Professional baseball LG Twins pitcher Jung Woo-young will start the season in the second team. Jung will remain with the first team until the end of the exhibition games, but will not be included in the KBO League opening day roster and will go down to the second team for a period of adjustment.

Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop revealed the decision for Jung Woo-young to go to the second team during an interview with reporters at Incheon SSG Landers Field on the 15th. Yeom said he had a meeting with pitching coach Kim Kwang-sam and Jung Woo-young.

To help Jung Woo-young bounce back, it was decided that he would undergo adjustments in the second team rather than immediately playing in the first team. The content of his exhibition game pitching was not good. Jung appeared in two exhibition games without allowing any runs, but faced five batters, recording three walks, two wild pitches, and ⅔ of an inning without earned runs. On the 8th, when he appeared in the exhibition game against KT, he threw seven consecutive balls immediately upon entering, and two wild pitches also occurred. In the exhibition game against Samsung on the 14th, he faced two batters and recorded a straight walk and one strikeout.

Manager Yeom stated, 'Until the exhibition games are over, we will work on the basic manual with coach Kim Kwang-sam here, and once Jung goes to the second team, he will not play immediately but will only pitch one game a week. He will train on a weekly schedule following the basic manual program.'

He continued, 'Tuesday and Wednesday will be used for stability in control through basic manual training, Thursday will be a rest day, Friday will involve bullpen pitching, and on Sunday, he will pitch in a game. This is the program we will implement for the time being.'

Manager Yeom emphasized that Jung will remain in the second team until he feels completely recovered. 'We do not determine the timing of his return. Given that he has made many adjustments to his pitching form over the past few years, he needs time to solidify his approach. We all agreed on the manual program in the pitching department, and pitching coach Kim Kyung-tae will manage the program in the second team. It is important for him to come up to the first team when he is adequately prepared and stay until the end of the season,' he said.

Manager Yeom stressed that Jung should not focus on pitch speed but rather on regaining balance and establishing his form. 'I told him not to fight with speed since he is currently in a shaky state. He has been fighting with speed for two years. Now in his third year, he continues to chase speed, which causes arm pain. That is why I asked him to take one year to fill in the details. Once those details are addressed, speed will eventually come, so I advised him to prioritize that.'

Jung Woo-young, who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2019, achieved the title of holds king in 2022 with a powerful two-seam fastball, reaching a maximum speed of 157 km/h. In 2022, he recorded two wins, three losses, and 35 holds with an earned run average of 2.64 over 67 games (58 innings), finishing first in holds.

However, in 2023, his pitching balance was disrupted, resulting in a decrease in speed, and he also focused on correcting his quick motion due to weaknesses in his slide step. He struggled in 2023, recording five wins, six losses, and 11 holds with an earned run average of 4.70 over 60 games (51⅔ innings), and in 2024 he had the most disappointing performance of his career with two wins, one loss, and three holds and an earned run average of 4.76 over 27 games (22⅔ innings), while alternating between the first and second teams.

Manager Yeom, who took over as LG's head coach in the 2023 season, said, 'Since Woo-young was the holds king, what could I say? I just observed him. He failed for a year. After struggling in the first half of the season and continuing to struggle in the second half, I told him not to focus on speed, stating that 148 km/h is sufficient for playing in our country, so he should fill in the details. If he works on the slide step and adds another breaking ball, then 150 km/h will come back eventually… Woo-young is obsessed with speed. That is why his control has deteriorated, and since two years have passed, he seems to be realizing this now.'

To regain his pitching balance, he needs to produce speed. Manager Yeom said, 'If balance is not established and he only throws hard, it can lead to injuries. I discussed these aspects for the first time this time around. Previously, I only gave advice. I would say, 'You were the holds king, so do this or that,' but now I detailed why I had said those things over the past two years.'

In January, Jung Woo-young trained personally at his own expense at Tread Athletics in North Carolina, USA. He invested a significant amount of money into 'private lessons' to elevate his arm angle and saw improvements in pitch speed. However, his pitching balance remains uncertain in the exhibition games.

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