Kia’s new pitching coach, Jung Jae-hoon, watched a pitcher pitch out of the bullpen and threw out a few words. As if that wasn’t enough, he also asked them to take turns batting in the right and left field. It was a way to maximize the effectiveness of his bullpen pitching, but he also wanted to see the pitcher’s pitches from a batter’s perspective.
The player that caught his eye was KIA right-hander Yoo Seung-chul (25). “His delivery is very good,” Chung said with a smile and satisfaction as he explained, “It’s important that what you see in the bullpen translates to what you see on the mound.” At the Okinawa finalization camp, which has been underway since the 1st, he is proving why he is receiving the attention of the clubs. Kia manager Kim Jong-guk also gave a thumbs-up, saying, “His delivery has always been good.”
In fact, it’s not the first time Yoo Seung-chul has received such praise. The 2017 first-round pick out of Hyochon High School has been praised for his fastball ever since he was in high school. He was praised for his ability to deliver the same fastball with different amounts of force. When he pitched out of the bullpen at the Okinawa spring training camp in February, he was praised as having “the best fastball among the players here today.”
With the advancements in tracking systems, we now know why Yoo has gotten such praise. It’s not just the restraint associated with his pitches, but also his rotation and vertical movement. To a certain extent, he was born with it. It’s not easy to find a pitcher who has good rotation and vertical movement at the same time, but Yoo has it all. It’s not even close to the level of Kim Ki-hoon, Lee Yi-ri and Jeon Sang-hyun, who are the best in the team and at the top of the league. The team has high hopes for him.
It’s just that he hasn’t been able to translate that into first-team results. Since his professional debut, he has appeared in 64 games for the first team, but his ERA of 5.55 is nothing special. This year, he was highly touted during spring training, but he only played one game in the first team. His poor second-team performance pushed him down the list of first-team priorities, no matter how much potential he has. In the end, you need to perform to get a chance. Yoo Seung-chul is well aware of this. 토토사이트
He started the season with high expectations, but he didn’t live up to them. In fact, he admits that he had his own insecurities. “Even then, I thought the ball was good, but I didn’t know why, I didn’t know how I was throwing it, I didn’t have it. I didn’t have it. I just kept thinking about it and didn’t think about the batter,” he said honestly. Then injury struck: he tore his vastus lateralis muscle in practice and was sidelined for a long time.
The combination of not knowing what he was doing and the injury made time fly by. Fortunately, Yoo Seung-cheol says he was able to get out of the gap quickly with the help of those around him. “After returning from injury, I went through a process of finding out what I was good at, and Coach Lee Sang-hwa helped me a lot. I kept practicing, and now I have Coach Jung Jae-hoon. I’m grateful for the know-how he shared with me and the way I am now.