The Genius Hitter Who Conquered America - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 25
The Quakes’ home stadium.
The floodlights atop LoanMart Field blazed brilliantly to life.
Despite it being a weekday evening, local fans filled the stands, their voices rising in anticipation.
[Good evening! This is the broadcast of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes’ home game. I’m caster John Miller!]
[Hello, this is Bill Heywood, providing commentary. The weather is absolutely beautiful today.]
It was a far cry from the glittering national broadcasts of Major League Baseball.
These voices were transmitted only through MiLB.TV, the official Minor League Baseball streaming app,
and a small local radio station in the Rancho Cucamonga area.
Though called commentators, most of them were aspiring broadcasters dreaming of Major League coverage.
Moving alongside the players and earning modest salaries,
they were essentially minor leaguers off the field.
Moreover, as the saying goes, the arm bends inward—
one could even detect the charm of biased commentary.
[Today the Quakes face the Stockton Ports. Bill, several new faces have joined the starting lineup today. Particularly noteworthy is Mark Williams, batting fourth. This player has quite an impressive history.]
[Ha ha, that’s right. You saw yesterday’s game, didn’t you? On his first at-bat as a pinch hitter on his first day, he launched a home run. Without that injury, this player wouldn’t be here now. A new monster has arrived in Minor League Baseball.]
The caster’s attention turned to the next name.
[And Oh Soo-ho, who absolutely shook the ground yesterday. This player is batting leadoff today. Isn’t he worth paying close attention to?]
[Indeed. This player from Korea joined the team through this tryout, overcoming hardship in his home country’s KBO League.]
[In all my years of broadcasting, I’ve never seen a player lay down a bunt against a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and reach third base with two stolen bases.]
[Certainly. His base-running sense and speed are good enough to go straight to the Major Leagues without any issues. However, there is one disappointing aspect.]
[What aspect would that be?]
[I managed to obtain a report, and his hitting was somewhat concerning.]
The commentator paused briefly before continuing.
[When we evaluate players, we typically use a 20-80 scale, as you all know. Fifty is the Major League average. Prospects receive fairly high scores even when measured against Major League standards, but Soo-ho’s hitting score comes in at 20.]
[What? Two, 20 points?! Aren’t there no players drafted by teams with a score of 20?]
[That’s right. It’s an assessment of being below league standard. Yet the Dodgers selected him. There must be a reason for that. Of course, whether he can display that clever play we saw yesterday again today, or whether he’ll fail to overcome this harsh wall of data—I’m genuinely curious about his first at-bat today.]
Just as the bottom of the first inning ended, Soo-ho, adjusting his helmet in the Dugout, slowly walked out toward the On-Deck Circle.
* * *
Standing in the Batter’s Box, Soo-ho faced the first pitch.
A slider came flying in.
Whoosh!
The bat swung powerfully, but it was a complete miss.
Soo-ho stepped out of the box and tilted his head in confusion.
‘Wait… what was that?’
But he couldn’t stay outside the box for long, so he quickly stepped back in and took his stance.
Second pitch. This time it was a fastball.
Soo-ho adjusted his timing to come in slightly earlier and swung the bat,
but—crack!
“Strike two!”
I missed again.
In the two opportunities before this, my swing had already completed its rotation before the ball even reached the bat.
This meant my timing was too early….
‘I understand now….’
For the first time in my life, I held a bat that truly fit me.
I was finally swinging it properly.
So the difference from my usual feel was substantial.
‘Does this mean I can swing a bit later?’
With that thought, I reset my stance and prepared to bat again.
The third pitch.
Whoosh!
I whiffed on the changeup.
“Strike three!”
I stepped away from the batter’s box, tapping my helmet with my fist as if disappointed.
But truthfully, I wasn’t disappointed at all.
My heart was burning with excitement instead.
It couldn’t have been otherwise.
Though I’d failed once, I wasn’t ignorant about baseball.
Having experienced professional play, I actually understood it quite well.
‘This is… insane, isn’t it?’
The sensation of wearing clothes that fit my body for the first time.
Because of this, I couldn’t gauge how fast my bat speed truly was, which was why I’d struck out.
And until just moments ago, what I’d been holding wasn’t a bat—it was an axe.
But this one was beyond my imagination.
It felt like bragging about myself, so I didn’t even want to think about it.
‘It’s too fast, even for being fast….’
Fast bat speed was an enormous advantage.
With greater speed, I could send the ball farther.
‘But I can also buy myself time at the plate.’
Fast bat speed meant I could observe the pitch longer.
‘In a pitcher-versus-batter duel, even 0.1 seconds is incredibly important.’
With fast bat speed, I could distinguish bait pitches in a split second.
I could respond to breaking balls.
And I wouldn’t miss mistakes.
Therefore, I now possessed a weapon that gave me the advantage in the mental battle with the pitcher.
‘Time’—that was the weapon in my hands.
But I deliberately suppressed the surging excitement.
Alex’s advice echoed in my mind.
‘Don’t get intoxicated by this sensation. Right. No matter what anyone says, I’m still a 20-point hitter.’
“He told me not to get intoxicated by this feeling. Right. No matter what anyone says, I’m still worth 20 points in damage.”
Just because I found the right mechanism doesn’t mean a 20-point swing can become 50 or 60 points overnight.
I mustn’t get intoxicated by this newfound power, swinging wildly or trying to become a hero.
‘For now, let me advance step by step. Let me focus on making contact first.’
I need to climb the ladder gradually.
Twenty points becoming thirty, thirty becoming forty—I must walk that path.
And in the bottom of the third inning, another opportunity came my way.
With the team down 0-1, one out and a runner on first.
Stepping into the Batter’s Box again, I quickly reviewed my first at-bat.
‘The Pitcher’s slider and changeup were sharp. But his fastball wasn’t particularly impressive.’
Around 90 miles per hour. The velocity didn’t look that great either.
Yet the Pitcher himself seemed to manage intelligently, clearly understanding his strengths and weaknesses.
But that wasn’t all.
‘Huh?’
The Third Baseman and First Baseman were slowly creeping forward.
‘An infield shift?’
This was a bunt defense.
I nodded to myself.
‘Ah. This is the Minor League. America.’
A place where dozens of teams and hundreds of players compete.
When a single player shows even slightly noteworthy performance,
his past is exposed as if stripped bare.
American baseball’s information network was swift and merciless.
‘They already know I got on base with a bunt yesterday?’
And since I struck out so pathetically in my first at-bat,
they must have decided to ignore my hitting and just defend against bunts.
‘I didn’t expect this.’
Actually, I had planned to use more of my strengths from my KBO days.
But with them so openly positioned like this, I can’t bunt even if I wanted to.
‘Of course, it’s unfortunate.’
A faint smile crossed my lips.
‘But I just gained a new weapon myself.’
The Pitcher’s strength lies in breaking balls.
But now I can see those breaking balls all the way through and respond to them.
The matchup was terrible. For the Pitcher.
First pitch.
The Pitcher threw a slider.
I felt the ball’s velocity.
‘Slow.’
So I didn’t swing.
“Ball!”
Second pitch.
This time, a changeup designed to steal my timing.
It was slow again.
I didn’t budge.
“Ball!”
2-0.
A count perfectly in the batter’s favor.
The Pitcher’s expression showed he was sweating bullets.
The bait pitch that had worked before wasn’t taking effect.
Having found my strength, I maintained composure while pressuring the Pitcher.
‘It’s about time.’
With the count in my favor, my confidence grew even stronger.
I decided to hunt for nothing but a fastball.
And the Pitcher would have no choice but to throw a fastball to get a strike.
‘He won’t let a player with poor hitting get on base with a walk.’
Third pitch.
The ball left the Pitcher’s hand and came flying with force.
‘Fastball!’
I swung as if I’d been waiting for it.
But once again, I slashed through empty air.
“Strike!”
Even though I anticipated it, I couldn’t connect.
I blinked in shock.
‘No. Even though I swung later than before, it’s still too fast?’
But in that moment, a smile formed.
‘Does that mean… even if I visually confirm it’s a fastball and swing, I won’t be late?’
Fourth pitch.
The Pitcher, convinced I had a weakness in my hitting, drove another powerful fastball straight down the middle.
I visually confirmed the ball coming and started my swing half a beat late.
Gathering all my strength into one motion, I drove off the ground.
Rotating my hips.
I poured everything I had into the bat.
Crack!
A sharp explosive sound burst forth.
The ball shot toward the gap between the First Baseman and Second Baseman.
In a normal situation, it would be a routine ground ball out.
It was a course closer to the Second Baseman.
But.
Whoosh!
The ball was like a bullet.
It was the result of Soo-ho’s innate power meeting the mechanism he’d discovered.
Minor League Baseball.
Moreover, it was an overwhelming batted ball velocity that shouldn’t exist at the Low-A level.
The Second Baseman couldn’t even react.
Before he could raise his glove, the ball had already whizzed past him.
That wasn’t all.
The Right Fielder, thinking it was an ordinary ground ball, came running in slowly.
Then, startled by the line drive piercing through him, he belatedly spun around.
As the ball rolled toward the Outfield Fence, the Runner on First crossed Home Plate with ease.
Soo-ho sprinted at full speed and reached Second Base.
1:1. The tying run-batted-in had come from Soo-ho’s hands.
* * *
Quakes Dugout.
The players stood frozen like a still frame, unable to comprehend what had just unfolded before their eyes.
And no one was more shocked than Mark.
‘What? Was that really Soo-ho just now?’
Mark knew Soo-ho.
He could confidently say he knew him better than anyone else here besides Soo-ho himself.
He’d watched his training more closely than anyone.
He thought he understood his strengths and weaknesses.
‘But that swing just now….’
It wasn’t the Soo-ho he knew.
The form still appeared awkward on the surface.
It was definitely the same form he recognized.
But the way the bat came through.
And the trajectory and velocity….’
‘It’s like someone else possessed him.’
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what or how things had changed, but one thing was certain.
‘That guy… is truly a monster, isn’t he?’
Another level.
No, it seemed like he’d grown several levels.
While Mark was engulfed in shock and confusion, Taylor at the end of the bench was overwhelmed by an entirely different impact.
‘Is this… right?’
He’d carefully reviewed Soo-ho’s past video footage before assigning Alex to him.
A powerless, pathetic swing.
To be honest, a 20 out of 100?
No. If there was a 10, he’d give a 10. If there was a 0, he’d give a 0. That’s the kind of swing it was.
But that bullet-like laser that had just pierced through the Second Baseman’s glove.
He couldn’t possibly believe it was the same player from that footage.
In just one day. No.
In just a few hours, he had returned as an entirely different player.
‘Alex… what on earth did you do to that guy?’
At the same time, I sent a sharp glance toward Alex, who was watching the game from the Stands.
Alex turned his head in the direction of the gaze he felt.
The moment our eyes met, he shrugged his shoulders.
That’s just because he was hiding his eyes behind sunglasses.
The one who was truly shocked was Alex himself.
The arrogant smile that always graced his face had vanished completely, replaced by an expression of sheer astonishment.
‘Why is he staring at me?’
Even Alex himself hadn’t expected it to reach this level.
To be honest about it.
What had I even done?
All I’d done was hand him an axe instead of a bat.
‘Of course, I did offer some guidance.’
But a mechanism that even ordinary.
No—even the greatest players in the world couldn’t master.
Soo-ho possessed the talent to learn it.
‘My original intention was simply to provide a catalyst for enlightenment.’
Gaining that enlightenment would take a month at most.
However, I had expected it would take at least several months for him to internalize the principle in his body and apply it in actual play.
That was the common knowledge and data I possessed.
Therefore, this wasn’t a result of my merit.
‘That guy was simply well-prepared from the start. Of course, he still has a long way to go.’
Yet Alex’s body trembled.
It couldn’t be helped.
‘No matter how ultimate the mechanism is… to produce a batted ball like that from a ground ball?’
What would happen when he eventually reached his complete form?
Even as an expert, I couldn’t dare imagine how Soo-ho would transform.
What was even more astonishing was that Soo-ho’s performance didn’t end there.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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