Entering the Fray (7)
The All-Star Game was right around the corner.
The first half of the season was already down to the final three-game series.
By this point, the outline of the standings should normally be visible. However, the 2030 professional baseball season could be described as chaos itself.
└(Gladiators) First place again this year.. So relaxed~
└(Lunatics) ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Saying you're relaxed is hilariousㅋ
└(Crocodiles) ??? : (In 1st place with a 0.5 game lead over 2nd, 1 game over 3rd, 2 games over 4th, 2.5 games over 5th) First place again this year.. So relaxed~
└(Turtles) ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Don't hit them with factsㅋㅋ
└(Dolphins) But this year, the lower-tier games are more entertaining than the upper-tier. The standings change drastically every single dayㅋㅋㅋ
└(Griffins) True, the Wolves' momentum lately is scary ㅎㄷㄷ I thought 'Last place again this year.. So relaxed~' but they're already in 8th place ㅠ We're in last place now damn itㅠㅠ
└(Lunatics) Where's that Griffins fan who used to console themselves saying "At least there are people who cheer for teams like the Wolves, so we're lucky" ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└(Stings) But the Wolves' momentum lately is seriously no joke. They've already had 4 consecutive winning seriesㄷㄷ They used to look so shaky, but just changing one shortstop made them a completely different team;;
└(Albatrosses) ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Manager got fired and they went from 10th → 8th, what a comedyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ At that point, wasn't the manager just clenching his teeth and screwing up?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└(Wolves) Huh? We're going to fall baseball? Huh?
└(Wolves) Yesssssssss we're going to fall baseball
└(Lunatics) ㅉㅉ What's a false alarm? It's science~ Don't you know "false alarm then defeat"? ㅋㅋㅋ
└(Crocodiles) But I'm curious about something regarding the Dolphinsㅎ Why on earth did they give Han Min-woo and Yoon Jae-hyun to the Wolves??
└(Griffins) ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ah thinking about it again suddenly it's so fucking funny ㅋㅋㅋ Just 2 weeks ago they were all smiles saying "Thanks Yoo Sung-jong"ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└(Gladiators) ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└(Stings) ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└(Wolves) From now on, the Dolphins are our brothers. Don't bash the Dolphins.
└(Albatrosses) ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You guys are worseㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└(Dolphins) Ha so fucking annoying.. If those two were still here, our ranking would've gone up damn it..
The core of the first-half standings change was none other than the Wolves.
Two wins and one loss in the three-game series against the Wolverines. And another two wins and one loss in the following three-game series against the Turtles.
They recorded as many as 4 consecutive winning series.
Perhaps because of this, a subtle atmosphere flowed among the teams the Wolves were recently playing against.
‘They're slowly starting to be wary of us.’
The gazes of the opposing team's players flew toward Han Min-woo, who was doing his running.
There is only one stadium. But the ones who have to run on this field are two teams.
Running into the opposing team's players every now and then during training was only natural.
But if there was a difference from before, it was the look in the opposing players' eyes. It wasn't the look of seeing prey, but the feeling of looking at another predator.
That meant the Wolves had become competitors to participate in the huge event called fall baseball.
‘A very good omen.’
That wariness was revealed more overtly in the game.
—Ah! Maeng Seon-woo endures this. Full count with this! If this situation continues, it will inevitably put a burden on Gu Dong-woo.
—He's already thrown over 70 pitches. It's the timing where strength slowly starts to drain from the shoulder.
—The Griffins players have really good concentration today. They're biting down on the pitcher and tenaciously dragging it out.
Today's opponent was the Daejeon Griffins. A team that lingered in the bottom ranks year after year despite having a once-in-a-generation ace named Choi Myung-hoon.
Maybe that was why, the Griffins players maintained a not-so-bad relationship with the Wolves.
└(Griffins) Don't badmouth the Wolves
└(Wolves) The Griffins are no different from our brothers yeah
It was something like a sense of kinship. The two teams alternated between 9th and 10th place every year.
But for today's game, it was different.
"See the ball to the end!"
"Nice! Let's get one more run here!"
They were clenching their teeth and hanging on like venomous snakes.
It was a sense of crisis.
When a friend who used to get scolded alongside you suddenly starts getting their act together and living right, the remaining friends can't help but feel a sense of alarm. Otherwise, they'll end up taking even more scolding.
But no matter how much the Griffins bit and hung on, it wasn't enough to stop the Wolves' fiery momentum.
—Yoon Jae-hyun hits it! A base hit through the gap between first and second!
—His batting feel is really good. He changed his batting form and became a completely different person.
—In the following at-bat is the number 1 batter Ha Yoon-min. He hits it again! A base hit dropping between right and center field!
—Oh... They're having Jo Woo-chan bunt. Acting Manager Kim Young-seung is making a winning move... Ah, a buster! He hits it! The runner on second rounds for home! The runner on first also comes home! With this, the Wolves score an additional run to pull away from the Griffins!
—Originally, Park Jun-young was placed in the 9th spot to reduce the offensive burden, but with that changed to Yoon Jae-hyun, it's showing tremendous synergy.
—That's right. With Yoon Jae-hyun, Ha Yoon-min, Jo Woo-chan, Kang Sung-han, Victor, and Kwon Jun-seo continuing, there's no time for the pitcher to rest.
Bottom of the 6th inning, score 6 to 3.
The defensive shifts were mostly successful, and every tactic they threw out shook the Griffins.
Besides, considering that today's starting pitcher Gu Dong-woo barely managed to digest 5 innings before coming down, the game was flowing very well nonetheless.
The bullpen coach asked Han Min-woo.
"Min-woo, are you okay? Are you really not hurt anywhere?"
"Yes, I'm completely fine."
"Hey, punk. You have to be honest. If you push yourself too hard for nothing and get in trouble, that'll be a bigger headache. You're really not overdoing it, right?"
"I'm really perfectly fine."
The bullpen coach carefully checked Han Min-woo's condition.
How he was feeling, if there was anywhere caught or hurting, even checking the condition of his fingernails.
Han Min-woo's status within the Wolves had changed.
"Phew. Hey, Deok-gu. How does it look to you? Is Min-woo's pitching okay?"
"Yes. It's the same as always today."
Recently, Han Min-woo had been on quite a grueling schedule.
He pitched in two games out of the three-game series against the Wolverines, and also pitched in two games during the three-game series against the Turtles.
It was to the point where even among the fans, words were coming out saying they were overworking him too much.
However, Han Min-woo truly wasn't having a hard time physically, and didn't have a single ache.
‘As expected, A-rank is A-rank for a reason, I guess.’
This was all thanks to
The effect of the newly acquired A-grade special ability this time was health. It had the effect of making the whole body as sturdy as steel.
At first, he didn't know what it meant, but having experienced it firsthand, it seemed very good.
‘I could pitch consecutively for days and be fine?’
Han Min-woo, who rotated his shoulder a couple of times, nodded. He felt it as soon as he woke up in the morning. That his condition today was extremely good.
What Han Min-woo pitched last week was 5 innings. The pitch count was roughly around 90.
Normally, if he threw that much, his shoulder would feel stiff or his body would feel heavy even on a regular day.
And that pain gradually added weight, and towards the end of the season, it would come with a stinging ache.
It was ambiguous to call it an injury. Because it was a pain that went away if he rested well.
‘It feels like I've returned to the beginning of the season.’
Today's date was Tuesday, July 23rd.
Only 3 days left until the All-Star break. It meant the first half was already coming to a close.
Yet, he didn't feel any pain at all. To the point where there wasn't a single feeling of heaviness in his shoulder.
"Are you serious? You're really not hurting? If you're lying, you're going to get in big trouble later, you know?"
"Yes, I'm really not in pain."
"No, by this point it should be starting to hurt a bit, which is weird. The medical team says it's fine too, so I can't say anything."
"You don't need to worry."
Han Min-woo nodded confidently at the bullpen coach's repeated questions.
His condition was the best. He wanted to go out quickly and face the batters.
To the point where the fence separating the bullpen and the field felt like an enclosure built to cage a beast.
"Alright, I'm counting on you again today."
Han Min-woo left the bullpen with the bullpen coach seeing him off.
"I'll be back."
It was time to hunt points.
—Current score 6 to 3. The top of the 7th begins with the Wolves leading by 3 runs. The changed pitcher on the mound is Han Min-woo.
—He's the player who came to wear the Wolves' uniform in a 1-for-2 trade from the Dolphins. He's showing a very good form right after being transferred. So far, he has appeared in 7 games, pitched 10 and 1/3 innings, and is recording an ERA of 1.74 with 1 win, 0 losses, 4 holds, 3 runs allowed, and 2 earned runs.
—It's a truly remarkable record. If there's a peculiar point, it's that the number of strikeouts per 9 innings is as many as 14.4. For a player whose velocity only reaches the late 130s to early 140s kilometers per hour.
—There are concerns that he might be pitching too often, but... hmm, for now, let's watch what kind of form he shows in today's game.
Top of the 7th, the Griffins' batting order that Han Min-woo would face started with the 3rd batter Wang Ho-yeol.
Wang Ho-yeol.
A player who holds the record for the most hits by a right-handed batter in KBO history. And that record is still ongoing.
Currently ranking 4th in career on-base percentage and 9th in career batting average, and this year as well, his name can be found anywhere in batting metrics, such as 10th in season home runs, 4th in season RBIs, 2nd in season walks, and so on.
‘He must be something to even have the nickname On-Base Machine.’
Catching Wang Ho-yeol alone could be said to be half the success of this inning.
This was because the strategy the Griffins frequently used in the latter half of the game was to get Wang Ho-yeol on base, substitute him with a pinch runner, and shake the pitcher to bring the momentum their way.
If so, just by catching Wang Ho-yeol, they could render one of the opponent's strategies useless.
However, Wang Ho-yeol was a bad matchup for Han Min-woo.
From Han Min-woo's perspective, the most tricky batters were those with good plate discipline. This was because batters with good plate discipline would seal off some of the weapons he possessed.
Furthermore, since the three-game series against the Griffins was held at home, Straight Fastball didn't activate either.
To top it off, his velocity had slowed down, and he couldn't even overpower them with his pitch quality.
‘My draw luck wasn't good this time either.’
In the meantime, he drew 2 additional special abilities.
One was
Rookie was a special ability that only activated from age 19 to 22. For Han Min-woo, who was 23, it was a skill that didn't activate at all. In a word, it was like drawing a dud.
And the second special ability, Bases Loaded Freak, also had poor utility. Because it was a special ability that only activated when the bases were loaded.
‘Fireman would have been better.’
Fireman also only activated when there were runners on base. If there was a difference from Bases Loaded Freak, Fireman didn't care whether it was first, second, or third base.
In contrast, Bases Loaded Freak didn't activate the moment even one runner was killed by a pickoff. The effect was good, but its versatility dropped way too much.
‘For now, I have no choice but to use the outside of the zone to build up the count.’
But Han Min-woo didn't mind.
He had endured even hell-like situations. To the point where this level of situation felt like child's play.
‘Shall I play tightrope walking on a blade again today.’