The Returned Catcher Wants to Win the Championship
Song Chang-soo went to Manager Han Geunseong, just as Choi Seungtaek had told him to.
Han Geunseong was logging notes on the day's game.
"Manager."
"Song Chang-soo. What is it?"
Han Geunseong looked puzzled that Song had shown up out of nowhere.
"Manager, you gave me the start right away today, and I didn't show you anything good. I'm sorry."
Han Geunseong gave a small nod.
"Fine. As long as you know. That all you came here for?"
"No, sir. I came because I need help."
"Help?"
"Yes. I felt how short I came up in today's game. What do you think my problem is?"
"Hrm."
Han Geunseong liked this. He liked it a great deal — a player walking in on his own and asking to be taught.
Kid's got the right attitude, at least. This is how a player ought to be.
Situations like this were his favorite. He was the kind of manager who believed the ones who showed up ready to work on themselves were the ones who made it.
Let's see. I should look at Song Chang-soo's notes.
The write-up in Han's book was fairly kind. Song threw from a variety of arm slots, but the velocity held across all of them, and the different trajectories those slots produced gave him a real ability to scramble a hitter's timing. Those strengths had been enough for Han to sign off on bringing him over in the trade.
"Good. You came to the right place. Finding a way to fix that isn't hard. Who told you to come straight to the manager, though?"
"Ah… well. I was talking with Seungtaek about today's outing, and when I couldn't find a way forward, he said in a case like this I should go see you. So here I am."
"Choi Seungtaek said that?"
"Yes, sir."
Han Geunseong was a little thrown. That was the kind of advice Woo Jeong-geun or Jo Oosoo would give. Neither of them was with the first team right now, so he'd been wondering who'd put the idea in Song's head — and the name that came out was the last one he'd expected.
That kid does whatever he wants, and he said that? Hm. Something to think about later.
The idea that Choi Seungtaek had offered the advice still sat oddly with him, but Han set it aside and dealt with the problem in front of him.
"So. What do you think the problem is?"
"I think my stuff isn't good enough."
"That's right. Your stuff is weak. You've got decent velocity and your command is fine, but they square you up in that one place you come up short."
"Then what should I do?"
Han Geunseong set down his pen.
"It's a balance problem. You haven't locked it in."
"Balance?"
"Yes. Get the balance right and it'll take care of itself. How many pitches did you throw today?"
"Forty."
Song hung his head, embarrassed.
"Starting today, you throw a hundred pitches every day and do a hundred shadow pitches until I tell you to stop."
Song stared at him.
"Sorry? A hundred live pitches and a hundred shadow pitches. Every day."
"That's what I said. Do that long enough and the balance will find itself."
"Ah… yes, sir."
"Good. Start now."
Choi Seungtaek, who had no idea what kind of crime he'd just committed, picked up bossam for a late-night snack and got home.
He spread the pork and wrap vegetables in front of the TV and switched it on.
"Hello, I'm Kim Ha-eun, and welcome to another night of Baseball Together."
"Good evening. Cho Byung-hyun here on commentary."
Baseball Together was already underway. The two hosts opened the show the way they always did, tossing easy jokes back and forth.
"Before we get to our other segments tonight, we'd like to show you a special feature we've been putting together."
A special feature? Out of nowhere?
Choi Seungtaek leaned in, more interested than usual. This wasn't how the show normally started.
"And what kind of special program is it?"
"A segment we were lucky enough to get the chance to put together."
Cho Byung-hyun's voice was loaded with anticipation.
"Wow, I'm already excited! Walk us through it?"
"We managed to bring in a Major League advance scout."
"A Major League scout?"
"That's right. We brought in James Matthew, who did advance scouting for Boston through last year, and he's spent this season so far watching Korean pro baseball and working through the data."
"Oh! So this is our players evaluated through a Major League lens."
"Exactly. And the results come out tonight. The MLB analyst has picked the most intriguing player on each team."
Oh-ho. This could be fun.
The topic was interesting enough that Choi Seungtaek finally stopped eating and locked onto the screen.
"First up, the Sparrows — and the player he flagged as the most intriguing is Ji Bae-in."
"That's a surprise. I would have thought Major League people would look at a cleanup hitter before a leadoff man."
"That's the interesting part. Major League evaluations fold in a lot of different numbers. On that score, Ji Bae-in graded out very high because his OPS is excellent."
"And OPS is…?"
"OPS is On-base Plus Slugging — on-base percentage and slugging percentage added together. Ji Bae-in's numbers there are strong, which is why he's getting this kind of look."
"But isn't the knock on Ji Bae-in that he strikes out a lot?"
"That's the trap. The point is that even with those strikeouts, the on-base ability and the extra-base hits mean he's contributing more to the club, not less. An MLB analyst who understands that is going to like Ji Bae-in."
Choi Seungtaek nodded along.
Yeah. I used to think about it in pretty much the same way when I was doing the breakdowns. It's fun seeing it laid out like this.
He went back to the bossam and listened through the rundown of the other clubs. Then it was the Magpies' turn.
"Two Magpies players caught the MLB analyst's eye."
"Fitting for a club that's been making noise with this recent surge. Who are they?"
"Both hitters. One is the Magpies' current captain, Tae Pyung-yang."
Hm. Fair enough.
Choi Seungtaek nodded again.
"The analyst's read might surprise some of us. Unlike the way we tend to think about him, Tae Pyung-yang is very much an OPS-style hitter. We think of him as a home-run guy — and he is — but he's also a player who gets on base a lot."
"Tae Pyung-yang really is something."
"But Tae Pyung-yang isn't the surprise. Choi Seungtaek made the analyst's list as well."
"Choi Seungtaek?"
Kim Ha-eun looked genuinely startled.
"That's right. It's remarkable to see a rookie graded this highly — but there are reasons."
Choi Seungtaek's image filled the screen.
"In Choi Seungtaek's case especially, the analyst was genuinely stunned, and he had quite a bit to say."
"Really?"
"There are three reasons the MLB scout rates Choi Seungtaek so highly."
The picture cut to Choi Seungtaek at the plate.
"First, the swing. The highest praise you can get came out of his mouth — he said watching Choi Seungtaek is like watching Nelson. His average is still sitting in the mid-.200s, but the analyst said it won't be long before he's hitting .300. The high walk total backs that up: this is a hitter with a high on-base percentage who takes intelligent at-bats."
Next came Choi Seungtaek throwing out a runner.
"And then there's the caught-stealing. That pop time in the 1.8-second range is a number even a lot of Major League catchers never touch. In a Korean league where clubs run as much as they do, that skill is worth even more."
The praise was getting both excessive and unnervingly precise. Choi Seungtaek started to go cold.
This… is not good. If they're talking about me like this on air…
The Daegu Eagles are analyzing you.
There it is.
The line appeared in front of his eyes as if to confirm that none of this was a compliment.
"Choi Seungtaek is really something. Will you give us the last one?"
"The last one is the most important. This is the part the MLB analyst said mattered most."
Now what? Don't tell me…
"The last one is the defensive shift."
"The defensive shift?"
"That's right. Let's look at the clip."
On the tape, a hitter stepped in and Choi Seungtaek started moving the defense.
"Uh… he's just shifting the fielders, isn't he?"
"Watch the next one as well."
Another game, another hitter stepping in, and Choi Seungtaek adjusting the defense again.
"I'm not sure I'm seeing it. Is this really that important?"
"That's what makes it shocking. Watch closely — after the hitter steps in, Choi Seungtaek never looks over at Han Geunseong."
"I'm sorry?"
"That's the part that stunned the analyst. A rookie catcher running shifts himself, with no instruction from the dugout. Memorizing that much and putting it on the field that cleanly — that's not a small thing."
Choi Seungtaek sat there with his mouth open, staring at the TV like an idiot.
I'm fucked. They've got me completely figured out.
The Busan Seagulls are analyzing you.
The Daegu Eagles are analyzing you.
The Gwangju Pigeons are analyzing you.
Every team is analyzing you.
Goddammit.