A 19-year-old rookie’s 150km fastball is as varied as a sinker-cutter-two-seam… The 134-win legend coach admires it too

Song Young-jin (19), a rookie pitcher of SSG Landers, is attracting attention with a surprise good pitch at the beginning of the season. SSG director Kim Won-hyung praised her smile, which is so heartwarming that it doesn’t hurt to put it in her eyes.

Song Young-jin joined in the 2nd round (overall ranking) in the 2023 rookie draft. He got on the opening roster after showing good performances in spring camp practice games and demonstration games. In 4 exhibition games, he pitched 6 innings with 4 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts, 2 runs, 1 earned run, and an earned run average of 1.50.

After the opening, he threw two intermediate relief throws, and in mid-April, when Kim Gwang-hyun withdrew from the first-team entry due to a shoulder cup injury, he took a temporary starting opportunity. Song Young-jin recorded his second win of the season with QS with 3 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings against LG on the 26th. He appeared in 5 games (3 starts) and has 2 wins and an earned run average of 1.93. 

In an interview after the victory on the 26th, Song Young-jin said, “My fastball can be a two-seam, sinker, or cutter.” He threw only 71 fastballs (83.5%) out of 85 pitches before LG, but LG batters could not properly target them. There was a reason.

Director Kim Won-hyung said, “Usually, fastballs are caught with the index finger, but Young-jin seemed to get caught in the middle. If it gets caught a little strangely from the middle finger, the tip of the ball seems to change slightly like a natural cutter or two-seam,” he said. The ball speed is also 150 km, and the ball is strong, so it is short and short, but the probability of hitting is low. The catcher says catching is a bit difficult.”

“There are times when there are small changes, and there are times when it just comes in like a four-seam. Then, as it becomes a ball, it is put into the strike zone.”

Coach Kim said that at first, he was not familiar with Song Young-jin’s fastball movement. He said, “I was playing Cheongbaekjeon, but the fastball didn’t come in straight and I felt a little weak at the end. Looking at it from afar, I wondered if it was two-minded. But he said it was four-seam. Sometimes I thought it could be like that, so I didn’t think it was a big deal, but in the demonstration game, the catchers said it was difficult to catch because the tip of the ball had changed.”토토사이트

He was worried about the ninth, but he soon gained faith without worrying. Manager Kim said, “When I first started, I saw him throw one or two times, and he threw a strike well. The speed limit was 149 to 150 km,” he said.

Manager Kim gave Song Young-jin a changing ball assignment. Manager Kim said, “There is no fast breaking ball yet. I throw the slider in the early 130km and the curve in the early 120km. The curve angle is not that great. He said that since there is no fast breaking ball as a decision ball, he should practice the slider a little faster. I throw strikes well on the mound, so I don’t bother talking about throwing like this or that.”

In SSG, foreign pitcher Romero has not pitched a single game and is leaving due to injury. In fact, it is a replacement sequence. McCarty, Kim Kwang-Hyun, Park Jong-Hoon, Moon Seung-Won, Oh Won-Seok, and even Song Young-Jin were added as starters.

Manager Kim said, “I plan to operate a six-man rotation until a new foreign pitcher arrives. All you have to do is take turns one by one and go back while resting.” Song Young-jin was dropped from the first team entry on the 27th. On May 7, after a 10-day break, Moon Seung-won is scheduled to return to the starting lineup when he takes a break from the rotation. /orange@osen.co.kr