Jang Jae-young (21) of the Kiwoom Heroes in professional baseball finally tasted the excitement of the victory of the Masu girl that he had been drawing so much.
Jang Jae-young came out as a starting pitcher in a home game against the NC Dinos at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul 메이저사이트 on the 5th and pitched two hits, four walks, seven strikeouts and no runs in 5 1/3 innings, leading the team to a 2-0 victory. As a result, he enjoyed the joy of becoming a winning pitcher for the first time since his debut in 2021. It is his 40th appearance in a first-team game.
On this day, Jang Jae-young threw 92 pitches, the most in his history. 5 1/3 innings is also the most innings. He beat NC’s batters by mixing fastballs (70 pitches) with a maximum speed of 154 kilometers per hour, sliders (15 pitches) with around 130 kilometers per hour, and curves (7 pitches).
Kiwoom has won two consecutive games with Jang Jae-young’s good pitching. This season’s performance is 38 wins, 2 draws, and 39 losses, with a 50% winning rate on the horizon. On the other hand, NC’s ace Eric Pedi relatively did his part with five hits, eight strikeouts and two runs in five innings, but he recently lost five consecutive games as the batters did not explode.
Jang Jae-young, who graduated from Galsan Elementary School, Shinwol Middle School, and Deoksu High School, had high expectations even before joining the team. When he was in high school, he threw a fast ball in the mid-150km/h range, winning the favor of Major League scouts as well as KBO League. He once considered entering the U.S., but he made up his mind with his KBO League debut. After receiving the first nomination from Kiwoom in the 2021 KBO Rookie Draft, he entered the professional stage with a down payment of 900 million won.
However, the wall of the first-team mound was high. He played 19 games in 2021, but recorded only one loss without a win. The number of innings played was also 17 2/3 innings. Last year, he also threw 14 innings in 14 games.
The reason why he couldn’t fly up from the first division was poor control. He had a fast ball, but he kept shaking as he couldn’t hit the strike zone properly. He and the club have made various efforts, but this problem has not been easily fixed.
However, a wind of change has been detected this season. Throughout the winter, he played in the Australian Geelong Korea uniform and regained his stability by pitching and hitting at the same time. He then steadily received five selection classes through the U.S. spring camp, improving his control.
Before the game, Jang Jae-young’s performance this season was 5.23 ERA (20 2/3 innings, 12 earned runs) in six games. Although it was not satisfactory, it was recognized for its potential in that it was a fight with batters to some extent. And he finally won his first victory in his 40th game after his professional debut.
It was refreshing from the start. Jang Jae-young handled NC’s attack with three outs in the top of the first inning. After turning Son Ah-seop to a ground ball to shortstop, Seo Ho-chul and Park Min-woo were struck out and cooked with a ground ball to second base, respectively. In the second inning with hits and walks, Yoon Hyung-joon, Chun Jae-hwan, and Park Se-hyuk were all struck out in the crisis of first and second base with no outs.
The third inning was not easy either. After giving up a walk to leadoff hitter Kim Joo-won, Son Ah-seop hit a heavy hit. Seo Ho-chul’s at-bat followed. A quick grounder headed to the mound. Jang Jae-young blocked it with his body and caught it with difficulty, and threw it to second base to lead to a double play. He then struck out Park Min-woo and overcame the biggest crisis of the day without losing a point.
Jang Jae-young continued his scoreless streak by cooking Yoon Hyung-joon with a double play in the shortstop direction in the fourth inning with one out and first base. Then Kiwoom’s batters began to cheer up. In the fourth inning, leadoff batters Kim Hye-sung and Lee Jung-hoo made consecutive hits with no outs and runners on first and third base. Lee Jung-hoo stole second base at Kim Woong-bin’s at-bat, and Kim Woong-bin hit a timely hit that fell in front of the right fielder to bring all the runners home.
Jang Jae-young, who received two points, continued his good pitching. The fifth inning was treated as a three-way retirement to meet the winning pitcher requirements. He then turned the leadoff hitter Son Ah-seop into a fly ball to left field in the sixth inning, and gave a walk to Seo Ho-chul and was replaced by the next pitcher Yang Hyun. Yang Hyun cooked the follow-up batters with a hit and did not give Jang Jae-young a run. In addition, he kept the seventh inning scoreless.
The Kiwoom bullpen, which followed, also worked together to protect Jang Jae-young’s victory. Kim Jae-woong, who came up in the eighth inning, scored no runs in one inning, and closer Lim Chang-min kept the ninth inning to end the 2-0 victory.
Meanwhile, in Jamsil on the same day, the KT Wiz beat the LG Twins 8-4 to win four consecutive games. In Incheon, the KIA Tigers defeated the SSG Landers 17-3. In Daejeon, the Hanwha Eagles beat the Lotte Giants 5-3, and in Pohang, the Doosan Bears beat the Samsung Lions 7-4.