“Don’t try to be good, you will get better if you do it.”
Song Young-jin (19), who was fighting against KIA on the 1st, suddenly realized that he was throwing the ball in the 5th inning. I gradually began to feel what my senior Kim Gwang-hyeon (35, SSG), who has 156 wins in the KBO League in total, said.카지노
Song Young-jin laid the foundation for SSG’s 6-5 victory by allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 2 runs in 5 innings against Incheon KIA on the 1st.
The pitching was as expected. Before the game, they struggled by allowing only 2 runs in the first inning against a strong KIA batting line that ranked 2nd in team batting average (0.276) and 2nd in OPS (0.740), but they held out the remaining 4 innings without allowing a run, giving a breather to the tired bullpen. Song Young-jin made SSG coach Kim Won-hyung smile by showing good pitching in three consecutive games, following a good pitch against LG on September 17 (2⅔ innings, no runs) and against LG on September 21 (2 innings, 2 runs).
Even in the eyes of a famous pitcher who won a total of 134 games in the KBO League during his active career, Song Young-jin’s recent form was unusual. Before the game, Coach Kim said, “(Song) Young-jin was good in the last game against LG (September 21st). He hit a home run against Austin Dean, but overall he made a lot of good hits and didn’t hit too many extra-base hits. The pitch itself was good.” I expected it.
However, what was worrisome was the pressure that might not yet be familiar to a rookie. The match between SSG and KIA this weekend was a match between 5th and 6th place, where one win was important. Coach Kim said, “However, there will be a crowd of almost 10,000 people, and it is an important game, so I hope they don’t think too much about that. I hope they just think ‘I’m going out as a starter’ and throw.”
In the end, it was nothing more than a false hope. When I met him after the game, the 19-year-old rookie was more focused on his pitching than his crowd or the pressure of a big game, and was too busy talking about what he wanted to fix. Song Young-jin smiled brightly, saying, “I think I was very lucky today (the 1st). I got a lot of help from the defense, and most of all, senior (Kim) Min-sik really made it easy for me to lead, so I threw with confidence.”
Even in good pitching, the bad scenes were more memorable than the good ones. It was always regrettable that leadoff hitter Park Chan-ho was sent out on a walk after an 8-pitch game in the first inning. Song Young-jin said, “It was a game where I felt that the first inning was the most important. I felt that the leadoff batter’s walk was also connected to the win or loss of the game.” He continued, “(The reason why the first inning was difficult) seems to be largely psychological. It’s the difference between overcoming it or not, but in the future, “I will trust the defense of my brothers and seniors and try to throw,” he said emphatically.
After getting past the difficult first inning, he was able to comfortably hit the ball to the outside of his body. On this day, Song Young-jin’s total number of pitches was 79 (44 fastballs, 18 curves, and 17 sliders), and his highest velocity was 146 km per hour. She struggled by throwing 29 balls in the first inning, but pitched efficiently in the second inning (10 pitches), third inning (16 pitches), and fourth inning (7 pitches), increasing her first pitch strike rate.
While preparing for the game, coach Kim’s sincere advice and during the game, Kim Gwang-hyeon’s sincere advice came to mind one after another. Coach Kim asked SSG pitchers to pitch confidently throughout this season, but it was easier said than done. Song Young-jin said, “The manager always tells me that if I throw confidently, the result will come out whether the batters strike out or get hit. So, I tell them to be confident and throw four pitches from the mound without regret and come down. After hearing that, I believed in my pitch and threw it.”
He continued, “Senior (Kim) Gwang-hyun said, ‘Don’t try to be good, you will get better if you keep doing it.’ I tried to pitch perfectly well from the first inning, but that was greed,” he said. “I blinked as I blocked one inning after another.” It was already 5 times.
Director Kim and Gwang-Hyun Kim’s advice is not something that came out recently. Sometimes he spoke like a close brother, sometimes strongly and consistently, and this gradually seeped into the minds of other pitchers, including Song Young-jin, and this shines through when the team is at its most difficult.
Recently, SSG is advancing toward the postseason with its starting pitchers continuing to pitch well despite the adverse conditions in which Kirk McCarty, who was the number one starter, left due to an oblique muscle injury and the sure-to-win team was exhausted. In the last four games, Gwang-Hyun Kim (6 innings, no runs allowed) – Roenis Elias (8 innings, 3 runs) – Oh Won-Seok (6 ⅓ innings, 4 runs, 3 earned runs) – Moon Seung-won (7 innings, 3 runs) gave quality start pitching, and Song Young-jin could also be a good target on this day. there was.
Song Young-jin has already made his first quality start in his professional debut, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings against LG on April 26th. It was worth taking another look at the renewed upward trend, but Rookie calmed down once again.
Song Young-jin said, “As senior (Kim) Kwang-hyun said, there are many cases where trying to do too well is not a good idea, so I plan to focus on one inning and one inning hitter and pitch well without worrying about the innings.” He continued, “But I will try to throw as many innings as possible. That’s what it means to be a starting pitcher.” “I am greedy and hope that my heart can be of some strength to the bullpen and fielders.”