifted the borderline pitch between a strike and a ball. The ball soared towards left field. With uncertainty in the feel of the hit, he dropped the bat and quickly started running towards first base. Upon stepping on first base, applause and Chinese voices filled the air.

“Oh, damn.”

The result was a fly out to left field. Looking at the left fielder’s position, Maengho realized the catch was made just a few meters away from the wall.

“Well, that didn’t go over. How was it, tough?”

“Not that tough, but the umpire seems lenient on the outside. It felt a bit twisted after taking the first strike and then swinging outside.”

“Really? Check the outside.”

“Oh, and be careful with the forkball inside the zone.”

“Got it.”

After sharing some insights with the next batter, Lee Yong-gi, Maengho walked back to the dugout.

“Phew, giving away the first two strikes too easily. That’s why I got pulled in.”

“Mangho, took off a lot of balls.”

“Ha, should’ve let it go, sorry.”

“It’s okay, buddy. It’s only the second inning.”

As the hitting coach said, it was still the second inning. There were at least two more opponents to face.

“Let’s see in a bit, buddy.”

I waited in anticipation, watching his pitch.

—

[Now in the bottom of the 4th inning, it’s South Korea’s turn to attack. The tense 0-0 battle continues in the 2023 Asian Games baseball final! Leading off in the 4th inning is Kim Hwanyeong from Silla Triggers.]

“Oh, Jang Woo-joo and Chen Jianhao. Both players’ pitching performances are impressive. But now that one round of batting has passed, it’s our turn to step up on the offense, right?”

“Actually, it’s quite challenging to strategize against a pitcher you’re facing for the first time, isn’t it?”

“Yes, even if you watch videos, being at the plate facing the pitch directly is a different story. So when batters face pitchers for the first time, they tend to struggle. Moreover, Chen Jianhao is a player who rotates in the starting rotation even in the Major Leagues, so it’s definitely tough. However, considering he walked a batter in the last inning and one round has passed, we can expect something different from this inning onwards.”

“I hope we can get on base…”

“We have to trust the players. Kim Hwanyeong, Ju Seung-cheol, Ji Maeng-ho. This lineup could be starters for any team in the KBA League. This inning might be different.”

The final between South Korea and Taiwan was intensifying as expected. Each team’s starting pitchers had only allowed one runner each via walks. No player had reached base with a hit yet.

Taiwan’s batters struggled to hit Jang Woo-joo’s 100-mile-per-hour fastball, while South Korea’s batters faced the experienced Chen Jianhao’s pitches. However, Chen Jianhao had thrown more pitches.

“Anyway, if we can get Chen Jianhao out, Taiwan doesn’t have much left. Let’s increase the pitch count and bring him down. Got it?”

“Got it.”

South Korea’s bench decided to focus on maximizing Chen Jianhao’s pitch count to steer the game in that direction.

“Now up to bat is the 2nd batter, Kim Hwanyeong.”

And Kim Hwanyeong, known for his excellent execution skills, faithfully followed the bench’s strategy.

“Out!”

After facing six pitches, Kim Hwanyeong, and then Ju Seung-cheol, adjusted their swings slightly to increase the pitch count against Chen Jianhao.

“Foul!”

“Foul!”

“Out!”

After drawing two more fouls in a two-strike, two-ball situation, Ju Seung-cheol hit a ground ball to the shortstop on the seventh pitch and retreated from the plate.

“Our players are doing well! It would have been better if they got on base, but reducing Chen Jianhao’s pitch count is also significant. Chen Jianhao has already thrown 63 pitches. Considering pitchers typically throw around 100 pitches, at this pace, it seems possible to take Chen Jianhao out by the 6th inning, right?”

Then, after hitting a fly ball to the outfield in a two-out situation, Ji Maeng-ho, who was warming up, stepped up to the plate.