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chapter 009– Mop-up Pitcher (7)
“How’s the shoulder? You okay?”
As soon as he entered the dugout, the hitting coach came over and asked.
The pitching coach seemed to have stepped out for a bit.
From the top of the 3rd to the top of the 5th, he’d thrown 3 innings and 67 pitches.
Because of that, his shoulder felt a little stiff.
But he’d been throwing bullpen sessions every day recently, so this level of fatigue wasn’t anything he needed to worry about.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Then how about one more inning? If we score in the 6th, we’ll pull you.”
At the hitting coach’s question, Han Minwoo nodded.
If it were up to him, it wouldn’t be just one more inning—
he wanted to pitch until the end of the game today.
He needed to rack up points to unlock more special abilities.
And more than anything…
‘This is fun.’
Standing on the mound and throwing the ball—
it was just so much fun.
It really felt like he was playing baseball.
Like when you played soccer at lunch break back in school.
“I’ll get ready to pitch the next inning.”
Sitting on the bench, Minwoo pulled his jacket on so his shoulder wouldn’t cool down.
His pitch limit was 81 pitches.
He still had 14 left, so as long as he didn’t run into another pitch-count nightmare like the 4th inning, he had more than enough for one more inning.
But Minwoo never got back on the mound.
The Wolves’ attack in the bottom of the 5th started with the leadoff hitter.
Park Junyoung, the usual number one hitter and starting shortstop, had been replaced defensively in the top of the 3rd, so it was Yoon Jehyeon who stepped into the box.
‘I have to get on base, no matter what.’
He stared at the pitcher on the mound, his eyes burning with determination.
Han Minwoo and Yoon Jehyeon.
The two of them were senior and junior from Deoksoo High,
joined the Dolphins together,
and got traded to the Wolves on the same day.
But while Minwoo was putting on an incredible showing,
Jehyeon had committed a routine ground-ball error back in the top of the 4th.
Even thinking about it again made him shiver.
If Minwoo had wobbled even just a little in that inning,
it could easily have snowballed into a big inning for the other side.
‘Minwoo sunbae…’
When the inning ended, he’d been heading back to the dugout in full meltdown mode,
but the one who steadied his mental state was none other than Han Minwoo.
Jehyeon had apologized for the error, but Minwoo had been the one to comfort him instead.
“Jehyeon, don’t get too shaken. If your mentality collapses over something like that, you’ll never make it as a ballplayer.”“Ah, yes…”“Just take it a bit easier. You did good work scooping up all those grounders this inning.”
Walking back to the dugout, Minwoo’s back had looked so big.
‘How can he be like that?’
The tragic prospect.
After getting hit by that laser line drive, he hadn’t really shown anything since.
He was already 25 years old.
In terms of desperation, he had to be in a worse position than Jehyeon.
And yet Minwoo didn’t tremble.
He wasn’t swayed by the pressure of the first-team stage.
Instead, he proved himself on the mound and walked off on his own two feet.
He’s so cool. I want to be like him. I want to prove myself in this game too.
Those thoughts hardened into a fierce resolve inside Yoon Jehyeon.
“Play ball!”
The Crocodiles’ starting pitcher, Park Jinwoo, delivered the pitch.
The first pitch was a forkball that grazed the bottom of the strike zone.
Grinding his teeth, Jehyeon let the first pitch go.
He also watched the second pitch pass. This one was a slider.
‘Don’t get impatient.’
He kept repeating it to himself.
He forced himself to keep looking at the ball until the very end.
To get him out, the pitcher would eventually have to bring something into the zone.
Jehyeon waited patiently for that pitch—
the one that would come into the zone.
And then came the third pitch.
‘Now!’
Jehyeon’s eyes flashed.
The pitch he most felt confident attacking was now heading for the catcher’s mitt.
Crack!
A clean sound as the ball split the gap between right and center field.
“The count was 0–2. Even in the bottom of the 5th, Park Jinwoo’s fastball is still sitting at 150 km/h.”“And as we’re saying that, Yoon Jehyeon jumps on the third pitch! A liner splitting right-center—base hit!
Yoon Jehyeon records his first hit since being traded, here in today’s game!”“You really have to compliment him. Even with the count against him, he calmly waited it out.”“So he judged that it would be too hard to attack Park Jinwoo’s forkball and slider, and sat on the four-seamer instead.”
It was the Wolves’ first leadoff hit of the game.
And their attack didn’t stop there.
Number 2 hitter Myeong Seokhun drew a walk after a 7-pitch battle.
No outs, runners on first and second.
In this perfect scoring situation, stepping up to the plate was the number 3 hitter, Jo Woochan.
“The Wolves have their first scoring chance of the game!”“And here comes the Wolves’ franchise slugger, famous for his three-run homers: Jo Woochan.
Perfect timing with two runners already on base.
Will he launch another three-run shot this time?”
Jo Woochan.
He was the signature franchise star of the Seoul Wolves,
and the spiritual pillar of a team that had been stuck in a long dark age.
When people in Korean pro baseball talked about “five-tool players,”
his name came up first:
he excelled in hitting, defense, and baserunning,
and he was especially strong in clutch situations.
Wolves fans adored him.
“Woochan, we’re counting on you, please!”
“Isn’t it embarrassing that a 137 km/h pitcher on your own team carried you? Hit a three-run shot, man!”
The Wolves fans filling Jamsil Stadium clasped their hands together in prayer.
In that boiling atmosphere, Jo Woochan swung the bat.
Crack!
“He got it! It’s driving deep! Back goes the left fielder! Back, back—
and it’s over the fence!”
The ball traced a high arc and disappeared over the left-field wall.
In that instant, Wolves fans screamed and jumped up and down.
The roar was so loud the stands in Jamsil seemed to shake.
The Wolves players in the dugout all poured out onto the field.
A three-run homer in the bottom of the 5th.
The seven-to-nothing lead was shaved down to a four-run difference in an instant.
The once-quiet Wolves dugout exploded into chaos like someone had kicked a hornet’s nest.
“Who’s in the bullpen right now? Junyeol and Dongmin? Is Jungyu getting loose too?
Tell them they might be up in the 6th, so get ready fast.”
“Coach (strategy coach), send a sign to Victor to take as many pitches as he can.
If he can just get on base somehow, we’re going to manufacture one more run if we have to.”
“Boggi, get loose. If Victor gets on and Seonghan lays down the bunt, you might go in as a pinch runner.”
The momentum had shifted.
Thanks to Minwoo’s brilliant pitching, the Crocodiles’ lineup had been completely shut down for three innings.
Now the bats were finally coming alive, and Manager Heo Sanghyeok decided to push his advantage.
With nobody out and the bases empty, it was the perfect timing to start calling plays.
While everyone bustled around, head coach Kim Youngseung came up to Minwoo and patted his shoulder.
“Good job out there. That’ll be it for today.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“The setup guys are getting ready. You’ve thrown quite a bit already, so we’re not going to overwork you.”
“Understood.”
Minwoo nodded.
The moment the home run left the bat, he’d already given up on going back out.
The Wolves were on a five-game losing streak.
At times like this, that one win to snap the skid was incredibly important.
Given that, hoping they’d leave him in longer was just greed.
No matter how well he’d pitched, he was still the mop-up guy.
Mop-up pitchers didn’t get to stand on the mound in situations where wins and losses were on the line.
But there was one thing that had changed from before the game.
“Make sure you ice. And don’t skip your post-game workout. I’ll tell the conditioning coach myself.”
Seeing how much Kim Youngseung was paying attention to him made Minwoo smile.
“Yes, sir.”
[Seoul Wolves 9 : 8 Gocheok Crocodiles][Winning pitcher: Kim Jungyu – 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Save: Kim Deokmin – 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K, 0 R
(Han Minwoo – 3.0 IP, 3 H, 6 K, 0 R)][Losing pitcher: Shin Seungcheol – 0.2 IP, 4 H, 1 BB/HBP, 1 K, 2 R]<Despite the injury to starting pitcher Jason Cross, the Wolves manage to break their losing streak.><Jo Woochan’s 3-run home run and Han Minwoo’s beyond-expected scoreless performance.
The wolves’ fangs pierce the mighty crocodile’s neck.><The Deoksoo High kids shine after their trade:
Minwoo and Jehyeon for the Wolves, and Yoo Seongjong, who was traded to the Dolphins, also records an RBI hit. A win–win trade.><Dolphins manager Kwon Ilman:
“I’m glad to see my former players doing well. As long as everybody keeps doing their best where they are, we’ll meet again in great places.”>
After the game.
The atmosphere in the Wolves’ locker room was electric.
“Yoon Min, we’ve gotta have a drink tonight, right? There’s a new place right out front—want to go there?”
“Sunbae, can I bring Seunghwan too?”
“Anyone who drove in my RBIs today, bring them all.
I’m buying from round one to round four.”
“Jae-hyeok hyung, you’re not queueing ranked tonight? I’m in my promo series for Gold.”
“Nope, not with you. You’re just gonna pull some Ashe jungle nonsense again.
If you’re not going support, I’m not duoing with you.”
“You were watching the game with a friend over drinks? Uh-huh. Of course oppa missed our Eunjung too.
So, how is she? Cute? Huh? No, I was just wondering if I should bring a junior of mine.
Obviously, there’s only Eunjung for me.”
Maybe because they had to leave for an away series in Gwangju after tomorrow’s game,
the players all seemed ready to make the most of the night.
Some were going out to drink,
some to play games,
some to meet women…
Among them, one guy quietly packing his bag caught someone’s attention.
“Sunbae.”
“Yeah, Jehyeon.”
It was Yoon Jehyeon, who’d gone 2-for-2 in today’s game.
“Um…”
He fidgeted awkwardly as he spoke, and Minwoo couldn’t help but chuckle.
It reminded him of the old days.
Back in high school, Minwoo had never yelled at his juniors or made them do extra drills.
Even so, the juniors were all a little scared of him.
Yoon Jehyeon was one of those juniors.
Before he could finish his sentence, Minwoo cut in and asked:
“I’m heading out to eat. Want to come?”
“Ah, yes!”
“What do you like? Meat? Grilled fish? Just so you know, I don’t drink.”
“I like meat.”
“Got it. Let’s go get some meat. Grab your stuff.”
They decided on the menu and started getting their things together.
They were about to step out of the locker room when someone called out to them first.
“Mind if I tag along to wherever you two are getting meat?”
“Gasp—sunbae-nim.”
Over 190 cm tall,
deeply tanned skin,
a face that looked perpetually stern.
The team captain,
the Wolves’ most famous player.
The first name anyone thought of when they heard “Seoul Wolves.”
Jo Woochan.
Minwoo and Jehyeon both had the same thought at once:
‘He really looks scary…’
