The Prodigy Who Rejected the Major League Chapter 25

Chapter 25

 

[At the plate is the cleanup hitter, Kim Daehan.]

[First pitch! Outside strike!]

[It is clocked at 153!]

 

Kim Daehan, after watching the first pitch, nodded.

It was a fastball delivered from a three-quarter arm slot, with a slight bit of tailing movement.

Ttak!

“Foul!”

The second pitch was fast again.

It came inside, and Kim Daehan turned on it, but it went foul.

[155 km/h]

“Oh? It got even faster?”

Kim Daehan looked toward the national team catcher and spoke. Yeo Juhyeok answered him.

“It is not faster yet. It will go higher.”

“Higher than this?”

“I have caught one at 160.”

“That is insane. Didn’t he get selected for the national team as a catcher?”

Kim Daehan had done his homework.

“Yes. That is correct. But he is better as a pitcher, so I am actually happy about it. Haha.”

“One less competitor?”

“Yes.”

This national team had selected three catchers.

Song Seongjun had been considered the main catcher. Yeo Juhyeok thought of himself as the backup.

But the situation had changed.

Song Seongjun had moved completely to the outfield.

Thanks to that, Yeo Juhyeok became the starting catcher for the national team.

He would receive far more opportunities. He had often seen senior players perform well for the national team and then climb higher in the rookie draft order. He, too, had begun to hope.

“You must be pleased.”

“Yes. Hehe.”

“Then what is the next pitch? Give me a hint.”

“I do not know.”

“What?”

“I am not the one giving the signs.”

“Huh?”

Even in front of a much older senior, he was not naive enough to reveal anything. And technically, it was true that Song Seongjun was the one calling the signs.

Yeo Juhyeok checked the sign from Song Seongjun, slightly adjusted his crouch, and waited for the pitch.

Song Seongjun delivered.

Kim Daehan swung.

And in that instant…

The ball seemed to sink out of the air, dropping sharply with a huge vertical break.

“Swing! Strikeout!”

Having gone down on three pitches, Kim Daehan grimaced.

“Ha. It is really a kick changeup.”

It was even nastier than the kick changeup thrown by the foreign pitcher who had tormented him before.

 

***

 

Runners were still on third and second.

Only the out count had changed… from one out to two.

“Daehan, you are saying that last one was a kick changeup?”

Song Seungwoo asked from the on-deck circle.

“Yes. It was a kick changeup.”

“What is he?”

“I think you have to attack before two strikes. The fastball is at least hittable.”

“155 is hittable?”

“Stop whining. You have to hit that much.”

Foreign pitchers coming to the KBO these days regularly throw in the mid-150s.

And even domestically, many bullpen pitchers can touch 150 for short outings.

Still…

“That is setting the bar way too high.”

“If you cannot hit it, you strike out.”

“You are talking too easily now that your at-bat is over.”

“The umpire is calling you. Get in the box.”

 

***

 

“Strike!”

The home plate umpire’s hand went up.

Song Seungwoo, who had watched the first pitch, looked up at the scoreboard.

[158 km/h]

‘Crazy bastard. You want me to hit that?’

He stepped out and pointed alternately at the scoreboard and at Kim Daehan…He was basically saying, ‘If you have eyes, look at it.’

He was not even an active player. He had retired three years ago. Of course, the ‘Flame Baseball’ program was brutal enough to make it unclear whether it was variety entertainment or actual baseball. They really did nothing but play seriously.

Still…

“Swing! Strike!”

Two pitches, two strikes.

Baseball sure looked easy from the mound.

And then the third pitch.

Would a kick changeup come here as it had against Daehan? He would throw at least one, right?

“Swing! Strikeout!”

Even though he had suspected a changeup more than a fastball, Song Seungwoo could not hold back his swing.

What kind of changeup drops like a splitter?

 

[The Flame Baseball Team fails to capitalize on the runners at third and second!]

[Song Seongjun’s stuff is outstanding.]

[With a fastball that reaches 158, the batter has no choice but to feel pressure in the box. And then he mixes in that kick changeup… There is no answer!

 

***

 

“That is it! Okay! That is what I am talking about!”

Manager Jeong Joochan applauded right there on the spot.

A clean escape in a crisis.

Exactly what he had wanted to see.

 

[Song Seongjun comes in as a pitcher and shuts down the crisis perfectly!]

[It has been a while since we have seen a true two-way player like this!]

 

And in the top of the ninth.

Manager Jeong Joochan told the hitters, starting from the ninth batter, to swing aggressively.

“Even if you strike out, that is fine. Swing hard. Take your full swing. Understood?”

Song Seongjun’s line that day was two hits in three at-bats… both of them home runs.

Even if the lineup turned back around to him, he figured the opposing team would never pitch to him.

If he reached base, he would not even get a rest before having to take the mound again in the bottom of the ninth.

In that case, it was better for the 9-1-2 hitters to take heroic swings and try to finish it.

If one happened to connect… thank you.

As it turned out, the top of the ninth went exactly as the manager anticipated: three batters up, three batters out.

 

***

 

Bottom of the ninth.

The Flame Baseball Team’s final attack.

Song Seongjun decided he would show no mercy, even against retired veterans.

“Ball.”

But the pitch he threw to the sixth batter, Joo Jiyul, missed the zone.

Perhaps it was because it was his first two-seam fastball of the day.

The control was not particularly sharp.

From the on-deck circle, Ha Yoonho asked Gu Taeha nearby:

“What was that just now? Two-seam?”

“Two-seam. Looks like a two-seam.”

They had heard that Song Seongjun threw four-seamers, two-seamers, and a changeup.

At that velocity with that movement, it had to be a two-seam.

“A two-seam at 154? Ha. Seriously. This is difficult.”

“It will be tough to win today.”

Joo Jiyul stepped out of the batter’s box, then back in, and said to the catcher:

“Let us take it easy, okay?”

Then he swung at the second pitch.

“Swing! Strike!”

[157 km/h]

“I said take it easy, and it is 157.”

“My apologies.”

“Fine. Let us try to at least make it competitive.”

Ttak!

“Foul!”

[155 km/h]

Even though he had fouled that one off, his bat was clearly a bit behind the fastball.

“Sigh. I guess I really am getting old.”

Joo Jiyul was 45 years old.

 

[Song Seongjun’s presence on the mound is no joke.]

[The stadium is surprisingly quiet right now.]

[There is something about him that overwhelms the atmosphere.]

 

Song Seongjun began his windup.

Then came the falling pitch.

A kick changeup… often described as a hybrid between a changeup and a splitter.

Joo Jiyul swung through it.

“Swing! Strikeout!”

Shaking his head, he walked back to the dugout.

“Was that a kick changeup?”

“Yes. Once you get to two strikes, you cannot hit it.”

He answered Ha Yoonho.

If he were still in his prime and had faced him repeatedly, perhaps he could have found a way.

There are pitches that are difficult to hit.

But no pitch is impossible to hit.

However…

Right now, he could not hit that one.

“Ha. Thanks, motherfu-.”

“If you are thankful, buy me a meal.”

“If I get a hit, I will.”

“Guess I am not getting fed.”

After that exchange, Ha Yoonho stepped in.

He fixed one thing in his mind:

Fastball only.

He swung from the first pitch.

Ttak.

The ball went high.

Where?

In the infield.

“Ah! ahh!”

The second baseman caught it.

Two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Gu Taeha, who might be the final batter, thought the same way. He had no confidence in touching the kick changeup after two strikes, so he hunted fastball from the first pitch.

Ttak.

High again.

It did not leave the infield. The first baseman drifted into foul territory and made the catch.

And with that, the U-18 national team’s final evaluation game came to an end.

 

***

 

After the game, everyone gathered together.

With a group photo, the schedule concluded.

When the game ends, seniors and juniors connected through baseball remain just that, seniors and juniors.

“Your stuff was good.”

“I heard you have only been pitching for a few months. Is that true?”

“In games, yes. But I have been practicing for a long time.”

“Really? Just from practice? That is scary.”

“You are going to be a pitcher in the pros, right?”

In the gathering where seniors offered words of encouragement…

Song Seongjun was easily the most popular.

He hit well. He pitched well. He fielded well. He had a strong arm.

“You will not just pitch? You should be a two-way player.”

“No. I enjoy hitting more.”

“Huh? Why? With that kind of velocity, and you will not pitch?”

“Yes. Hitting is more fun.”

“Wooyoung, he hit two home runs off you today. Honestly, hitting is more fun, right?”

“That is correct.”

“What do you mean by correct? If you do not pitch with that arm, it is a national loss, you know?”

“What national loss? Do not exaggerate. Heh.”

Kim Daehan, who had been quiet, slid in with a remark.

“Realistically, it makes sense for him to hit. Look at pro teams right now. Right-handed power-hitting outfielders are rare. Watching his defense, he could easily handle center field. That is practically a bloodless entry.”

Thus, the veterans of Flame Baseball and the youth of the national team exchanged banter disguised as well-wishes before promising to meet again.

“Call us when you come up to Seoul.”

Promising prospects were always welcome.

“Do well at the tournament.”

“Bring back the championship.”

“You call yourselves seniors? Putting pressure on kids who have not even boarded the plane yet.”

“Coach, have you seen their faces? Do those look like faces under pressure? They look like they have already thrown it to the dogs.”

“That sounds strange when you put it that way.”

“Hey! That is not what I meant.”

At Kim Daehan’s playful tone, everyone burst out laughing.

 

***

 

“Song Seongjun really put on a proper showcase today.”

“Is that what it became?”

At Producer Jeong’s words, CEO Lee of Lipco Agency smiled faintly.

Song Seongjun had not been a player receiving steady attention.

He had risen abruptly in just one month.

So he was the kind of player known only by those in the know; more people did not know him than did.

But after today, perhaps more people would know than not.

“When did you say today’s game will air?”

“September 22.”

“That is a shame. It would have been better before the draft.”

“It is still being aired quickly.”

Producer Jeong smiled.

He was right.

“The 22nd… that is the week after the draft ends, correct?”

“That is correct.”

They were likely planning to push previously filmed games back a bit to make room for it.

Honestly, September 22 was not bad.

It was the Monday immediately following the KBO rookie draft.

Come to think of it…

Producer Jeong seemed quietly excited about today’s game as well.

“It should create a rather interesting picture.”

“I think so too.”

 

***

 

◆ U-18 National Baseball Team Departs for the United States for the World Youth Championship (WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup).

 

The U-18 national team, led by Manager Jeong Joochan (Gunsan Sangin High School), has departed for Florida, United States, where they will participate in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup starting on the 5th.

A total of 12 nations are participating. Korea has been placed in Group A alongside Puerto Rico, the United States, Czechia, Australia, and Mexico.

The national team will play its first game on the 5th at Ed Smith Stadium against Puerto Rico.