A Small Crack
Ah, finally we’ve got inside a cafe, so I’ve finally become alive.
Games watching in the middle of summer – it’s a torture. Absolute torture.
Five men entered the cafe, wiping sweat.
Two of them were middle-aged men with the appearance of senior staff members, while another three were relatively young.
Five Americanos iced should be ok?
We'll use a company card?
Of course.
Several minutes later a man in suit returned with a tray despite the hot weather.
Handing over coffees he spoke.
Let’s relax a bit, then start a discussion. Manager Jeong, what game have you watched?
I've watched a game between Baeam High and Sangsin High, Team Leader.
How was it?
In response to Lee Myeonghak's question Manager Jeong brushed back his hair.
Then he pulled a tablet from his bag and examined his notes.
Baeam High won, naturally.
How was Han Yuseong?
Same as always. No, actually, he looks even better. Velocity increased again.
Team Leader rubbed his chin.
By how much?
Four kilometers per hour. He has broken 150.
Then Han Yuseong will be difficult for us to get.
There was an expression in baseball.
If there was a left-handed fireballer you should drag him out of hell itself to sign him.
And what if that left-hander was able to throw 150 kilometers per hour despite the lack of professional training?
Major League teams will probably also try to recruit him.
Lee Myeonghak clicked his tongue.
He couldn’t decide whether it was a misfortune or fortune.
The Hawks almost became the last team in the previous season.
Nevertheless, as a result of this their draft position slightly declined.
If we wanted to improve we should have made it enough to enter the postseason.
But what result is ninth place?
Unfortunately, getting Han Yuseong seemed unlikely.
There was no way the Lions who were desperately needing left-handed pitchers would allow him to pass them by.
Seeing disappointed expression of Lee Myeonghak Manager Jeong Mincheol asked.
We weren’t planning to draft him in the first place, were we?
Yes, indeed. But left-hander who can throw 151 kilometers per hour changes everything.
Thanks to the years of miserable results the pitching pool of the Hawks was fairly strong.
At least, strong compared to other teams in Hawks.
They gathered several pitchers who could be useful in the first round.
And it greatly influenced their draft strategy for this season.
It's high time we replaced the infield generation.
They needed fresh blood in the infield.
Former star was approaching the end of his career, and there was no replacement for him.
Thinking of lack of quality third basemen Myeonghak frowned.
It's a third base drought. A real drought. How can we not have had a decent-looking third baseman for such a long time? Have you guys seen one?
Nobody answered.
Each and every member of the scouting team knew it.
Third base pool was weak again this year.
Meyonghak nodded with bored expression.
He clearly didn’t expect anything.
As expected. Guys, please check Kim Nahan in your lists. Seongsin High.
On these words everyone started tapping on tablets.
Each scouting department had its own draft list.
Based on the first-year assessments of players this list was created.
At first roughly three hundred players were included in it.
This number gradually decreased.
By August, when Bonghwangdaegi Tournament was held, usually about hundred and fifty players remained in it.
Kim Nahan was one of them.
Manager Jeong examined his statistics.
Hm. Good physical tools. Tall, decent power. Speed and quickness look good as well. But isn't he a free swinger? Such a ratio between walks and strikeouts usually says that a player has some psychological problems in his batting.
Meyonghak nodded.
Yes, correct. But he is posting very impressive numbers in this tournament.
Please show me his stats and exact numbers.
In the first round, in the Round of 32 Kim Nahan participated in eleven plate appearances during three games.
Eyes of Manager Jeong twitched, seeing the numbers.
Four home runs in three games. And no strikeouts? Two walks in eleven plate appearances, no strikeouts and six hits in nine at-bats? Every hit is extra base?
It seems he slightly modified his batting form. His approach changed.
What is the kind of change you are talking about, Team Leader?
He has never had any especially memorable results before, so I took a look at his old footage. He changed his swing a lot to use his frame better.
Members of the scouting team listened with interest.
The sample size was small, but no one could deny that Kim Nahan dominated this tournament.
What did he take or what? How does it possible for one to change so much overnight? There were no rumors, wasn’t there, Manager Jeong?
As far as I can remember, his training attitude has always been very serious. I don't think there are any problems like this.
I was kidding. But seriously, where such a player appeared from? He fell from the sky or what?
Ah... yes. Haha.
Irrelevant whether his subordinate found the joke funny or not Lee Myeonghak continued to flip several reports.
Then he nodded.
Except the Round of 32, when they played against Seobuk High, they haven't played against strong opponents. Nevertheless, he is absolutely worth watching. If he keeps it up we can consider moving him up in the draft and taking him. Fourth or fifth round will be appropriate.
Yes, sir!
Next...
Scouting meeting continued.
We crushed all opponents and advanced to the Round of 16.
Having such stars as Kang Jihoon, who will be playing in MLB, and me, former KBO MVP, in one high school team was almost a disaster for every opponent.
Articles about me started to appear in different places as well.
Of course, not all of them were positive.
But some of them started to evaluate me seriously.
*Personally, I think that Kim Nahan may become the dark horse of this draft.
└ His stats are insane.
└ This school doesn't have anything interesting except Kang Jihoon.
└ Kang Jihoon is going to the Majors anyway, so there is nothing to scout from this school.
└ Kim Nahan? Human windmill from Seongsin High? He beat up weak teams till the Round of 32 and now everyone is excited lol.
└ Overreaction from Hawks fans lol.
└ Honestly, such a player as Kim Nahan fits Hawks perfectly. Kang Jihoon and Han Yuseong belong to our glorious Lions.
I'm telling you, this isn't a fluke. He slightly moved his hitting point. Plate discipline problem looks better. He is worth watching.
└ Nahan, log out and go practice.
└ Even if he does well, sixth round at best~
└ Don't feed the troll.
Before my regression, people didn't even pay attention to me.
So the fact that my name appeared in online communities was a good sign.
People say that being ignored is worse than criticism.
And depending on how I will perform next, public opinion might change completely.
Anyway, the real test is this game.
Turning to the next article I read.
<Seongsin High meets favorite in championship Baeam High in the Round of 16 without Kang Jihoon on the mound>
Until now, Kang Jihoon was responsible for the biggest part of the pitching task, so our games were pretty comfortable.
But today, he wouldn't pitch.
Today, he was scheduled to play only as a designated hitter.
It means that today was the day when I would face the real test.
We have to win without Kang Jihoon pitching.
In my previous life, our team was defeated in the Round of 16.
Seongsin High was already regarded as weak team in terms of offense without Kang Jihoon.
And without its ace pitcher?
That was the same as losing more than half of our power.
But this time is different.
In my previous life opponents could simply pitch around Kang Jihoon and attack everyone else.
This time, my presence will make this strategy much more complicated.
No coach will be crazy enough to purposely place two dangerous baserunners on the bases.
If we cannot use our ace pitcher, we have to beat them with our bats.
Well, guys, I hope you remembered yesterday's meeting.
Coach gathered us and shouted.
His eyes were very serious.
He understood how important was this match for us.
Baeam High isn't the strong team in terms of offense as well. This means that every run is valuable. Our hitters have to fulfill their job.
Coach deliberately didn't mention that Baeam High's ace will start today.
There was no sense in lowering team morale.
He met the eyes of each player and then firmly nodded.
