Chapter 30

Genius Coach -1-

#

Yuri is also a sabermetrician, but her precise identity is that of a sports scientist.

Sabermetrics is a complex concept, but it can be easily understood as an attempt to accurately evaluate a player's value.

Naturally, it doesn't end with just producing a value. It doesn't stop at arguing that a certain player is the best despite another player being the home run king.

Each Major League team hires sabermetricians to evaluate players' values. They have closed systems and possess much more data internally than what is publicly available. These secrets are not shared, as they lose their value the moment they are shared.

This is only natural.

After all, they are studying sabermetrics to bring in players for less money than their actual value.

In the case of Moneyball, which focused on on-base percentage and slugging percentage rather than batting average and home runs, it wasn't that they thought on-base percentage was the best. They pursued cost-effectiveness by noticing that players with high on-base percentages had lower salaries compared to those with high batting averages.

In any case, a sports scientist is different from a sabermetrician.

While sabermetrics analyzes results to improve efficiency, a sports scientist actively seeks to create better outcomes by pursuing changes in individual players.

Yuri has a natural talent in this regard.

Even as a college student, she can digest information in her own way with just a little hint.

"Have you seen No Gyeong-u?"

"Yeah."

"I think it would be good to modify his leg kick a bit..."

I told No Gyeong-u that he has good quickness, and that he relies on it to play baseball. I only gave him that much information, but I mentioned it while watching his batting videos.

When I asked him to take a look at No Gyeong-u's swing when he had some free time, it seemed he had done some research.

"Leg kick?"

"Yeah, take a look at this."

What Yuri showed was a composite video of several of No Gyeong-u's batting videos. He shakes his hips, lifts his right foot, and then firmly plants it to time his swing.

"Oh."

"Did you notice?"

The timing of lifting his foot and placing it down is different each time. The position where he places his foot also varies. As a result, his chin tends to rise when he swings.

At first glance, it doesn't seem to be a big issue. It's hard to notice unless you look closely.

Considering he's a rookie infielder, his batting performance isn't bad, so there might not be an immediate need to find a problem.

"Is there a way to improve it?"

"It would be good to maintain a consistent leg kick. The upper body seems to lean outward during the follow-through because the balance is off. If this is resolved, he can start quickly and it will be easier to get infield hits. He's also fast on his feet."

I said I'm not sure about the method yet. After all, I'm the only one who has actually worked with players, so I still lack experience.

Actually, this is something the coach should handle.

Our team's batting coach...

#

"Yeah! Good! Great! The hit is huge! You're really extending! Wow! You're killing it! Good! Hit like that in the game too! Ahh!"

...Is he a batting coach or a cheerleader?

I can't really say he's a high-level coach, even if it's just empty words.

After all, if he were high-level, would the batters be in such a state?

It's not my place to say, but most of the coaches wouldn't have much to say even if they were fired.

Well, the batting coach seems more useful than the pitching coach.

The defense coach is a bit better. He's not creative, but he's diligent.

The quality control coaches are decent, but they seem to have no power because they're in the front office line.

I sat next to No Gyeong-u, who was sitting and resting.

"Hey, No Gyeong-u."

"What."

"How many times do you shake your hips at the plate?"

No Gyeong-u looked at me strangely.

"Why are you so interested in how many times I shake my hips?"

"You don't know how many times you shake them, do you?"

"What's wrong with my hips?"

"Don't you know?"

"Who counts and shakes them?"

"Start counting and shaking from now on."

"What the hell, you crazy bastard."

I felt a bit hurt when No Gyeong-u called me a crazy bastard, but I decided to bear it since I'm an adult.

"On average, you shake them 6.7 times."

"Why are you counting that? You have a girlfriend, so why are you interested in my hips!"

"Adjust your hip shaking according to the pitcher's interval. Today's starting pitcher is Hwang Bo-kyung, right? Six times when he winds up, a bit faster five times for a quick motion. Not dun-dun-dun, but dun.dun.dun."

No Gyeong-u's expression was strange.

Maybe I didn't explain it well enough.

"..."

"..."

"Try it once, just to see."

"..."

"..."

"Just try it."

"..."

#

The problem with No Gyeong-u shaking his hips is that his center of gravity is disrupted when his hips move forward. When he starts his leg kick as his hips move backward, his batting quality is good.

It means that he will easily lose his timing when the pitcher changes his pitching rhythm to steal it.

Hwang Bo-kyung is a veteran pitcher with excellent control.

His pitching form and timing are similar for all pitches. It's very difficult for batters to distinguish between pitches, but No Gyeong-u has a natural quickness and talent for controlling his bat to hit them. I think he can time his swings by controlling his hips.

What if it doesn't work?

Hmm.

It could happen.

If it fails...?

I have a friend who is an Oceans fan. Maybe I can set him up on a blind date. What was his nickname? Was it "Hot Spicy Chicken Noodle"?

"No-Gyeong-u! No-Gyeong-u!"

No Gyeong-u is at the plate. He seems to have some popularity. He's still young, but he has fans who like him because he seems like a junior.

I'm still batting third after Yang Daekyun's return. The manager seems to think I'm doing well in the third spot, so there's no need to change it. I also think that if No Gyeong-u masters hip control and gets a feel for it, he could be a good leadoff hitter.

"Ball!"

He looked at me strangely after hearing my advice earlier, but I counted just now and he shook his hips six times.

Will it have an effect?

I think it will have an effect, but the method seems too simple even to me, so I'm not sure.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

"Ball!"

Park Eui-hyun is in the on-deck circle.

The third pitch is a foul.

The timing seemed good, but the pitch prediction was wrong.

Hwang Bo-kyung is a pitcher who throws various breaking balls and has a relatively weak four-seam fastball. My first hit was caught by the left fielder just in front of the fence. Considering how far the ball went despite slightly missing the timing, it had a good extension but lacked weight.

I thought I could hit it over if I made solid contact, but since he has excellent control and doesn't give easy pitches, I can't miss when the ball comes into the strike zone.

The pitcher and catcher exchanged signals. As the pitcher started his pitching motion, No Gyeong-u shook his hips six times and began his leg kick.

Oh, this timing is good.

Thwack!

At 2-1, No Gyeong-u hit the four-seam fastball that came in to try to get a strike.

He's not particularly large, but he has good wrist strength.

The ball is flying towards the fence.

The outfielder is chasing the ball, and the fans and players are all standing up to watch its direction.

"Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"Go over! Go over!"

"More! More! More! More! More!"

The ball is teetering on the edge of going over or not.

No Gyeong-u is sprinting. He's already at second base.

"Wowwwww!"

"Kyeong-u!"

The ball went over the fence, and the Sajik Baseball Stadium was filled with cheers.

Park Eui-hyun, who was in the on-deck circle, did a chicken dance to welcome No Gyeong-u.

"Wow! No Gyeong-u! It's a hit!"

"Kyeong-u is doing great!"

"Kyeong-u!"

No Gyeong-u, who was hit on the helmet by his teammates, approached me with a dazed look and extended his arm.

"Hey, Kang Geon-woo. Hey. Look at this."

No Gyeong-u's arm was covered in goosebumps.

"Hips..."

Senior Lee Si-wook was tapping No Gyeong-u's helmet, but No Gyeong-u continued.

"The hips were real!"

Hmm.

"What? Are there fake hips? Do you walk around with a plug in your hips?"

Senior Lee Si-wook asked while still tapping the helmet.

No Gyeong-u turned around and hit his nose.

"Ouch! Senior! The hips! The hips were the answer!"

"What?"

"Hips six times!"

"..."

"Hips six times, that's it!"

"Are you crazy?"

No Gyeong-u shouted about his hips even after getting hit on the hips by Senior Lee Si-wook.

"Hips! Six times!"

#

Even after the game ended, the Oceans fans didn't leave Sajik Baseball Stadium.

"Wow, baseball is really fun these days."

The fans got to enjoy the exciting baseball they were looking for.

The bullpen was still a mess, but the batters were showing their tenacity.

"Our rookies are really killing it."

"They really picked well."

"Where did the ones they picked before go?"

No one could answer that question, but thanks to No Gyeong-u's outstanding performance, they won 8-6.

3 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored, and an additional stolen base.

"Seeing how well the rookies are developed, isn't there a problem with the scouting team?"

It was a statement that could make the scouting team's uniform flip.

- Ladies and gentlemen