Why the 191cm lefty is grateful for Oh Ji-hwan and Lim Chan-kyu?
LG Twins left-hander Son Ju-young has been given the opportunity to start in the fifth spot again after a two-year absence.
Manager Yoon Kyung-yup plans to use foreign pitchers Enns and Kelly, as well as Korean starters Choi Won-tae and Lim Chan-kyu, in the first through fourth spots in the LG starting rotation this season, with the fifth spot going to two left-handed pitchers, Kim Yun-sik and Son Ju-young.
For Son, it’s his fifth start in two years. Son, who was drafted in the second round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft (No. 2 overall), won the competition for the fifth spot in the 2022 season. After earning the No. 5 spot in exhibition games, 카지노사이트 he made three starts to start the season before suffering an elbow injury in late April. He underwent surgery and rehabbed for nearly a year.
He pitched in the Futures League last May and was called up in September to pitch on the first team mound. In three games, he went 1-0 with a 5.19 ERA (5 earned runs in 8.2 innings). In his final start of the season, on Oct. 10, he pitched five innings of two-hit ball with two walks and three strikeouts in a win over Lotte. He was named to the Korean Series roster after showing good stuff in training camp and the Blue-Black Game leading up to the Korean Series.
Son was included in the six-man roster in mid-January and began throwing early at spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
He quickly improved his physical condition and was the first of the LG pitchers to pitch out of the bullpen. He threw 35 pitches in his first outing, 50 pitches in his second, and then gradually increased his pitch count to 65 and 80 pitches.
“I’m doing my best to prepare, and I’ve been doing well so far. I’m confident. If I keep my pace up and keep it up, I think I’ll be better (in the final game) than last year,” he said.
In his first bullpen outing, he threw his fastball up to 140-142 mph. “It was more than I thought it would be. I thought it would be in the low 130s, but it kept coming up in the 140s (into the second inning),” Son said.
“I’ll definitely get a chance like in 2022, and to do that, I need to pitch well in exhibition games, practice games and show good form. I need to be on the first team roster, whether it’s starting or long relief. I’m aiming for the starting rotation, but I want to pitch for a long time in the first team, whether it’s in the bullpen or starting.”
Son has the advantage of being a left-handed pitcher with a tall stature of 191 centimeters. “My fastball is my strength, but I’m still working on my curve and splitter. I have a good fastball, so I need to refine my changeup (curve and splitter) and make it a decisive pitch,” he said.
It took him a long time to move up from the second team to the first team after rehabbing last year.
“My pitches weren’t good in the second team. My fastball was only averaging in the low 140s. My changeup was so-so. I gave up three runs in five innings and three runs in six innings when I pitched well. To get to the first team, you need to throw six shutout innings and have a 145 mph fastball, and that wasn’t happening.” “Then in the second team, all of a sudden, I got a couple games better. I was averaging 143-144 mph, and I got a little better, so I got my chance.”
He hopes to make up for last year’s disappointment this year. “If everything goes well, I’m aiming for 10 wins, double-digit wins,” Son said. First, I need to make sure I’m not sick. Last year, I pitched against Cheongbaek (before the Korean Series), and I pitched two three-inning games, and I felt very uncomfortable against our hitters. If you throw good pitches, they’ll cut them, and they’re all good hitters, so it was a little bit of hell to be their pitcher. We didn’t have any hitters. I think if you consistently pitch five or six innings under three runs, you’re going to be a winning pitcher half the time in 20 games. He’s got good defense,” he said.
At the end of the interview, Son expressed his gratitude to Oh and Lim Chan-kyu.
Oh gave 6 million won in pocket money to the pitchers (Jung Woo-young, Son Joo-young, Kim Yun-sik, Lee Sang-young, Kang Hyo-jong, and Lee Ji-kang) who came to the spring training camp in mid-January as the first group to arrive. They were given money for food and other expenses. “I’m grateful to Jihwan for his support,” said Son Ju-young.
“I’m also grateful to Chan Kyuhyung. He gives me a lot of mental coaching. He reads a lot of books, and he tells me a lot of positive things. For example, 메이저사이트 if I have a bad pitch on the mound, he tells me to think, ‘I can throw a strike, I can do it,’ instead of, ‘What can I do? Last year, the day before my first start of the season (against the Gwangju Kia), he bought me a meal and talked to me a lot. I’m still learning (mental coaching),” he said.