Entering the Fray (6)
There was a man named Hwang In-seong.
He was the Dolphins' 2nd team hitting coach, and Han Min-woo had never viewed him favorably.
'A guy who teaches hitters in a typical old-school way.'
He was a man heavily armed with outdated theories.
Believing that swinging a lot would make even non-existent batting senses spring forth, Hwang In-seong made the 2nd team hitters swing 2,000 to 3,000 times a day when their batting averages dropped.
He also made them bulk up recklessly, claiming that the flower of baseball was the home run.
He even frequently meddled with their batting forms.
It was appalling. Every player had a batting form that suited them, and an appropriate amount of training. This was because the human body was a consumable that grew weaker the more it was used.
Ultimately, the key was to train efficiently with an appropriate amount within a limited time, but Hwang In-seong had no such concept.
He just made them do more unconditionally. If they couldn't do it right, he made them train even if they had to stay up all night. Every night, the groaning sounds from the dormitories were endless.
'The 2nd team hitters were all worn out and weeded out.'
However, no one raised an issue with Coach Hwang In-seong's methods. This was because, most regrettably, that training method suited a few hitters.
That player even became the representative hitter currently leading the Dolphins. One could say it was a situation where his misguided beliefs could only grow larger.
"By any chance, did Coach Hwang adjust your batting form when you were with the Dolphins?"
Daytime words are heard by birds, and nighttime words by mice, as the saying goes.
Even though he was alone with Yoon Jae-hyun, Han Min-woo still used honorifics when mentioning Coach Hwang In-seong.
"Yes, that's right."
The expected answer flowed from Yoon Jae-hyun's mouth.
Han Min-woo let out a faint sigh so it wouldn't be noticeable.
He had thought something was off.
Yoon Jae-hyun's batting was top-notch during his high school days. Even then, he played the role of the vanguard for Deoksu High as a top-tier hitter.
A guy like that struggling in the pros? While Ha Yoon-min, who was called his rival, was flying high enough to take 2nd place in the Rookie of the Year voting?
'As I thought, this is the issue.'
Honestly, the problem was simple.
Yoon Jae-hyun was adopting a batting style, batting form, and stance that didn't suit him.
That was why he couldn't handle breaking balls drifting left and right across the zone, and even when he hit the ball, it didn't lead to hits.
No, looking at it another way, hitting close to .200 in this state could actually be considered impressive.
The guy definitely had talent.
"What do you think?"
"Excuse me?"
"It's your batting form and you're the one playing the games. How is the change compared to before?"
"……."
Yoon Jae-hyun hung his head.
Seeing that, Han Min-woo clicked his tongue.
Thinking about how the guy must have agonized, not even knowing what the problem was, made him feel unnecessarily pity.
It was because his skills had declined due to external factors, not because of an injury or trauma like himself.
Still, he probably didn't have the courage to tell the 2nd team coach that this batting form didn't seem to suit him.
'How should I tell him?'
Han Min-woo didn't have the right to tell him to change his batting form or not either.
All he could do was share his impressions as a pitcher.
"I'll be honest. You used to be really difficult to face. Your plate discipline was good and your batting sense was top-notch. In the end, you always managed to make contact with the ball. That's incredibly amazing."
"……."
"But you don't seem like a threatening hitter to pitchers right now. Your swing is big but there's no substance to it, shall I say? My honest impression was, 'Even if I get hit by that, it won't inflict a fatal wound.'"
"Yes……."
"It's the same just looking at your reaction speed. Because your swing is big, when I disrupt your timing and come inside, you can't even react. In that state, if a curve or changeup comes instead of a fastball, would you be able to react?"
"I don't... think... I could."
Yoon Jae-hyun answered with difficulty.
"Not every hitter needs to hit home runs. The team knows that well too. If that weren't the case, every team would line up cleanup hitters from 1 through 9. But that's not how it is. If you can't hit 20 or 30 home runs, I think it's better to give up on home runs and instead have the mindset to pick and choose your pitches. How about it? What do you think?"
"You're right."
"My advice ends here. The judgment is up to you. Thanks for helping out today."
Han Min-woo patted Yoon Jae-hyun's shoulder and turned his back.
Literally. The judgment was Yoon Jae-hyun's.
However, Han Min-woo believed Yoon Jae-hyun would return to his past batting form.
Because he was a smart guy. Because he was just as desperate as he was.
Because he still possessed that look in his eyes from the past, when he roamed the diamond wearing burst spikes.
Yoon Jae-hyun lived up to that belief.
"Coach. I want to change my batting form."
"Batting form? Mid-season, suddenly?"
"It's the form I used in high school. I think I can adapt quickly once my body gets used to it."
"High school days... wait a second. What were your stats back then? Didn't you hit over .400? I think you won the batting title and most hits award or something because of that."
"Yes, that's right."
The hitting coach's eyes lit up at Yoon Jae-hyun's answer.
The player in front of him was once a top-tier shortstop prospect who swept through high school baseball.
But right now, he was suffering from a serious batting slump. There were no injuries. There had simply been a change in his batting form in between.
In that situation, there was only one conclusion the hitting coach could draw.
"Get into your stance once. Hmm, not bad? Can you come over here for a second? Hey, Jun-kyu, Do-hyun. Throw some pitches for him."
The hitting coach gathered the pitchers who were doing bullpen sessions and asked them to take turns throwing.
The pitchers gladly joined in.
Not only Kim Jun-kyu and Yoo Do-hyun, but the must-win relief duo Yoo Jae-hyuk and Kwon Dong-min also joined in, and they started taking turns throwing.
The results were astonishing.
Crack―!
"He hit it again! That's going to be a hit dropping in front of the left fielder, right?"
"How many has he hit now? The pitchers are all going to be dead before today's game even starts."
"He hits well. Why did they say he changed his batting form when he had that one?"
"Wow. Joon-young is going to have to get a little tense, huh?"
7 hits in 16 at-bats. The batting average came out to a whopping .437.
Of course, it was a test, not an official game, but even taking that into consideration, it was a very solid result.
The hitting coach was convinced.
'This is it. This is the form that perfectly suits Jae-hyun.'
As soon as he changed his batting form, the parts that had previously been pointed out as Yoon Jae-hyun's weaknesses completely disappeared.
He handled breaking balls that drifted left and right across the zone well, and he wasn't fooled by dropping pitches.
Furthermore, he hadn't been able to time the pitchers' throws properly, but as his swing became more compact, that part was all fixed as well.
Of course, it wasn't all advantages.
As much as his swing became compact, extra-base hits could no longer be expected from Yoon Jae-hyun.
However, the hitting coach didn't feel any regret about that part at all.
'The Wolves have plenty of hitters with good extra-base hit power.'
Jo Woo-chan, Kwon Jun-seo, and Kang Sung-han were destructive hitters who could bring home runners on base.
Because of that, what the hitting coach and acting manager Kim Young-seung wanted from Yoon Jae-hyun was not slugging percentage, but on-base percentage. In other words, they needed a runner who could get on base and shake up the pitcher.
And right now, Yoon Jae-hyun was showing a look that lived up to those expectations.
The hitting coach immediately went to head coach Kim Young-seung and reported what had happened today.
"Jae-hyun's batting has improved a lot."
"It shouldn't have been something that could be fixed in a day or two?"
Head coach Kim Young-seung tilted his head.
He was right.
Batting forms don't suddenly change overnight. That was why head coach Kim Young-seung had intended to stick with Park Joon-young for this season.
"Besides the batting form he's using now, he had a previous batting form. When he changed to that batting form, all the problems he had before were resolved."
'I see.'
Head coach Kim Young-seung, having heard the hitting coach's words, immediately modified the lineup card. He erased Park Joon-young from the lineup and filled the shortstop position with Yoon Jae-hyun.
Of course, he might go out in today's game and not get a hit.
However, head coach Kim Young-seung intended to give Yoon Jae-hyun consistent chances as long as he showed at least an improved form.
It would be much better than carrying a shortstop who could blow up at any time, after all.
'Just show me a different look. Then I'll give you as much time to adapt as you need.'
Putting down the lineup card, head coach Kim Young-seung hoped earnestly.
And so time passed.
―A hit dropping in front of the center fielder! Yoon Jae-hyun is recording 3 hits in today's game alone!
―It's really scary. The Wolves' cleanup trio is already hot these days, and now the leadoff is generating power too. From the opposing team's perspective, they must have a huge headache, right?
'He's definitely a talented guy.'
Han Min-woo, sitting on the dugout bench watching the game, smiled with satisfaction.
Yoon Jae-hyun was literally flying around the bases.
The batting form wasn't unfamiliar or anything.
Because he was simply returning to a batting form he already had.
Perhaps because of that, Yoon Jae-hyun immediately absorbed the changed batting form and started producing fairly high-quality batted balls.
In the last 4 games: 13 plate appearances, 11 at-bats, 4 hits, 2 walks.
The vanguard of Deoksu High from his high school days had been resurrected.
After the game, it was time for the hero interview.
"Alright, today's hero. We will meet Yoon Jae-hyun, interviewed by announcer Yoon Ji-na. Announcer Yoon Ji-na?"
At the play-by-play caster's call, the announcer standing in the interview booth set up near 1st base smiled brightly at the camera.
"Yes! Let's meet today's hero, the Wolves' Yoon Jae-hyun. Hello, Yoon Jae-hyun!"
"Hello."
"You have to greet the fans, not just me!"
"Ah, yes. Hello, I'm Yoon Jae-hyun."
Yoon Jae-hyun bowed his head toward the camera.
└Wow, seeing him this close up, he's really handsome?
└Not wearing a hat is way betterㅇㅇ His face is top-tier ㅎ
└Announcer Yoon Ji-na is so pretty too ㄷㄷ
└The two look really good together ㅋㅋ
The viewers went wild at the sight of the handsome man and beautiful woman together.
However, the two people themselves looked completely indifferent, as if they were looking at a cow or a chicken.
At that moment, the announcer looked at her smartphone and began the interview.
"Your batting has been really hot lately. You got 3 hits in today's game alone! Plus, the game-winning RBI! Was there a specific trigger for this sudden change?"
"I changed my batting form this time. I think I've been able to show good performances since then."
"Oh, from what I know, changing your batting form mid-season is really difficult."
"That's right. If it wasn't changing to the baseball form I used in high school, I wouldn't have done it mid-season. Your batting balance and stuff can get shaken up."
"So it was the baseball form you used in high school. No wonder I could see the appearance of Yoon Jae-hyun, who used to be called the speedy star, in today's game. What would you say is the biggest advantage of the changed batting form?"
"Before, I was trying to play baseball with power, but now I feel like I'm trying to play with technique. I'd say I'm swinging the bat a little more smartly……."
Yoon Jae-hyun answered with a sheepish smile.
"Yees, I see. By any chance, was there some kind of specific trigger for suddenly changing your batting form?"
At the announcer's question, Yoon Jae-hyun glanced at the dugout.
There, he saw Han Min-woo sitting, gripping and releasing a hand gripper as usual.
The announcer's gaze also turned along with his.
"Senior Min-woo gave me advice. He said my high school batting form was more difficult to face. He said something feels very lacking right now."
"You two are Deoksu High alumni, senior and junior. The senior throws, and the junior catches. It's a great sight. Since you even came over in a trade together, your relationship must be even closer."
"I hope so."
"Then we'll look forward to your great performances in the future, Yoon Jae-hyun! And Han Min-woo too!"
Announcer Yoon Ji-na smiled, looking back and forth between Yoon Jae-hyun and Han Min-woo.