Spring Camp (3)

It was the day of the practice game against the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Changwon Dinos. Today's starting pitcher was Lee Ji-seung.

His efforts so far were starting to show results. His control and breaking balls were still weak, but with solid velocity and spin rate, there was reason for optimism. And aside from spin rate, his high mental stat showed he was suited for starter or closer roles.

To use Lee Ji-seung as a starter, we'd need rock-solid defense behind him, but this wasn't an official game—it was just practice. Since we had to gauge the players' potential, I'd shuffled the starting lineup.

1B: Lee Geun-taek

2B: Kim Su-ji

3B: Yoon Min-seok

SS: Kim Sung-ha

C: Park Won-dong

LF: Kang Hyun-jun

CF: Lim Byeong-yoon

RF: Kim Kang-jun

DH: Park Byeong-hyeon

I was curious how this new defensive alignment would hold up, and especially how much Lee Ji-seung could show without much support behind him.

The opponent's starter was Hacker, the ace foreign pitcher for the Changwon Dinos. This could turn into a grueling game. But that's exactly why I hoped we'd learn something from it.

The top of the first started with the Dinos batting. Lee Ji-seung, stepping onto the mound for the first time as a starter, took a deep breath. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I gave his back a pat before he headed up.

"You got this. Even if you make mistakes today, use them as fertilizer to grow. You're still young."

"Got it. Thank you."

Lee Ji-seung nodded at my encouragement, his eyes finally sharpening.

Right now, he only had two pitches: a four-seam fastball and a slider. We hadn't had time to add more, so we'd focused on the basics—a fastball and a breaking ball. As he learned more pitches, he'd surely evolve into a powerhouse.

Lee Ji-seung took the mound, and up came Park Min-hu for the Dinos. The age gap between them was just three years. Park Min-hu had been the Dinos' first-round pick in 2012, while Lee Ji-seung was a ninth-rounder in 2014. But unlike Ji-seung, Park had posted strong records in both 2013 and 2014—a rising third-year prospect. He smirked at Lee Ji-seung with a relaxed expression.

Lee Ji-seung went into his windup and fired. Whoosh!Thwack! The ball rocketed into the mitt.

"Ball!"

It missed a bit, sailing higher than the strike zone. Velocity: 135 km/h. The four-seam didn't have much zip, and his control wasn't dialed in yet. But Park Min-hu, at the plate, looked surprised by the pitch. He glanced at the speed gun and tilted his head—that 135 km/h had more bite than expected.

Lee Ji-seung's second pitch came in hot. This time, Park's bat reacted. Crack! A foul tip down the right-field line. Park stared at his bat in confusion, then grinned back at Ji-seung.

Whoosh! The third pitch. Another four-seam, diving deeper into the zone than the first two. Thwack! Perfect timing— the ball rocketed off the bat, a liner heading out. Lim Byeong-yoon raced it down at the warning track and snagged it.

"Whoa!"

Park, who'd sprinted to second, let out an exclamation as it was caught. I'd thought it might be gone off the bat, but Byeong-yoon's great defense saved it.

Next up: Kim Ho-jong. Thwack! A grounder to short—Kim Sung-ha fielded it cleanly and tossed to Lee Geun-taek at first. Two quick outs already.

Third batter: Na Beom-seong, a clutch hitter with precise contact and power. I hoped Ji-seung's stuff would play against him too.

Na watched two pitches—one ball, one strike inside. On the third, his bat whipped out. The ball took off toward left field—not a liner, but not a high fly either. An in-between hit. Kang Hyun-jun stepped back at first, then charged forward as it dropped faster than expected. But his first step ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was off—he couldn't get it. He scooped the ball in front of him and fired to second. His shoulder had improved lately; the throw sailed true, and Na held at first.

A quicker read might've gotten it, but expecting that from Hyun-jun was too much for now. Still, keeping him to a single with that arm was praiseworthy.

Next: Thames. He'd been timing Ji-seung's pitches from the on-deck circle. The first pitch dove for the zone—his bat fired. BOOM! It sounded like a cannon. Ji-seung spun to watch it soar over the center-field wall for a homer. Thames pumped his thick arms as he circled the bases.

Ji-seung's heavy spin had retired the others, but power hitters like Thames feasted on it.

Thwack! Cleanup hitter Lee Jun-ho followed with another blast—back-to-back homers over the wall.

But Ji-seung stayed composed. Down three in the first, he still induced a groundout from sixth batter Son Si-hyeon to end the inning.

As we switched sides, I patted his back in the dugout. "Good job. Keep doing what you're doing."

"Got it. Thank you."

The rookie had given up three, but he didn't look shaken. I watched him warmly.

Our turn at bat. Against the ace Hacker, our hitters couldn't touch his pinpoint control and nasty breaking balls—three up, three down.

But Ji-seung came back and retired their 7-8-9 cleanly. It settled into a pitchers' duel from there. No hits through two innings, now heading to the third.

Park Min-hu led off again. Thwack! He'd adjusted—swinging at the first pitch for a single. Kim Ho-jong grounded out, but Na Beom-seong singled again.

Ji-seung's pitches were batting-practice easy now. They didn't go far when squared up, but guys like Na could poke them for hits.

Ji-seung wiped sweat from his brow as Thames stepped in, runners at first and second. He stared them down and unleashed. Whoosh! Swoosh! Thames whiffed big, dropping to one knee. His first slider of the game.

Thames was fooled completely by the new pitch. After that, he hunted carefully. Just one new pitch, and his swings lost their fury. The fastball's bite forced hard hacks, but the slider's afterimage made it tough.

Thwack! Thames lifted one to right. Easy fly—Park tagged up, but Kim Kang-jun dropped it. Park and Na bolted; luckily, Park had tagged, so no run scored, but we blew an out, loading the bases with one down.

Next: Dinos captain Lee Jun-ho, fresh off his homer.

Ji-seung faced his first bases-loaded jam.

"Manager, you wanna pull Ji-seung?"

Pitching coach Son Hyeok-su approached. He knew better than anyone how hittable Ji-seung was—he was the one coaching him up.

"He's good for now. He'll learn from contact."

"Yeah... could be. Got it."

Son nodded, understanding my intent. But deep down, I had a feeling Ji-seung would navigate this himself.