It was the fighting spirit of the youngest member of the selection team. He pitched perfectly enough not to be pushed to the top of the league, but he could not win.
Jang Jae-young (21, Kiwoom Heroes) started the game against the LG Twins in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Jamsil Stadium on the 11th.스포츠토토
Jang Jae-young is the youngest member of the current Kiwoom starting team. He’s been coming and going between start and relief over the course of the season, but lately he’s been getting more mounds as a starter.
Kiwoom is pinning a lot of expectations on Jang Jae-young’s potential. His down payment of 900 million won is proof of that. Since his days at Deoksu High School, he has attracted attention by throwing a heavy fastball with a maximum speed of 150 km per hour. If he finds stability in his somewhat unstable pitch, he is full of expectations that he can develop into the best pitcher in the league in the next few years.
However, it takes a lot of time until that expectation is proven. He is still in progress. However, his 11th appearance showed hope of bursting with potential.
Jang Jae-young this day Hong Chang-ki (right fielder) – Moon Seong-ju (left fielder) – Kim Hyun-soo (designated hitter) – Austin Dean (1st baseman) – Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop) – Moon Bo-gyeong (3rd baseman) – Park Dong-won (catcher) – Kim Min-seong (2nd baseman) – Park Hae-min ( Center fielder) against the LG batting line. LG currently ranks first in the league (59 wins, 2 draws, 35 losses/win rate: 0.628), and at the same time, has major offensive indicators such as team batting average (0.281), hits (927 hits), RBIs (487 RBIs), and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage/0.760). It boasts excellent attack power. It was a difficult team for Jang Jae-young to deal with easily.
I had to pay attention not only to the opposing team, but also to raising my own team. The team (42 wins, 3 draws, 60 losses/win rate 0.412) fell to the bottom of the league with a loss the day before (10th). Jang Jae-young’s shoulders had no choice but to be heavier because he needed victory even to reverse the atmosphere.
When I opened the lid, Jang Jae-young continued to fight better than expected. He also had a close pitching battle with Casey Kelly, who started as an opponent. In the meantime, the ball that caught Jang Jae-young’s ankle was stable, and his four-seam fastball reached a maximum of 153 km.
Jang Jae-young gave Moon Seong-joo a double and Kim Hyeon-soo a walk after one out in the first inning, making it 1 out and 1st and 2nd base. Afterwards, he got out of the crisis by catching Austin with a double hit in the direction of third baseman, second baseman, and first baseman.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning, shortstop Kim Hui-jip failed to catch the lead hitter Kim Min-seong and sent a runner out, but he blocked the follow-up batter well and did not concede. After one out in the bottom of the 4th inning, Kim Joon-wan hit the wall and caught Austin’s big batted ball, and with the help of the beast brothers, he went through innings by inning.
At the end of the 5th inning, I couldn’t overcome the opponent’s concentrated blows and allowed 3 runs, but overall it was stable. Even in the bottom of the 6th inning, he climbed the mound and neatly caught the opponent’s 4th through 6th hitters, Austin (looking strikeout), Oh Ji-hwan (center fielder floating ball), and Moon Bo-kyung (first baseman grounder) to finish the mound. The final score was 6 innings, 4 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 3 runs, the first quality start in his debut (3 earned runs in 6 innings or less) and the most innings, and he did his part. Of course, the team lost 3-5, but Jang Jae-young stood out.
Kiwoom lost this day and is still at the bottom of the league. Still, it’s not over until it’s over. The season continues, and in this process, clear income such as team performance as well as player growth is needed.
Will Jang Jae-young be able to gradually permeate into the first team stage with his first quality start on this day? Perhaps, starting in the future will become very important not only for me but also for the team.