Pursuit Squad (5)
"Nice ball!"
"Hyung, hyung. Good work."
"Good work, good work."
The fielders running into the dugout for the side change patted Ha Min-woo's back. Everyone was continuously praising him.
As he went inside, the battery coach also came over and massaged his shoulders.
"Good work, Min-woo. The Stings lineup isn't easy, but you shut them down well. Your control is killer. Razor-sharp, razor-sharp."
Han Min-woo had only played two games since coming to the Wolves.
But it seemed those two games were enough to change perceptions. They no longer just ignored him or treated him like an invisible man.
'Because the opponents were who they were.'
Park Seo-joon, Hwang Sung-ho, Kwon Ji-hoon, Yoon Kang-min, Jin Sang-heon, etc...
They were all MVP batters or national team-level players. Catching such players had a huge impact. And with merely a 137 km/h trash ball.
"Tsk. Just because he pitched well out of luck... and now he's acting arrogant."
"Leave him alone, he'll get exposed soon. Beginner's luck, you know? Let's just prepare to go up to bat."
Of course, there were still people who were hostile towards him.
Representatively, players around Han Min-woo's age, like shortstop Park Jun-young and center fielder Moon Chul-woo, looked at him unfavorably.
'I earned quite a lot of points today as well.'
But Han Min-woo didn't care.
This place is also where people live. And there are very diverse people in the world.
If there are people who like him, it's only natural that there are people who hate him.
"Battery coach, I'll be away for a moment in the back."
"Alright. Take your time. Don't go somewhere weird."
"Yes."
Han Min-woo, having asked for the battery coach's understanding, headed for the exit at the back of the dugout.
Because the game was over, but the tasks given to Han Min-woo were not yet finished.
As he passed through the hallway and entered the rehab room, the conditioning coach, who was checking the game on a TV broadcast placed on one side, welcomed Han Min-woo.
"Saw the game well. Going to do it right away?"
"Yes."
"Come this way."
Pitchers do something called reinforcement exercises before and after pitching.
The shoulder and elbow are anatomically very unstable joints. Therefore, the surrounding muscles, the rotator cuff muscles, must be trained. Only then can the load placed on the shoulder and elbow be distributed.
Sometimes there are pitchers with the nickname "Iron Arm". It might be partly due to innate talent that they could pitch for a long time without injury, but it was highly likely because they consistently did this reinforcement exercise.
But why don't pitchers do such a good exercise well?
"Ughhhh."
"Hold it tighter. More, more, more."
"Ughhhhh!"
The reason is because it hurts like hell and is exhausting.
We know that moderate exercise improves concentration and increases work efficiency. But most office workers don't exercise.
Why? Because it doesn't show much even if they don't.
It's the same for reinforcement exercises.
In contrast to the pain and difficulty, there's nothing that feels significantly rewarding. It doesn't make the velocity faster, nor does it improve control.
Therefore, most pitchers don't do reinforcement exercises, or even if they do, they tend to do it half-heartedly.
But that wasn't the case for Han Min-woo.
Ding!
[
[You did not twist your wrist to 90°. Progress rate did not increase.]
"Ughhhhhh!"
Han Min-woo made a very bizarre expression, smiling while in pain.
That sight was enough to make the conditioning coach flinch.
'What's with this guy...?'
The 3rd game held the next day.
It's a match that decides who takes the winning series of this weekend's 3-game series. Moreover, because it's held on a weekend, it's the day with the most fans visiting.
Perhaps because of that, the game between the Wolves and the Stings was fiercer than usual.
"Send the sign. Have Moon Chul-woo bunt, and Jo Woo-chan bring in the first run with a sacrifice fly."
"Jin Sung-soo's set position is slow. Instruct Yoon Kang-min to hit and run."
"Tell all infielders to play infield in because a bunt might come from the Stings side."
The flower of baseball, above all else, is strategy.
Both the Wolves and the Stings constantly issued strategies.
They employed defensive shifts, used pinch hitters or pinch runners, brought in one-point pitchers, and executed strategies like fake bunt and slash.
The Stings' strategies were flashy, but the Wolves were no pushovers either.
'Wow, Chief Kim Young-seung. He's much sharper than I thought?'
'He seems to do better than the former manager?'
Baseball is a fight of deceiving, stealing, and shaking.
In that sense, Chief Coach Kim Young-seung belonged to the category of those who played baseball quite well.
He succeeded in every strategy he used, stabbing the opponent's blind spots.
Bottom of the 6th inning, the score between the Wolves and the Stings was 4 to 5.
In such a back-and-forth situation, Han Min-woo took the mound again.
The situation was no outs, runners on 1st and 3rd.
'How can he pitch like that?'
Chief Coach Kim Young-seung observed Han Min-woo's play closely.
The guy showed a good performance in today's game as well.
After catching the first batter with a strikeout, he induced a ground ball from the second batter.
Although the 3rd base runner came in because shortstop Park Jun-young failed to handle a routine ground ball, he induced a double play against the following batter and cleanly finished the inning.
The number of pitches he threw facing three batters was only 7.
It was a much more wonderful play than expected.
"Han Min-woo."
Chief Coach Kim Young-seung stopped Han Min-woo, who was coming in after high-fiving his teammates.
"Are you okay with the next inning too?"
In the bottom of the 7th inning, the Stings' core lineup turn comes around again. Not only Yoon Kang-min and Jin Sang-heon, who he faced yesterday, but this time he would also face the batting order of the 3rd batter, Oh Jae-sung, a former Major Leaguer.
The Stings' trio is bound to be burdensome for any pitcher on the Wolves.
But Han Min-woo, who had the slowest velocity and the lowest pitch evaluation on the team, nodded as if he wasn't particularly excited.
"If you leave it to me, I will do my best."
"Alright. Prepare yourself."
Han Min-woo, sitting on the bench, was delighted a moment later without showing it. He was shivering while clenching his fist tightly without others knowing.
Chief Coach Kim Young-seung, seeing that appearance, modified the information about Han Min-woo once again.
'So a beast is a beast.'
No doubt. The guy is feeling ecstasy at the thought of going up on the mound and facing the batters.
He thought he was a tiger with missing teeth. But it seemed the blood of a beast flowing in his body was still the same.
The guy was quietly preparing to hunt his opponent.
-The bottom of the 7th inning begins. The current score is 5 to 6. It's a really tense match.
-Here, player Han Min-woo takes the mound again.
-He came up in the bottom of the 6th inning with no outs and runners on 1st and 3rd and finished the inning cleanly. If it weren't for player Park Jun-young's error, the Wolves' score would have been ahead.
-It seems acting manager Kim Young-seung trusts player Han Min-woo very much. With only three offensive opportunities left, it's the timing when the Stings will slowly start to make their move, right? Putting player Han Min-woo out at that starting point is impossible without considerable trust.
-I see.
-But I understand acting manager Kim Young-seung's trust. It was like that during the last long relief, and player Han Min-woo has shown good performances today following yesterday. At least, he has never shown an unacceptable play by allowing a walk or pitching around batters timidly. It seems those points appealed to acting manager Kim Young-seung.
-Thank you for the good commentary. Then, whether player Han Min-woo can become acting manager Kim Young-seung's masterstroke! Fans who love professional baseball, please watch the bottom of the 7th inning!
└Han Min-woo is coming out here again? Isn't it dangerous? Even if you say Yoon Kang-min and Jin Sang-heon let their guard down yesterday, this is the second time today?
└Then who else to bring up instead of Han Min-woo? Seeing Song Jun-yeol and Kwon Dong-min pitch lately makes me anxious. Since the pitch count is low, wouldn't it be better to bring up Han Min-woo here and then have Myung Sang-woo and Kim Deok-min come up later?
└Yeah, my thoughts are the same as the comment above. Seeing him pitch in the bottom of the 6th, he was clean.
└Han Min-woo's luck ends today. I bet my left wrist that he gets shelled and comes down crying in today's game. For reference, she's my girlfriend.
└But isn't it a bit amazing? Even the guys throwing 150 get shelled and pulled from the game, but seeing batters swing and miss at 138 pitches like that feels somewhat thrilling lol
└(Cicada that cries when in danger) Meaeaemeameamellamellameameam!!!!
└Seems like there's something we don't know Yeah. Isn't Han Min-woo's velocity actually similar to Greg Maddux?
└You're saying Greg Maddux lololol Is Han Min-woo the same as the legendary pitcher who throws every pitch type where he wants at the speed he wants? The movement alone is different lolol
└So far Han Min-woo has pitched 5 innings, 1 run (unearned). There have been 3 cases where a pitcher went up to the mound in a state of 5 innings, 1 run (unearned) and got shelled and pulled. In the 2025 season, Baek Seung-hoon gave up a grand slam against the Gladiators, in the 2026 season, Jeon Sung-min gave up a three-run homer against the Lunatics. In the 2029 season, Kim Jae-won gave up 3 runs against the Wolverines. So Han Min-woo will probably get shelled and come down crying this time ㅠ
└Sigh, wrist bugs, cicada bugs, example bugs bastards tsk tsk
└If you're a Wolves fan, everyone cheer for player Han Min-woo! ♥Han Min-woo♥ Fighting! (っ ᵔ◡ᵔ)っ
As he stepped on the mound, his boiling heart with excitement instantly calmed down. His breathing also became normal, and the noise filling the surroundings disappeared in an instant.
At the same time, Yoon Kang-min, glaring at him, came into view. A look full of venom.
He could feel the will to somehow land a hit on him no matter what.
'He looks like he's ready to beat me up right away.'
It will be different from yesterday. Because he was a pitcher with slow velocity and a high ERA, they must have let their guard down.
It was clear they came fully prepared today.
'But what can I do, I'm sorry?'
But Han Min-woo wasn't too worried.
[Name: Han Min-woo] [Position: Pitcher]
[Maximum Velocity: 137km/h]
[Possessed Pitches: Four-seam Fastball (D), Slider (D), Changeup (E), Curve (E)]
[Special Abilities (4/10)]
[Biseokjishim (A)] [Doctor K (C)] [Full Power Pitch (C)] [Stone Fastball - Away (B)]
'Because I leveled up again in the meantime.'
There was a special ability he was seeing for the first time in the slot window. It was a special ability that Han Min-woo had newly drawn with points after returning to the dugout earlier.
The grade was a whopping B.
[
Han Min-woo threw the first pitch.
Thwack-!
The velocity displayed on the scoreboard was 144km/h.
"Huh?"
Everyone watching the game stood up in surprise.