Chapter 399 – Episode 391. Unsealed. (1)
[The 1st seed includes the United States, first place in Group A, Japan, first place in Group B, South Korea, first place in Group C, and the Netherlands, which took second place in Group C but has the best record with 2 wins and 1 loss, and the 2nd seed is Taiwan is in second place in Group A, the Dominican Republic is in second place in Group B, Venezuela is in third place in Group B, and Cuba is in third place in Group C. Commissioner, which opponent would be best for us to compete against?]
[First, there is no easy country among the countries that made it to the final round, that is, the quarterfinals. Taiwan, Dominica, and Venezuela are all difficult opponents. Please note that since South Korea was in the same group as Cuba in the preliminary round, they cannot face Cuba again.]
[Still, if you had to choose an opponent with weak power…]
[After all, it’s Taiwan. Taiwan is also a baseball powerhouse that has produced many major league players, but I actually have good memories of winning last year’s Asian Games when we competed with our full strength. Plus, Venezuela is pretty good too. Although Acuña Jr. And Jose Altuve are active, their performance was not good.]
[Then which country do you think is the most difficult to deal with?]
[The country I didn’t mention is the Dominican Republic. Actually, although Dominica rose to second place, their performance was good in the match against Japan, which was first in the same group, right? Dominica, if you watch the Major League, there are many familiar players. Among them, there are aces 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara and closer Emmanuel Clase, and the hitter Jin alone is full of prominent players such as Guerrero Jr., Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Manny Machado, and Jose Ramirez.]
[Wow, there are so many great players just by hearing their names.]
[The Dominican Republic has the power to win even if it goes to the major league right now. Personally, I would like to see the Dominican Republic face off against the world’s greatest power, the United States. Haha.]
[The bracket draw will now begin. The first match of the quarterfinals… This is Korea.]
[Oh, that’s good. The schedule is fine as long as you go up.]
[… The second match is in the United States. In this case, if we win the quarterfinals and advance, our opponent will be the United States. Ah, this is a little disappointing.]
[Personally, I thought it would be nice to have the revenge of the last WBC in the finals, but it was the semifinals. They will face each other in the semifinals.]
[… The third match is Japan. If this happens, the Netherlands will naturally enter the last game. Now there will be a draw for the 2 seed. South Korea cannot compete with Cuba. Who is Korea’s opponent? ! Ah…]
[Ah…]
[… Dominica, Dominican Republic came out.]
-[Olympic] Korea! Game 1 of the quarterfinals, against Dominica!
As interest in the 2024 LA Olympics heats up, the baseball bracket is attracting a lot of attention.
The first match of the quarterfinals is between Korea and the Dominican Republic, the second match is between the United States and Venezuela, the third match is between Japan and Cuba, and the fourth match is between the Netherlands and Taiwan…
Meanwhile, unlike previous Olympics, this Olympics will be held in a tournament format without repechage. At the last Tokyo Olympics, baseball was a designated sport, so only 6 countries participated, but at this LA Olympics, it was recognized as an official sport…
… The success of the last WBC also played a role. The last WBC was also held in a tournament format without repechage, attracting attention from around the world…
… Meanwhile, South Korea will face the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals. The Dominican Republic boasts tremendous value by selecting Major League All-Star players to represent the country. In particular, Cy Young Award winner Alcantara and rising major league superstar Fernando Tatis Jr…
… South Korea is attracting attention as it announced Jung Woo-sung as its starter against Dominica, while Dominica announced its starter Sandy Alcantara, winner of the 2022 Cy Young Award.
┗ㅅㅂ Of course it’s Dominican.
┗Ah… Dominica Evande…
┗Gwangtal is confirmed haha How are Petaju, Machado, Blue Geju, Jose Ramiredo, Juan Soto, and Wander Franco Jung Woo-sung going to stop it haha
┗Wow, the Dominican lineup is tight
┗You did well in the 8th round!!!!!
-That sucks. If we had just finished second in the group, it would have been Taiwan.
┗ㄹㅇㅋ
┗If they win and go up to the Dominican Republic because they hit the schhit for no reason, let’s quit the U.S. Olympics ㅅㅂ
-Well, it was a somewhat expected result. To be honest, it was a good thing that we only advanced to the quarterfinals at the level of the upper league. Hehe
┗Honestly, was I the only one who wanted to lose to the Netherlands?
┗ㅋㅋㅋ It would have been fun if I had failed then
-Ha, what do you think of the odds of winning against Dominica? Honestly, it doesn’t seem easy when Alcantara comes out.
┗Tsk, no wonder it was revived this year.
┗The Dominican pitchers are too tough to ask the hitters, and the Dominican hitters are too tough to ask the pitchers…
-Still, we have to win. If Ji Maeng-ho, Joo Seung-cheol, or Jang Woo-joo want to make it to the majors, they have to overcome it.
┗Jang Woo-joo is a starter, so he probably won’t appear.
┗Ji Maeng-ho or Joo Seung-cheol should do it. To be honest, I was looking forward to Kang Han-beom, but with 1 hit in 12 at-bats, I’m not really looking forward to it…
*
‘It’s so intimidating.’
Before the game starts, I feel dizzy looking at the Dominican lineup on the electronic display.
In the place where the starting pitcher’s name was written, the name of Miami’s Sandy Alcantara was written, and in the place where the batter’s name was written, the names of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jose Ramirez, Juan Soto, and Wander Franco were written once. There were a lot of people I had heard of.
A lineup that wouldn’t be strange even if it were a major league team. In particular, there was no need to mention the intimidation of today’s starting pitcher, Sandy Alcantara. The batters who were joking in the locker room were just about to start the game, so everyone was looking at their cell phones for Alcantara’s video.
Sandy Alcantara, who won the Cy Young Award in the National League in 2022, had a ruined 2023 due to the aftermath of the WBC, but he revived and succeeded this year and was throwing powerful balls like before.
Alcantara erased his sluggishness from last year and recorded an ERA of 1.77 over 137.1 innings in 19 games this season, making him one of the best pitchers in the National League in name and reality. Alcantara has already recorded 11 wins this season.
It was a performance that could safely be considered as having his name engraved on the National League Cy Young Award this season.
If his form was so good, it was easy to not want to change his daily routine, but he went back to competing in international competitions, even though he knew it was risky.
‘Why did a guy who ruined his season by participating in an international competition participate in an international competition again?’
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand. Because it was special for him to represent his country. When I was first selected for the national team, I even shed tears after hitting a home run. Even though the country didn’t do anything special, it was always special to represent the country.
Even though the season was delayed, Alcantara’s pitching on the mound representing his country…,
“Strike!”
… It was also amazing. The first pitch Alcantara threw to Joo-Tae Choi hit right into Joo-Tae Choi’s knee, resulting in a strike. Velocity is 96 mph. If you change it to km/h, it is about 154.5 km/h. The scary thing was that this speed was less than his average speed.
Moreover, unlike a pitcher with a strong pitch, he was a pitcher who liked to hit the ball very well.
The strikeouts per 9 innings were in the low 8 range, which was a good record for a pitcher who was good at striking out, but it was not a very good record for a pitcher with a strong pitch like Alcantara. The reality of the major leagues these days is that you have to have about 10 strikeouts per 9 innings to be ranked in the rankings.
In other words, Alcantara was an intelligent pitcher who knew how to manage the game, unlike other stupid pitchers. It was more beneficial for him to get a base hit with one ball than to strike out with three balls.
In fact, when Alcantara won the Cy Young Award as the best inning eater in the major leagues, he pitched around 7 innings per game, and even last year, when he failed, he ate about 6 innings per game. Well, it may have to do with his natural physical strength.
‘The more I think about it, the more absurd it is. Why are there all these bastards?’
Perfect!
At that time, I heard the dull sound of a wooden bat hitting a baseball, breaking my thoughts. The ball hit by Choi Joo-tae slowly rolls in front of the pitcher.
“Out!”
And the first base umpire’s out call rings as if it were obvious. Sandy Alcantara, one of the best pitchers in the major leagues, did not make a mistake on the easy balls that came his way.
“Sir, what kind of ball was it?”
Looking at the bending angle and speed, it was a sinker…
“It’s a change-up.”
“Changeup? Changeup…”
After hearing Choi Joo-tae’s words, I was dumbfounded and checked the restraints posted on the electronic display board. The speed stamped on the electronic display board was 93.1 miles.
‘Fuck, what kind of changeup speed…’
It was faster than the fastball of most KBA league pitchers. I knew he was fast when I watched the video yesterday, but seeing it in person was on a different level.
‘Is this because he is number one in pitch value?’
For a ball like that to deflect that much and enter the zone was a disaster. They say I’m good at hitting changeups and curveballs, but that was only possible because they were ‘slow balls’. Because the ball was slow, I had more time to make a decision and was able to determine the location of the ball, so I was able to hit that off-speed breaking ball well. However, for a ball with that speed, I honestly wasn’t confident. No, you can’t do this. You must have confidence.
‘Fuck, don’t be scared. You are Ji Maeng-ho.’
We haven’t even competed yet, so I can’t go in with a loss. After lightly tapping my cheek, I step into the batter’s box, sweep the leg guard once, and raise my hand to smell the glove. The foul smell of rubber clears my mind. And two swings. Prepare for the at-bat according to the routine you have been doing so far.
After doing the routine, I feel more confident. A feeling of peace of mind. Do you think you can hit that guy’s ball over the fence like you’ve been doing?
‘Let’s go. Mr. Rossby.’
‘Okay. The first pitch is a changeup.’
Change-up. You mean you had fun earlier? Or maybe I did my own analysis. No, I’m sure you did. Then it was clear that he knew that I was good at hitting changeups. So this was his confidence.
Confidence that he can beat me with his change-up. Even a pitcher who enjoys hitting batters with hits is still a pitcher.
‘I’m going to put it in the zone, so if you want to hit it, hit it.’
It seemed like he was saying that.
And the first pitch was thrown. Even if it’s 150 anyway… ! The bat, which was held lightly, exerts as much force as usual.
Whoo!
‘Uh… ?’
“Strike!”
Fuck, this trajectory is called a changeup… ? … It doesn’t make sense.
Alcantara’s changeup was much more angled and faster than it looked from the outside. Of course, I knew that, but the ball was more curved and faster than I thought.
I knew it, but when I heard about the change-up, did I think it was the change-up I knew in my heart?
This is something I always hear from my hitting coach, but human cognitive speed cannot be faster than the ball, and batters swing the bat based on their own experience. Therefore, even promising players who were praised as having the best hitting talent in high school are unable to adapt to the pros’ breaking pitches that were not seen in high school and end up getting hit.
… Just like I am now. A new level of breaking ball that has never been seen before.
‘Fuck…’
If you keep seeing this level of curveballs, you will eventually be able to adapt, but… Not now. If I wait for my eyes to adjust to that guy’s breaking ball…
‘Mr. Rossby. That… ‘Do you?’
‘Hmm…’
‘I was planning on doing it anyway when I got to the majors. Let’s see now how far I have grown.’
It was time to lift the seal.
