“I even think of Lim Chang-yong” Underdog Shinhwa’s assistant role, high praise for Han Hyun-hee’s compensation player
Seol Jong-jin (50), Kiwoom Heroes Future Team coach, praised the potential of Lee Kang-joon (22), who recently joined the team. 메이저사이트
Coach Seol Jong-jin recently met with Star News ahead of his departure for Taiwan’s spring camp and said, “There aren’t that many sidearms that throw fast balls like Lee Kang-joon. He did not hide his anticipation, saying, “Haetae was traded to Samsung and it was a better case.”
Lee Kang-joon was selected by Kiwoom on the 20th of last month as a compensation player for right-handed sidearm Han Hyun-hee (30), who transferred to the Lotte Giants as a free agent. Lee Kang-jun, who is 180 cm tall and weighs 80 kg, is evaluated as attractive with a two-seam fastball with a top speed of 154 km per hour with a right-handed sidearm and a ball movement that is difficult for hitters. Officials from other KBO clubs other than Kiwoom also acknowledged his potential, saying, “If only the first ball is caught, a player who can become the second Jung Woo-young (24, LG).”
However, there is a reason why he has already gone through 3 teams in his 4th professional year, including Lotte and Kiwoom, after being nominated for KT Wiz with the 22nd overall in the 2nd 3rd round of the 2020 KBO Rookie Draft. In the Futures League, his pitching was not bad with a total of 108⅓ innings, 59 walks, and 88 strikeouts, but when only the first team came up, it was not good with 23⅔ innings, 38 walks, and 13 strikeouts.
Kiwoom’s expectations for the first compensation player in the club’s history are high. Koh Hyeong-wook, head of Kiwoom, did not worry too much about the uneasy control, saying, “I went all the way to Wonju, Gangwon-do,” to see Lee Kang-joon during Seorak High School. The same was true of coach Seol, who was a supporting role last year and helped build Kiwoom’s underdog myth together with first-team coach Hong Won-ki. Lim Chang-yong, the maximum he expects from Lee Kang-joon, is one of the successful sidearm pitchers who has also stepped on the mound in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the American Major League (ML).
Coach Seol, who claimed to be a fan, said, “Lee Kang-joon is a player I’ve wanted to be on our team since he was a rookie. Personally, I didn’t understand why his former teams allowed him to pitch only one inning.” confessed to He said, “A starting pitcher can throw well in the second inning even if he throws poorly in the first inning. There are many pitchers who catch their own sense like that. I can,” he said.
Lee Kang-joon has to enlist in the Armed Forces Sports Unit (Sangmu), which was scheduled in May. However, both the player and the team are making plans with a two-year commitment. Kang-jun Lee is currently working on a slider and changeup to use against left-handed batters. While finding the cause of the problem with the mentality, he is embodying the advice he has received from his seniors.
Coach Seol said, “Preparing as a starter doesn’t mean throwing more than 5 innings from the beginning. Start with 3 innings and steadily increase the number of innings. If you do well, you will initially rise to the first team pursuit group. If you throw well there, you will become a winning group. Since he is still young, if he can consistently throw about 70 balls at 148 km/h through weight training, he can become a (competitive) starter,” he drew a blueprint.
“I have to watch Sangmu’s throwing, and it’s just my personal opinion,” he said, “if a pitcher like Lee Kang-joon joins the starting rotation, I think it will be of great help to our team. (19) With players like this, you don’t have to worry about it for a few years. That’s why we expect more from Lee Kang-joon.”
In that respect, I looked at KT’s mound with right-handed orthodox So Joon So (22) and sidearm Ko Young-pyo (32) as an ideal. Manager Seol said, “KT is also surviving because Ko Young-pyo is doing well. Since there are two foreign pitchers, So Joon So and Young-pyo Ko, it is easy for a coach to make a rotation. It’s good to have a variety of sidearms. If Lee Kang-jun’s potential is found quickly, wouldn’t director Hong and the general manager discuss and decide after he is discharged?”