Kiwoom Heroes’ Jang Jae-young (22) completely stepped down from the mound. Now, he has decided to give up his lingering desire for a 150-km fastball and just hold the bat. The club released a special press release on Wednesday, explaining why Jang converted to batting. After confirming his elbow injury, he naturally started talking about switching to batting as he underwent rehabilitation, and made a decision.
Jang Jae-young joined the team as the first candidate in 2021, and is a promising player who received 900 million won in down payment. Both pitchers and hitters showed off their unique talents during his high school days. As a pro, he transmitted the infection to pitchers. However, he has not shown much in the past four years. He had one win, six losses and a 6.45 ERA in 56 games, and had 109 walks while striking out 100.
This is why he decided to change his mind to batters. Coach Hong Won-ki, who has a psychological counselor license, touched Jang Jae-young by not even using words such as “control” and “walking.” As such, Jang had a lot of stress over his ups and downs in his ball control. The club even prepared and implemented a special training program to control his ball control in the second division during the 2021 season. Jang and his club did their best over the past three to four years, but that’s all for pitcher Jang.
The change at Scottsdale Spring Camp in Arizona in February 2023 is also a big inflection point for the club and Jang Jae-young to nod to the conversion to batters. At the time, the club recommended that Jang Jae-young try to hold the bat as he is under a lot of stress because baseball has not been solved.
In fact, Jang had batting training in the 2023 and 2024 spring camps. He also played at bat in Geelong Korea in the Australian professional baseball league. He also hit in exhibition games last year. At the time, Jang confessed that he understood how batters he faced off while batting. He said that it was an “event” for him to become a better pitcher.
However, there were already people who looked at Jang Jae-young’s talent in the 2023 spring camp, and officials who were wondering if the real Jang Jae-young would like to type. It was a practice hit so far, but Jang Jae-young’s hit was evaluated as quite sharp. A reporter who covered the Kiwoom camp at the time cannot forget that Jang Jae-young’s expression while practicing batting was so bright. The club also confirmed and knew that, so they agreed to Jang’s conversion to batter.
Having held the bat in the spring camp since last year may have awakened Jang’s intrinsic “batter instinct.” He is not wrong to say that he was pushed to a dead end as he was not able to succeed as a pitcher. However, Jang has been quite talented in batting since his days as a high school student. During the 2023 camp, Lee Hyung-jong, the senior manager, also told a reporter that he wished Jang happiness no matter what he does. Lee Hyung-jong, the senior hitter, disclosed to reporters that Jang politely refused his team’s recommendation as a third baseman.
Given these circumstances, Jang did not make an impromptu decision about his future as a batter. Of course, it is true that Jang’s fastball of 150 kilometers, or mid-155 kilometers, is too wasteful. However, 22 years is a waste to run after just 150 kilometers. Although baseball career is still flourishing, there is a huge difference between running after producing meaningful results in your youth and not.
During the 2023 camp, Lee said this. “I wish I had been a batter at that age.” He also confessed his past when he told the LG Twins that his attempt to avoid hitting the batter’s box failed. Lee said that he should have been a batter’s box when he was young, even if he was just 1 year old. He started batting in 2016, when he was 27 years old. Nevertheless, he signed a four-year, 2 billion won FA contract.
Jang Jae-young turns to a batter faster than Lee Hyung-jong. It’s a waste of the past four years, but he’s still 22 years old. It’s four years of learning in life, and you can spend the rest of your baseball life as a batter. No one knows if Jang Jae-young will succeed or fail. However, if he succeeds, the choice in February 2023 will be a turning point.
BY: 토토사이트
