Professional baseball player Kim Jin-wook (23) of the Lotte Giants is challenging for his first victory of the season with a changeup learned from Ryu Hyun-jin (38) of the Hanwha Eagles.
Kim Jin-wook will start in the game against the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Park in Daejeon on 2nd as part of the 2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League.
Drafted 1st overall in the second round of the 2021 rookie draft, Kim Jin-wook has garnered expectations as a significant left-handed prospect. However, he achieved a disappointing record with 12 wins, 15 losses, and 16 holds over 122 games (213⅓ innings) last season, posting an earned run average of 5.95. His pitching was good, but he struggled against right-handed batters due to a somewhat monotonous repertoire.
To overcome these weaknesses, Kim Jin-wook approached Ryu Hyun-jin during last year's final Daejeon away game in September, seeking advice on Ryu's signature pitch, the changeup. This was to gain a weapon to face right-handed batters. Ryu readily shared his know-how. Kim Jin-wook also received assistance from foreign pitchers Charlie Barnes and Tucker Davidson on the same team, practicing to bend the middle finger to improve the grip of the changeup and exerting pressure with the ring finger to increase the angle.
The results were evident in his first appearance of the season. On 26th, Kim Jin-wook pitched against SSG in his season debut, recording 6 innings, 4 hits allowed (1 home run), 4 walks, 7 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs. Although he became the losing pitcher, he achieved a quality start (6 innings, 3 earned runs or fewer) against SSG's lineup consisting of 6 right-handed batters, fulfilling his role.
Kim Jin-wook recorded 94 pitches in that game, using a slider (43 pitches), fastball (32 pitches), changeup (11 pitches), and curveball (8 pitches). His maximum fastball speed reached 145 km/h, and his strike rate was 65%. In a post-game interview, Kim Jin-wook said, “I think the strike rate was high, so I'm satisfied. And I think I effectively utilized the changeup.”
Having actively used the changeup for the first time in the regular season, Kim Jin-wook noted, “The batters' reactions were better than expected, and the rate at which the changeup enters was good. And throwing the changeup helped other pitches work better, enabling me to execute the game well.”
Kim Jin-wook mentioned, “I want to use the changeup a bit earlier in the count, but (Jeong) Bo-geun sometimes signals for the changeup at 2 balls and 2 strikes or 3 balls and 2 strikes.” He added, “Of course, I don’t prefer that. However, Bo-geun tends to use it more proactively, and now that I'm hitting the strike zone to some extent, I plan to keep utilizing the changeup.”
Emphasizing, “I am now a fifth-year pitcher and need to show better pitching content,” Kim Jin-wook expressed hope for good results. “The team shares the same hope. I concentrated harder and performed well. Although the team lost, I think I executed better than I anticipated. Personally, I believe I've made a good start. Since there are more games to come, I will analyze carefully and contend with batters at a good rate.”
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