LG Twins’ Jeong Woo-young will spend 10 days in the Futures League to cool off. It’s a time to make up for what he lacked. He hopes to make a spectacular comeback, just like his teammate Lee Jung-yong did.
LG manager Yoon Kyung-yeop explained why he removed Jung from the first-team roster before the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League game against the Samsung Lions at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Friday. It was to make changes to his changeup and slide step. Yoon had a meeting with Jung and decided to give him time to retool.
Jung Woo-young was selected by LG with the 15th overall pick in the second round of the 2019 draft after graduating from Seoul High. After establishing himself as a must-win pitcher in his debut season, Jung continued to improve and became a key part of LG’s bullpen. With a throwing distance of more than 150 kilometers, he has become one of Korea’s leading pitchers.
However, this season, Jung hasn’t been able to do much. At the beginning of the season, his fastball was down to 140 kilometers. Recently, his fastball was back in the 150km range, but it wasn’t the same. In 2023, Jung has a 4-4 record in 50 games with a 4.43 ERA in 11 starts. His WHIP (walks allowed per inning) was 1.59. He also had two blown saves.
More recently, he’s been even worse. In the month of August, Jung appeared in five games, but only lasted three innings. His ERA was 12.00. He had no choice but to admit his poor performance, and he was sent down to the Future League.
In the second team, Jung will be practicing various pitches. Jung, who slowed down his slide step to increase his velocity, often allowed stolen bases. He corrected his slide step last winter, but it’s still not perfect. He realized the limitations of throwing only a two-seam and slider, and plans to add a four-seam, curveball, and changeup.
“I think Jung Woo-young realized his limitations with just his two-seam. The hitters also adapted. If he wants to challenge the major leagues in the future, he needs to have a curveball and a changeup. Then you can cook hitters. Right now (because I don’t have a variety of pitches), I’m getting high ball counts and my strikeout rate is going down. If I can make my curveball and changeup better, my pitching will be more effective,” he said, adding that Jung will continue to train with the second team.
“After 10 days, I’ll call him up. I’ve been doing it since the final camp last year, but it didn’t work because the player didn’t change his mind. It’s a different situation now. I understand the coaching staff’s order,” he said, predicting that Jung Woo-young could change in a short period of time.
The fact that Lee Jung-yong’s motivation for joining the team has changed is also an encouragement for Jung. The Seongnam High-Dong-A University alum donned the pinstripes in the first round of the 2019 draft. The former middle reliever has recently transformed into a starter. Since being equipped with a forkball, his role in the team has grown.
Lee was also a ‘two-pitch’ pitcher, throwing a fastball and a slider. However, he recently honed his forkball in the second team and became a reliable starter. In two starts in August, he went 11 innings, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out eight. Protected the LG mound.
The manager was confident that Jung Woo-young would be able to rebound just as Lee Jung-yong did. “Lee turned into a different pitcher with a forkball,” Yoon said. I think Jung Woo-young must have felt something when he saw this. It probably gave him a sense of challenge. He’s been practicing, so I’m sure he’ll get better soon.”메이저사이트
Jung Woo-young has been away for a while. Although LG has many resources available in the bullpen, the best-case scenario is for Jung to come back and do his job. Like Lee Jung-yong, it will be interesting to see if he can make a big difference in a short amount of time.
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