“Change balls should account for 20%… ”
LG National University sidearm Wooyoung Jeong (24) is experiencing extreme growing pains this year. He felt the limitations of the ‘two-seam one-pitcher’ and is putting a lot of effort into installing breaking balls. As the rarity of a fast-ball sidearm virtually disappeared, Jung Woo-young faced a new keyword called diversity. Of course it takes time to adapt.
In 57 games, 5 wins, 5 losses, 11 holds, and an ERA of 4.74, this is completely different from his winning streak as soon as he debuted in 2019. However, director Yeom Kyeong-yeop believes that it is an ordeal that Jung Woo-young will have to go through anyway. He said that he and the coaching staff are putting a lot of effort into it.
Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said ahead of the Gwangju KIA game on the 10th, “Wooyoung needs to increase the proportion of breaking balls to 20%. When times are difficult, we fight with what we can do well, but the results keep coming back bad. To save the pitch, you need to add more pitches. “I’ve been pitching for a few years, and hitters are only targeting that, so my hitting percentage goes up,” he said.
According to the baseball statistics site StatTees, Jung Woo-young’s hitting percentage rose from 0.225 last year to 0.319 this year. So Jung Woo-young also returned from the second team after spending time practicing his slider, curve, and change-up. However, learning and installing a breaking ball is not as easy as it sounds. He says there are pitchers who do it very simply, but that’s the pitcher’s talent. In general, installing pitches is never done overnight.
According to Stats, Jung Woo-young raised his slider usage rate to 19.6% this year. He was at 7.6% last year. His hitting percentage also dropped from 0.313 last year to 0.238 this year. The effect of installing a slider and increasing quality is clearly visible. However, as Coach Yeom said, he ends up throwing a two-seam at important moments. Since it is still an overwhelming proportion, there is no dramatic reversal.토토사이트
It was the same in the Gwangju KIA game on the 10th. Coach Yeom brought up Jung Woo-young at the start of the bottom of the 7th inning when the score was tied 7-7. In the end, I decided that Jung Woo-young should do it, so I bet on him. However, Park Chan-ho, who has a good batting ability, was targeting Jung Woo-young’s pitching pitch. Jung Woo-young used the two-seamer five times in a row and got a hit. And Kim Do-young allowed a second base steal on the first pitch of the at-bat. Scenes that highlight Jung Woo-young’s weakness (slide step). In the end, Chan-Ho Park scored the winning goal that day.
From the beginning, Director Yeom talked about curves. This is because mixing the fastest two-seam with the slowest curve is the best way to steal batters’ timing. However, curb mounting appears to be difficult. Speech rate 1.3%. Although you are practicing, you may have found it difficult to place a high emphasis on it in practice, or you may be focusing more on the slider.
Coach Yeom further emphasized that pitchers must establish detailed pitching routines. An essential requirement for a pitcher who can make long runs out of the bullpen. Coach Yeom said, “When I’m not feeling well, I need to establish in detail how to throw a breaking ball and which target to throw the ball at. When I catch a fastball, I just think, ‘I have to throw it low and low.’ You must have a routine for how to throw low. “If it’s not organized, it will falter in practice,” he said.
Since his debut, Jung Woo-young has appeared in 315 games without stopping. He has quite a bit of first-team experience among bullpen pitchers of his age. But he is still 24 years old. This is not a veteran bullpen. As Director Yeom said, he needs to grow, and he is putting in a lot of effort on his own to grow. Director Yeom also acknowledged this part.
The opening of the Hangzhou Asian Games is two weeks away. There are 11 days left until the national team is called up. If it is difficult to improve dramatically over 11 days, I am curious about what solution the national team coach Ryu Joong-il, who knows Jung Woo-young well, has. As of now, how to use it in the national team is also ambiguous.
Wooyoung Jeong/My Daily
In any case, Director Yeom believes that Jung Woo-young must be saved at all costs. Coach Yeom said, “Koh Woo-seok and Jung Woo-young are pitchers representing our country, so they are selected for the national team. What is important is how quickly these players can be revived. These players are important in the remaining games, important in the Asian Games, and even in the postseason when they return. These players are cards that must be saved somehow. It is also very important to the team. “The coaching staff is thinking a lot about it,” he said.