Chapter 9. After the Bonghwangdaegi (2)
The 2024 KBO Rookie Draft would be held on September 30.
Normally, it would have been held in the middle of September, immediately after the Bonghwangdaegi ended.
However, the regulations had changed starting this year.
At the same time, the rules regarding tampering, contacting players before the draft, had also been revised.
Until now, one major criticism had been that MLB scouts could freely contact players while domestic clubs could not.
That complaint had been accepted.
Starting after the Bonghwangdaegi and continuing until the draft, KBO scouts could now officially contact players too.
As a result, the application deadline for the draft had also been extended until immediately after the Bonghwangdaegi.
The newly established draft application deadline was September 10.
However, even late on the night of September 9, Kang Jihoon's future had still not been decided.
<Kang Jihoon Still Silent... Where Will He Go?>
<At Least 10 MLB Clubs Interested in Kang Jihoon>
<Are the Lions Preparing a Surprise Kang Jihoon Pick?>
In truth, Jihoon had almost no intention of staying in the KBO.
He believed that the level of players competing in Korea was mostly the same.
In the world before Kim Nahan's regression, Jihoon had quickly established himself in the Major Leagues.
So his belief had not been completely wrong.
However, after watching Kim Nahan dominate,
his once firm decision started to shake.
There weren't any difficult opponents among high school players.
Even Choi Jiwan, who had hit a home run off him in the final, had not seemed particularly difficult to Jihoon.
He believed it happened because he had let his guard down.
Or perhaps Choi Jiwan had simply gotten lucky.
He did not feel that Jiwan was especially difficult.
But all those thoughts disappeared the moment he saw Nahan.
Does professional baseball have lots of players who are even better than Nahan?
Jihoon did not know that Kim Nahan was a regressor.
So he could only reach that conclusion.
It was true that Nahan had performed extremely well in the tournament.
But that was still high school baseball.
Jihoon believed Nahan would have to prove himself again after becoming a professional.
That was why he decided to face Nahan in live pitching.
If he could not even defeat that guy,
then surviving in Major League Baseball would be impossible.
Because of that, as soon as Jihoon returned from Seoul, he went looking for Nahan.
"Live pitching?"
Nahan asked with a confused expression.
"I'm not planning to do much. About three plate appearances?"
"Your shoulder's already cooled down. Are you okay?"
"This much is fine. I just have to warm up again."
"Did Coach approve it?"
"I already asked him."
Even the team's catcher had somehow been pulled into it and was standing there with his equipment ready.
Nahan calmly nodded.
"Well, sure. Let's do it."
When news of the sudden live pitching session spread, players began gathering.
The coach quietly approached too.
"What's going on?"
"Those two are having a showdown."
"All of a sudden?"
"Looks like Jihoon asked him."
"Sounds fun."
Whether people were watching or not, Jihoon focused only on warming up his shoulder on the mound.
Bang!
BOOM!
"He's throwing lightly and I'm still scared to death."
"Would that be around 130?"
"130, my ass. That's probably 145."
"How does he throw that fast while taking it easy? Thank God we were on the same team."
"He's going to the Majors, right? Just imagining facing him makes me sweat."
"Of course he's going. Why would he stay here? The money he'll make in the Majors is on a completely different level."
Since he had pitched the previous day too, it seemed he had no intention of making his warmup too long.
After finishing his short preparation, Jihoon nodded.
Seeing that, Nahan entered the batter's box.
Coach Choi Jaehoon moved behind the catcher and stood with his knees slightly bent.
"Play."
"Coach?"
"I'll call the pitches, so go ahead, you punks."
Jaehoon said that with a playful smile on his face.
Jihoon silently nodded and went into a full windup.
Tap!
"Foul."
Jihoon grinned.
Nahan, on the other hand, frowned.
This isn't like him.
Kang Jihoon was practically the embodiment of pride.
Nahan had been certain the first pitch would be a fastball.
Unexpectedly, the pitch had been a circle changeup.
Normally, pitchers did not throw many circle changeups to same handed hitters.
Because the pitch moved inward toward the hitter's body, without precise control it could easily be crushed.
He completely got me with the mind game.
Nahan shook his head.
He had assumed Kang Jihoon would challenge him directly without any psychological tricks.
Jihoon sent another sign to the catcher and went into his windup again.
BOOM!
"Strike!"
"Wow, that seriously makes my legs shake."
"How are you supposed to hit that?"
"The world is seriously unfair."
A fastball painted the outside corner.
If there had been a radar gun, it would have displayed 155 km/h.
It was hard to believe this pitcher had thrown seven innings the previous day.
Nahan turned toward the coach acting as the umpire behind him.
Jaehoon clicked his tongue playfully.
"What, punk? That was a strike."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your expression was suspicious."
Nahan smiled before meeting Jihoon's eyes again.
Jihoon nodded and threw.
Whoosh!
"Strike, out!"
The third pitch was a sweeper that moved outside the zone.
It was a nightmare pitch for a same handed hitter.
Even Nahan had no choice but to strike out.
The first plate appearance went to Kang Jihoon.
Nahan clicked his tongue internally.
This isn't easy. Kang Jihoon really is Kang Jihoon.
And this was before he had even reached his full potential.
Nahan shortened his grip on the bat slightly.
I need to move my hitting point a little farther forward.
Jihoon's breaking balls traveled along the same path as his four seam fastball before suddenly breaking near the zone.
In other words, his pitch tunnel, the section where a hitter could not identify the pitch type, was extremely long.
The importance of pitch tunneling had declined somewhat in recent years.
Still, a long pitch tunnel remained a major advantage.
Then I'll hit it before the breaking ball has time to move as much.
The pitch worth targeting was the sweeper.
He had already used the element of surprise with the circle changeup once.
It would be difficult to rely on it again.
A changeup was a pitch that depended heavily on command and experience.
No matter how talented he was, Kang Jihoon was still only a high school student.
Perfectly locating it every time was too much to ask.
Nahan only needed to focus on the sweeper that would move outside the zone.
The second plate appearance began.
Crack!
"Foul."
Crack!
"Foul."
Crack!
"Single to right field."
Kang Jihoon's stuff was extremely powerful.
But the hitter's strength was no joke either.
In the end, Nahan managed to push an outside fastball into right field for a hit.
"Nahan's seriously good too."
"His opposite field hitting is high level. Even though Jihoon's pitch pushes him back, he still manages to get a hit."
"He's been smiling to himself and staring into empty space lately. Maybe you have to lose a screw somewhere to become good at baseball."
"Want me to hit you in the back of the head with a bat once? Maybe you'll become like him too."
"You're telling me to end up in the hospital just to become better at baseball?"
Jihoon shook his head hard with a stiff expression and prepared to pitch again.
He had known it would not be easy.
But he had never imagined he would lose in a contest of strength.
Now it was the final plate appearance.
Jihoon believed he absolutely could not lose this one.
I can tolerate one hit in three at bats. But absolutely not two.
A pitcher who lost twice out of three?
No one would call that player great.
For someone like that, Major League Baseball would be a luxury.
He took a deep breath and went into his windup.
Crack!
"Foul."
Jihoon's expression twisted when he saw Nahan's swing.
He was stubbornly targeting nothing but breaking balls.
Nahan's swing was practically shouting,
"I'm hitting a breaking ball."
Jihoon could not bring himself to throw one.
But...
What if he suddenly starts hunting the fastball?
What if Nahan had intended to make him think exactly that?
As suspicion piled upon suspicion, Jihoon's thoughts grew deeper.
For some reason,
the strike zone suddenly felt unbelievably small.
Jihoon thought for several seconds before giving the sign.
Then he threw with all his strength.
CRACK!
The batted ball soared into the sky.
"We'll begin the second day of meetings."
On September 11, the Daejeon Hawks were in the middle of a four day, three night strategy meeting for the rookie draft.
On the first day, every member of the scouting team had gathered to rank the players entering the draft and divide them into grades.
Because each scout valued different qualities, the meeting continued late into the night.
Then came the second day.
The general manager and a large number of staff members from the player development department joined the meeting.
Hawks General Manager Lee Yangcheol spoke first.
"Let's start with our weakest positions this season. Development director?"
"Yes. Our weak positions are corner outfield and third base. Third base, in particular, is urgent. Kim Taeyoung is already thirty seven."
The development director continued slowly.
"At his age, he also suffers from a lot of smaller injuries. He missed around forty games this year too."
"Do we have a replacement?"
"Excluding Kim Taeyoung, we have three players capable of playing third base. Among them, Jeong Cheolmin is the closest to becoming the next starting third baseman."
Yangcheol sighed at that answer.
"He still hasn't done his military service, right?"
"Correct. And his development has been slower than expected."
Jeong Cheolmin's numbers this year were 0.238/0.259/0.345.
To be fair, he was a backup player who received irregular playing time, making it difficult to maintain his hitting rhythm.
Still,
those numbers were far from good enough.
The development director knew that too, so he added another point.
"As you know, General Manager, Jeong Cheolmin isn't exactly that young either. It might be better for him to complete his military service sooner rather than later."
"Then who plays third base?"
The other two players capable of playing third were struggling even in the Futures League.
In other words, they were nowhere near good enough for the first team.
After thinking for a moment, Yangcheol shook his head.
"Understood for now. Then let's discuss which positions are likely to become weak two or three years from now."
The officials continued their discussion.
Which positions had enough depth for the next several years?
Which positions had an increasing average age?
Considering players expected to retire soon, which players returning from military service could become first team players, and which could become useful backups?
They were deciding the overall direction of their draft.
After reviewing the club's roster situation, they examined the positional rankings created by the scouting team.
Only after that process ended did they begin designing their strategy for each draft round.
However, while the strategy was being built, an unexpected variable suddenly appeared.
A club employee hurried into the conference room and whispered something to the general manager.
Lee Yangcheol's expression immediately twisted.
"We have a problem. Everyone, check the top article in the baseball section of the sports news."
The officials opened the article.
Groans filled the room.
<Kang Jihoon Will Not Enter MLB... "I'll Move Up Step by Step">
<Kang Jihoon's Sudden Decision to Stay, Lions Can Only Smile>
<Chaos in the 2024 KBO Rookie Draft. What Will Each Club Do?>
Someone muttered.
"This is insane."
The irregular variable called Kang Jihoon had entered the draft.
Their entire strategy now had to be rebuilt from the beginning.
Originally, they had planned to select a promising infielder in the early rounds.
But now that the Lions were likely to draft Kang Jihoon, another path had opened.
They might be able to get Baeam High's Han Yuseong.
A left handed pitcher who threw 151 km/h.
The scouting team's overall evaluation of him was an A.
An A+ grade was essentially reserved for players considered ready to contribute immediately.
At most, only two players received an A+ in any given year.
Considering that,
Han Yuseong was a pitcher who could compete in the first team after only minor adjustments.
The officials began arguing.
Should they simply take Han Yuseong without thinking twice?
Or should they draft a position player instead?
"The position player pool is weak this year anyway! Even if our pitching depth already looks strong, you can never have too many fireballers!"
"No. Even if we don't draft another pitcher right now, we'll be fine for the next three years. Plenty of pitchers will also become free agents. But third basemen have practically disappeared."
"So you're saying we should draft Kim Nahan? A player who only suddenly performed well in one tournament?"
The discussion grew more heated.
Yangcheol tapped the table to settle everyone down.
"Everyone calm down. First, let's watch Kim Nahan's Bonghwangdaegi footage again."
After reviewing the footage, Yangcheol asked a question.
"What round does the scouting team expect this kid to be selected?"
"Third round. If someone makes an early pick, second round."
"You rate him higher than I expected."
"Yes. We haven't watched his training closely yet, but his physical advantages are extremely clear. Technically, he's improved a lot too."
Hearing scouting director Lee Myeonghak's answer, Yangcheol fell into thought.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He silently tapped the table before muttering.
"Teams with weak depth at third or first base. Giants, Lions, Twins. Kim Nahan is also a good defender. That means he could potentially convert to first base or left field too... First pick of the second round belongs to the Lions, third to the Twins, fourth to the Giants..."
Eventually, Yangcheol seemed to finish organizing his thoughts.
He looked at Myeonghak.
"Director Lee Myeonghak, starting tomorrow, go watch Kim Nahan train."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes. And if his work ethic is good too..."
Yangcheol slowly nodded.
"Let's bring Kim Nahan to the Hawks."
