Kiwoom Heroes announced their intention to promote two-time pitching, but Jang Jae-young (21) only helped with the bat. His eyes are fixed only on the mound.
On the 23rd (Korean time), Jang Jae-young played a 7-inning simulation game against the Arizona Diamondbacks of the Major League (ML) at Salt River Field at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. Jang Jae-young, the first of seven pitchers, threw 20 balls (12 fastballs, 7 curveballs, and 1 slider) to check his senses. Even though it was still early, he sprayed the ball with an average speed of 149 km and a maximum speed of 152 km.먹튀검증
He showed up at the plate, and the timing was delayed, but he got two walks and the expected results were achieved. However, Jang Jae-young, whom he met after the game, seemed uninterested in the results at bat. Rather than feeling sorry for not being able to match Conor Grams (26), a fastball pitcher who throws up to 160 km, he took it as an opportunity to gain confidence by realizing how much threat a batter feels from a pitcher who throws a fast ball. Jang Jae-young said, “Since it was my first actual pitching, I threw with 80-90% intensity, paying attention to over-pace. It also gave me confidence,” he said.
Jang Jae-young threw a fast ball since his freshman year at Deoksu High School and received attention from the major leagues. The 900 million won contract he received at the time of joining as the first nomination for the 2021 rookie draft gauged expectations for him. However, his professional wall was high. For two years, he had an average ERA of 8.53 in 33 games, 31 walks and 33 strikeouts in 31⅔ innings. On the other hand, he sprayed powerful balls from the bullpen, but he had difficulties every time in real life, so some looked at whether it was a psychological factor rather than a pitching mechanism.
However, as he experienced the Australian Baseball League (ABL) through Geelong Korea this winter, he regained his confidence. He started 6 games and showed good control with an earned run average of 3.30, 30 innings, 9 walks, 37 strikeouts, and a WHIP (on-base per inning) of 1.03. His strike rate was also positive at 62.7%.
Shortly after returning from Australia, Jang Jae-young said, “I threw with the thought that I was the best on the mound. In the Australian league, there were many hitters who wanted to hit aggressively, but it worked for me to actively try to win. He said, “I learned that there are various strategies as a pitcher as I had fun with an active game.”
That mindset was still valid until the end of spring camp. After training, coach Hong Won-ki revealed his intention to provide batting seats to Jae-young Jang, at least until the exhibition game. However, I am not really interested in it. Jang Jae-young said, “I am more greedy as a pitcher. I am not greedy at bat. I want to start as a starter rather than bat and show that I can fight with batters. In Australia, I put a little more emphasis on pitching than my greed to pitch and hit. Of course, if you continue to send me out as a hitter, I will do my best as a beast according to the situation.”
If he, who is sincere as a pitcher, settles into the starting rotation as expected, Kiwoom will have a dream native 156km one-two punch consisting of An Woo-jin (24) and Jang Jae-young. His role models are pitchers Ahn Woo-jin and Gerrit Cole (33, New York Yankees), not hitters.
Jang Jae-young said, “(Ahn) Woojin hyung in Korea and Gerrit Cole in foreign countries are my role models. I think Cole’s control is good because his deception and release points are constant, so I’m looking for a lot of videos. Woojin hyung from the same team. He is the style to generously inform his juniors, so whenever he has a question, he asks and gets help.”