Professional baseball player Kenny Rosenberg (30) of the Kiwoom Heroes approaches the KBO League with a serious mindset.

Rosenberg is a left-handed pitcher who has recorded 2 wins and 3 losses with a 4.66 earned run average (ERA) over 17 games (67⅔ innings) in Major League Baseball. Although he only started 5 games in the majors, he made 115 starts in the minors. His minor league career statistics include 163 games (719⅔ innings) with 52 wins, 38 losses, 4 holds, and 4 saves, with a 4.06 earned run average. His fastest pitch recorded last season in Major League Baseball was 92.7 mph (149.2 km/h), not very fast, but he recorded 9.23 strikeouts per 9 innings in the minors, demonstrating that his ability to get strikeouts is not significantly lacking.

Preparing for his first season in Korea, Rosenberg noted in an interview on the 19th, "I prepared well at the first Arizona camp, and the accommodations in Taiwan are comfortable. The teammates and coaching staff have all helped me to adapt comfortably. I'm doing nearly perfectly well." He added, "Adapting to the time difference is not easy, but I slept very well on the plane to Taiwan. I rested well for a few days and trained well, so my physical condition and fitness are at their best."

This year, Kiwoom is showcasing a bold strategy by using only one foreign pitcher, Rosenberg. They decided to hire two foreign batters (Yasiel Puig, Ruben Cardenas) to strengthen the lineup. This places a heavy burden on Rosenberg, who is expected to take on the role of ace.

"So far, spring training has always felt like a place where I need to prove that I can be a part of the team," Rosenberg said. "However, now I'm progressing through spring training in a role as the No. 1 starter. That reduces some of the pressure, allowing me to focus more on the process of preparing my body."

Kiwoom has had outstanding left-handed aces like Andy Van Hekken, Eric Yogi, and Emmanuel De Jesus. "I also know that Kiwoom has such a lineage of left-handed pitchers," Rosenberg said. "If I say that pressure is not a burden, that would be a lie. I feel responsible but often in the U.S., the saying goes, 'Pressure is a privilege.' I want to take that to heart and think of my family back in the U.S. as I show the responsibility I carry well to the fans."

Rosenberg, who is seriously preparing for the season, practiced bullpen pitching while using two types of curveballs, checking their separation and speed differences. "In Major League Baseball, pitchers try to show the dynamics of a pitch by adjusting the speed of one breaking ball," Rosenberg emphasized. "I also throw two types of curveballs with nearly no difference in grip. I've thrown a slow curve for a long time, but recently, I've added a faster curve. The faster curve helps induce more swings and misses from batters."

Rosenberg, who uses fastballs, curveballs, sliders, and changeups, ranked the changeup as his most confident pitch. "I use the changeup whenever it's needed, regardless of the left or right-handed batter," Rosenberg said. "My changeup has good deception. The pitch motion of my fastball and changeup appears nearly identical to the batter. I can also place it exactly where I want it to go."

Rosenberg, preparing for the season with a sense of responsibility as an ace, put a considerable effort into quickly adapting to the KBO League during the offseason. "When it was decided that I would go to Korea, I watched a lot of videos of Korean batters," Rosenberg said. "I haven't watched videos of every batter, but I checked videos of the key batters in the team, those who have the potential to be in the starting lineup from 1 to 9, and observed how they handle left-handed pitchers."

When asked whether it was easy to watch the videos of over 80-90 batters, Rosenberg said, "Before the contract with Kiwoom was officially announced, I received and watched videos of the batters. Considering the things I need to do and the responsibility I have as an ace, watching the videos was not that difficult," he smiled.

Rosenberg, who closely analyzed Korean batters, explained, "The difference from Major League Baseball seems to be in whether the batters prioritize power or contact. Batters from 1 to 4 typically have both contact and power, but if you go down to 5 or 6, it seems that there are more contact-oriented batters trying to create plays. Regarding this, I've thought about how I should face batters as a left-handed pitcher."