“Currently, it is not normal. If I was in my original condition, everyone would have watched comfortably from the bench, but I am very sorry.”
Jeong Hae-young, the closer for the KIA Tigers, did not laugh at the relief victory.
Jung Hae-young, who debuted as a pro in the 2020 season KIA uniform, is a right-handed pitcher whose strengths are a fastball with an average average of 140 km in the mid-140 km range and a splitter with a large drop. He established himself as the closer of the Tiger Corps, recording 32 and 34 saves in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, respectively.
However, Jung Hae-young suffered from restraint and poor pitch starting from this year’s demonstration game. He was the one who maintained an average speed of 145 km last year, but this season he is only in the early 140 km.
As a result, despite being in the early stages, he gave up two lethal home runs to the closer (before the game on the 29th) and made one blown save. Considering that Jung Hae-young had only three homers last year, this is an unsatisfactory record.
Then he finally found an opportunity to rebound. He got on the mound at the bottom of the 10th inning, where the two teams were tied 3-3 in the away game against the LG Twins held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 28th, and blocked two innings without a run. Lee Chang-jin’s final sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th inning was added to this, and Jung Hae-young had his 2nd win (1 loss, 2 saves) of the season.
Jung Hae-young, who we met after the game, said, “To be honest, I focused on blocking in the top of the 10th inning.” So he threw with the mindset of ‘if you can hit it, hit it’. Fortunately (the batting ball) hit well, but everyone went to the front of the defense. I was lucky,” he said.
As he said, in fact, this day was not a perfect pitch. Most of the balls hit the center of the bat, and the highest speed of the fastball that day was only 142 km.
Jung Hae-young said, “I’m worried because I’m not restrained more than I thought. He sighed, saying, “I think he should deal with the batter in a different way.”
However, it is possible to achieve pan-hitting judo as well. Jeong Hae-young said, “I think that I went to the front of the defense even if the pitch was good. (Recently) I think my pitching has improved rather than restraint. I guess that helped a bit. The defense is also helping a lot,” he said with a shy smile.
The existence of right-handed reliever Jang Hyun-shik, who recently returned after undergoing surgery to remove bone fragments in his elbow at the end of last season, is a great source of strength for Jung Hae-young and the KIA pitching staff.
Jeong Hae-young said, “Since (Jang) Hyun-shik is my older brother, the overall balance of the bullpen has improved. he is very comfortable (Jang) Hyunsik has an older brother and (Jeon) Sanghyeon has an older brother. Left pitchers include (Lee) Jun-Young Lee, (Kim) Ki-Hoon Lee, and (Kim) Dae-Yoo. It seems to be well harmonized throughout.”메이저사이트
He also expressed his regret for his team. Jung Hae-young said, “Not only me, but all the hyungs and coaches worry about me. Senior (Yang) Hyeonjong is worried about me, and the pitching staff is also worried about me. More than I thought, I thought, ‘The hyungs are caring and thinking about me a lot’.”
At the same time, Jeong Hae-young said, “I’m so sorry (to the team). I don’t know what the result would be if I was in my condition, but I feel very sorry that the players would have watched comfortably from the bench. To be honest, right now I am thinking only about the results rather than satisfaction.”
Finally, Jung Hae-young said, “In the end, the position is what I go to. I am looking for my past pitching videos,” he emphasized, “I am trying to find it quickly.”
Jung Hae-young is going through a transitional period like this. But the ordeal will end someday. I don’t know when that point will be, but one thing is certain: when his growing pains are over, the Tiger Corps will become even more powerful.