The Catcher's Unexpected Homer
Tae-woong watched Lindbrall's pitching, unsure if he was in his absolute best form today, but certain he was at least in good enough condition to throw the pitches he wanted.
"Won't be an easy game today either."
Now it was Tae-woong's turn to face the Bears' lineup. Pushing aside the banter with Ace meant to ease his tension, he started mapping out how to carve up the batters in his mind.
I've only thrown a few pitches so far—drag this out as long as possible.
His role was starting pitcher. He couldn't score runs like a hitter to win games for the team. But if he kept pitching this well for as long as possible, he could at least prevent a loss.
Just like this. Stick to it. Don't fear the hitters—trust my stuff.
Tae-woong carried through on his resolve by retiring the leadoff hitter easily.
Whoosh!
"Ball count 1-2! The Bears' No. 2 hitter Heo Kyung-man whiffs on that outside breaker. Seo Tae-woong strikes out the leadoff man in the top of the fourth."
"That was a 111 km/h changeup. Seems like Tae-woong's throwing more changeups than his signature curve today."
"...Records office just sent this over—49 pitches total against Heo Kyung-man so far: 16 four-seam fastballs, 19 changeups, 10 curves, 4 sliders. More changeups than fastballs."
"Can't read the Eagles battery's mind, but given the bite on those changeups he's throwing most, it makes sense. And it's only a three-pitch difference."
"The Bears haven't had a single runner reach base except Yang Ui-jin, who worked a full-count walk in the second by laying off a dropping changeup."
Crack!
"And right as I say that, Park Geon-woong fouls off the first-pitch curve. Right fielder Ho picks it up on a hop. Two outs."
"Bears hitters need to be more patient. Tae-woong's stuff plays slow and easy to pick up visually. It looks hittable from the box, pulling the bat out early—but the drop fools them."
Whoosh! Thwack!
"Cleanup hitter Kim Jae-hwang whiffs on that high-inside pitch. Three pitches, three strikes!"
"First-pitch inside curve for a strike, another low one, then a four-seam fastball right in his grill. Nightmare for a lefty against a lefty—even at just 130 km/h."
Catcher Choi Ji-hoon stripped off his gear and turned to Tae-woong beside him. "Tae-woong, your changeup's insane today. Keep it going all the way."
"Haha, thanks, hyung."
"No bullshit—this is real. Felt better than last game when I caught you. I couldn't hit you even if I was batting."
"Hyung, you're hitting .190 over your last 10 games..."
"Hey, skip that."
Choi Ji-hoon looked a bit embarrassed. Even for a catcher whose value was all glove, sub-.200 was rough even by his own standards.
"If that's what you want... Just get one hit today, then."
"Duh. Pitcher's dealing like this—you gotta give something back as catcher."
Crack!
While they chatted, No. 6 Lee Sang-yeol whiffed on a high fastball for strike three. No. 7 Yang Sang-woo ripped a fastball inside off Lindbrall through the third baseman-shortstop hole for a clean single. No. 8 Ha Jun-seok whiffed on a changeup for three strikes.
The lefty trio from 6-7-8 could burden a righty whose changeup wasn't elite. But Lindbrall ditched his weaknesses, leaned on strengths, and picked them off one by one.
His four-seam fastball had great life in the mid-to-high 140s km/h range. Paired with a cutter that bored in like a fastball before diving inside at the plate, he overpowered them effectively.
After three lefties, it was the Eagles' weakest hitter at the plate: No. 9 Choi Ji-hoon.
Tae-woong locked eyes with Ji-hoon in the on-deck circle before heading out to loosen up. Ji-hoon stepped in with resolve to do something, but even he seemed to temper expectations against an ace like Lindbrall. Tae-woong, stretching behind the keeper, felt the same.
But as Ace said, Tae-woong sharpened his focus to hit corners better.
Crack!
While he did, two straight cutters rode outside on righty Choi Ji-hoon. First whiffed; second fouled weakly. Ji-hoon shook his head—nothing going his way.
Now the third pitch. 0-2 count, heavily favoring the pitcher. Catcher Yang Ui-jin, syncing with Lindbrall, didn't want to drag against the sub-.200 No. 9. He called for a straight challenge.
Swoosh!
No chase pitch—a low-inside 146 km/h four-seam fastball to the righty. Fast for a KBO starter (average 141 km/h). But Ji-hoon, timing solely off fastballs from the jump, didn't flinch. He swung as planned.
Crack!
The smooth bat met the ball, and a buzz shot through Ji-hoon's hands.
It's gone!
His body dashed to first, eyes on the left-field wall.
And...
"Lindbrall challenges Choi Ji-hoon right away! Fastball inside! Contact! Left field! Left field! Left-field wall! It's gone! Catcher Choi Ji-hoon's first homer of the season! He exorcises his slump against the Bears' ace Lindbrall! Two-run shot!"
"Slow-mo shows it tailed in just a hair, but Ji-hoon doesn't miss—over the wall. Eagles take first blood against the solo leaders Daesung Bears."
"Seo Tae-woong takes the mound next with a bit less pressure now."
"Two runs, yeah. Even a solo later keeps it to one—pitchers can't ask for more."
"Speaking of—leadoff Lee Young-gyu fouls the first-pitch cutter for a grounder in front of short. Lindbrall yields the two-run bomb but strands it with the next out—end of inning!"
"Damn, he's pissed... Next guy's Lee Young-gyu, so he'll play it safe there. Just no DP, please."
"Best bet's a K or pop-up—solo suicide. Ji-hoon, sac strikeout!"
"Gonna dip below .100 by season's end? Has any Eagles regular ever gone sub-.100? This real?"
"What can ya do? Ji-hoon's glove is elite. Pitch-calling, sequencing, framing, blocking, stealing—nothing missing."
"Bat's completely opposite. Total feast or famine. Watching this'll blow my head."
As Ji-hoon's count sank to 0-2, Eagles fans gave up hope. Defensively, he split top honors in the league with Yang Ui-jin. Offensively? Singles or walks were miracles. Lately, a slump atop poor hitting dropped him from low .200s to .100s.
But that pure crack echoed through Eagles Park, flipping disappointment to joy in a heartbeat.
"Wooooaaahhh!"
The "out-of-nowhere homer" fans call a miracle blast—Choi Ji-hoon had just authored one. Against the No. 1 Bears' ace Lindbrall, no less.
"Choi Ji-hoon! Choi Ji-hoon! Choi Ji-hoon!"
Copyright issues banned player chants lately, so led by the cheer captain, fans roared the name of their homer hero.
Leadoff Lee Young-gyu went down in two pitches to end the inning, but with two runs in, no disappointed fans remained.
Ace wasn't even shocked anymore—it was routine. Tae-woong, replying, felt the same.
The hitter Ace and Tae-woong agreed on was No. 5 Yang Ui-jin.
Walked him in the second off a changeup...
Changeups had worked on the other eight so far.
Even solid against lefties.
While Tae-woong pondered, Ace glanced back at the scoreboard stats for Yang Ui-jin.
No. 5 Yang Ui-jin
AVG: 0.407 | OBP: 0.501 | SLG: 0.672
Even accounting for the KBO's lower level vs. MLB, those numbers were monstrous.
Tae-woong was serious, but Ace took it as a joke.
Ace dropped incomprehensible advice on the pondering Tae-woong.