The challenge of ‘1 win and 7 losses together’ is OK, but… The tougher reality of ‘rank 1’ young guns
He entered the professional league receiving praise as the best pitcher in high school. The annual leave is gradually accumulating, but the wall of reality is not easy.
Lotte Giants Kim Jin-wook (21) and Seo Jun-won (23) challenged Geelong Korea of the Australian Professional Baseball (ABL) after an intense finishing camp after the end of last season.
Geelong Korea provides room and board, but there is no separate salary. It is a choice that cannot be made without the will to sharpen and polish oneself instead of taking a short off-season break. The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is undesirable, but it is in a position to knock down the Hangzhou Asian Games (AG), which have an age limit. It was a winter worth burning.
But the reality was sobering. The level of the Australian league varies widely. It is evaluated that minor league players from single A to triple A level are mixed. In addition to being a ‘corps of promising players’, due to the nature of the combined team, there are limits to breathing, linked play, and structured hitting. It is a stage with more than a level of difficulty.
Even taking this into consideration, I am very sorry. Seo Jun-won’s efforts are revealed in the missing flesh. It shows the responsibility of the father of the child.
However, he played 34⅔ innings in 10 games in Geelong, recording 1 win, 4 losses, 1 save and 1 hold, and an earned run average of 5.45. Although the two quality starts (less than 3 earned runs in 6 starting innings, QS) are comforting, it is just as funny and difficult.
Kim Jin-wook is more miserable. Kim Jin-wook started all four games and played 16 innings, 3 losses without a win, and an average ERA of 7.31. The game in which he pitched the most innings was only 5 innings. As soon as he moved to Australia, unlike Seo Jun-won, who started playing from the game, he took a break in Korea, and considering that he went through condition management for about 3 weeks in Australia, his upset is even greater.
Both players have an OPS of over 0.8 in the Australian league. Against Seo Joon-Won (0.836), batters in the Australian League averaged Bo-Kyung Moon and Jae-Oh. It was Yang Eui-ji of Hanyu Island against Kim Jin-wook (0.863). 토토사이트
Kim Jin-wook is the 2nd 1st round in 2021, and Seo Jun-won is the 1st nomination in 2019. Both players have one thing in common: they were selected as the number one pitcher representing the rookie draft.
It is clear that he is a mass of talent that cannot be explained only by his age. However, it cannot be denied that a significant part of the value is ‘age’. Time is running out without realizing the huge expectations he had when he joined. Both players are unfinished.
Seo Jun-won played 318⅔ innings in 123 games, including 48 starts, during the 4 seasons of the KBO League, but his total ERA was only 5.56 with 15 wins, 23 losses and 5 holds. Kim Jin-wook has an average ERA of 6.43 with 6 wins, 11 losses and 8 holds in 92⅓ innings in 53 games (17 starts). Both players had their moments of brilliance, but they didn’t last long.
The trip to Australia by Kim Jin-wook and Seo Jun-won was also part of the competition for starting pitchers this season. Last year, Lee In-bok and Na Kyun-an performed well, and the recruitment of Han Hyun-hee as a free agent made the selection even narrower. If he loses in the competition, Kim Jin-wook is likely to be a left-handed bullpen, and Seo Jun-won is likely to be used as an alternate starter and long man.
The Australian League was a test stage for them. There was something more important than grades. Seo Jun-won lowered his velocity and focused on his control and breaking pitches. Kim Jin-wook focused on pitching balance and release points. The key is how much you realize that value. The results will be revealed in spring camp and this year’s regular season.