Kiwoom Heroes Jang Jae-young (21) finally achieved his first victory in his debut.
Jang Jae-young started the match against NC Dinos in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 5th and recorded a victory with 2 hits, 4 walks and 7 strikeouts in 5⅓ innings.
Jang Jae-young, who has been gathering expectations as a large prospect by throwing fastballs of over 150 km/h since high school, received Kiwoom’s first nomination in the 2021 rookie draft. His expectations were so high that he recorded the 2nd place in the KBO league history and the 1st place in the club’s history for the contract amount for a newcomer (900 million won).
However, Jang Jae-young has not been able to fully realize his potential for a long time. He struggled with his control and had a sluggish performance with an average ERA of 7.22 in 39 games (52⅓ innings) and 3 losses over the three seasons prior to this game. He started the season with 5 starts this season as well, but had to go down to the second team after 2 games.
Jang Jae-young, who went through a readjustment in the Futures League, got a chance to start when Kiwoom decided to give starting pitchers a break.
Jang Jae-young had several chances to achieve his first victory in his debut, but it was canceled every time. In the game against KT on the 11th of last month, Kiwoom scored 3 scoreless innings with an 8-0 lead, but due to the inning limit, he could not pitch anymore. He pitched 5 innings as he could, but he did not receive any scoring support from the other line. In the game against KIA on the 29th, the batting line scored 4 runs in one inning and Jang Jae-young blocked one inning scoreless, but a no game was declared due to rain.
It seemed difficult for Jang Jae-young to become the winning pitcher in this game as well. This is because NC ace Eric Peddy came out as a starting pitcher. However, Jang Jae-young confidently won the match against Peddy.
In an interview after the game, Jang Jae-young said, “Peddy is a really good pitcher. I know that, and all of us players know that. But first of all, I trusted our hitters. I thought what I could do was to get the team as close as possible and hand it over to the bullpen pitchers. The effort to prevent it with the minimum number of goals has returned with good results.”
Recalling the rainy no-game in Gwangju, Jang Jae-young said, “It was regrettable because the ball that day was the best. I was able to afford it because I gave up points in the other line. Even though the game was canceled, it meant that I threw the ball where I wanted in one inning, and I gained confidence that I was pitching well for several games.” 메이저도메인
Jang Jae-young, who won his first victory after three years of joining, said, “In my debut season, I had high expectations for myself and the club also expected a lot. Fans also had high expectations for him, but he failed to live up to them. As the year passed, I thought that I had nowhere to fall, and I prepared for this year with the thought that there was nothing to be afraid of. The start was not good, but I went down to the 2nd team and prepared well, and when I came up, I threw it with a comfortable mind, so I think I got good results.”
Jang Jae-young, who revealed his goal for the future, saying, “I want to be in the first and second starts like Woojin-hyung,” said Jang Jae-young, who expressed his determination for the rest of the season, saying, “I will not be satisfied with the current situation, but I will work harder to prepare and improve so that I can win the championship like Woojin-hyung.” chopped up
