“Yang Hyeon-jong will be very lonely.”
For KIA great pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong (35), the game against Doosan in Jamsil on the 14th was a personally meaningful game. This is because if he becomes the winning pitcher in this game, his personal career is 162 wins, and he ranks second in the KBO career with the most wins. On the 9th, Gwangju SSG matched 6 hits, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk, and no runs in 8 innings, and finally tied for second place with MBC Sports Plus commentator Jeong Min-cheol.
Coincidentally,안전놀이터 commentator Jeong Min-cheol took over the broadcast of the match against Doosan that day and became a hot topic. This is because when Yang Hyeon-jong becomes the winning pitcher, as member Jeong Min-cheol, he is directly relaying that his juniors exceed his record. Commentator Jeong Min-cheol must have been in a strange mood.
As a result, on this day, Yang Hyeon-jong failed to record a win or loss with 10 hits, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk and 4 runs (2 earned) in 5⅓ innings. No decision with the help of the other line in the crisis of defeat. Until this day, the average ERA was very good with a 1.97, but it was a day when I had to slow down. There are days like this.
Commissioner Jeong Min-cheol is also a Hanwha ace in the past, and he knows the fate of Yang Hyeon-jong. He said at the opening, “If you look at the recent pace, there is a high possibility that my career multiplier ranking will go down. Yang Hyeon-jong’s recent condition is very good.” However, “Yang Hyeon-jong will not have the second place with the most wins right now. He said, “Since the team is in a losing streak (four consecutive losses at the time), he will only think about how to overwhelm the opponent by throwing many innings.”
As with all aces, Yang Hyeon-jong’s loyalty and responsibility towards KIA is particularly great. Emphasizing innings rather than wins and ERA stems from the team’s first mindset. He is an ace who pitches once every 5 to 6 days, and it is because he thinks that he must throw a lot of innings so that his fellow relievers can rest as much as possible. If you instill the perception that your team wins when the ace goes out, your teammates will feel comfortable.
However, on this day neither Yang Hyeon-jong nor KIA played the game as expected. Doosan shook the KIA infield with a bold bunt. KIA collapsed with three mistakes. Member Jeong Min-cheol said, “Yang Hyeon-jong will be very lonely. As if testing Ace’s abilities, he’s going through hard times.” He said, “It’s two times a week (starting in five days), and energy consumption is unconditionally faster than usual (when starting in six days). I was also affected.”
Still, Yang Hyeon-jong is doing very well this season. In fact, over the past year or two, he has been slightly different from Yang Hyeon-jong. However, it is evaluated that his fastball pitch has improved this season. Based on the baseball statistics site Statties, the speed was slightly lower than last year, which was 142.4 km, at 141.8 km.
The perceived power is higher than last year. He boldly uses his fastball to win. Although he is a master of off-speed pitch utilization and one of the pitchers who uses the so-called ‘jikche’ best, Yang Hyeon-jong believes in his fastball and pushes it.
He’s doing well himself, but the team barely holds up in mid-table. On the 14th, he lost against Doosan and lost 5 times in a row. The pitching match started again. In fact, at the end of the 2nd inning, he even showed a slight hold on his waist, but in the end, he lasted until 1 out in the 6th inning. In many ways, Yang Hyeon-jong’s mind seems to have been complicated.
For Yang Hyun-jong, wouldn’t KIA’s 1 win be more important than his 162 wins? Still, the baseball clock turns and Yang Hyeon-jong will soon surpass member Jeong Min-cheol and aim for Song Jin-woo (210 wins).