There is another kind of ‘poker face’ that is just as important to a pitcher as not revealing emotional changes. It is a pitching poker face technique that can deceive batters with a lie, “I’m throwing a fastball right now” even at the moment of throwing a breaking ball such as a slider or changeup.
Kim Seo-hyun, a rookie with a fastball of 160km, is a pitching genius who has already taught herself slider, changeup, forkball, splitter, and knuckleball since high school. After Kim Seo-hyun was excluded from the opening entry this season, he simplified his pitches to a fast ball, slider, and changeup through a meeting with general manager Sohn Hyuk. And in the Seosan 2nd Army, he honed his slider and changeup more elaborately. He also fixed his arm height to improve his control.
After playing 5 games in the Futures League, Seohyun Kim finally appeared in the first team on April 19th, and her debut match was intense. The highest velocity of 160.1 km was recorded in the Hanwha team’s tracking data. Hanwha has become a club with two 160km pitchers, from Moon Dong-ju in the second year to Kim Seo-hyun. After that, Kim Seo-hyun appeared in 6 games and played 7 innings, recording 5 hits (1 home run) and ERA of 3.86, adding great strength to the Hanwha bullpen.
Kim Seo-hyun, who took the mound in the 7th inning against Doosan in Jamsil on the 3rd, surprised baseball fans once again. Seohyun Kim’s pitching form is a little different from before. And he boldly threw the sweeper, who had only been learning it for three days. After catching Heo Kyung-min and Lohas as ground balls, the second ball thrown to Jang Seung-hyun was a sweeper. Sweeper, which became famous in Korea as a ball that Ohtani caught Trout in the 2023 WBC final, is a modified slider that is currently in vogue in the American major leagues.
Kim Seo-hyun, who evolves every day, is not yet a complete pitcher. While he has tremendous potential, he is more of a gemstone with a lot of polishing to do. Kim Seohyun herself seems to be well aware of that. Watching his pre-match training, Kim Seo-hyun constantly asks his seniors over and over again.
This is a video taken at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park on April 27th. Jang Min-jae, the team’s veteran pitcher, held Kim Seo-hyun’s hand and explained the position of his fingers and the angle of his wrist for a while. Kim Seo-hyun first sought advice from Jang Min-jae, and Jang Min-jae willingly invested his training time in his juniors.
What was Seohyun Kim’s concern? The grip of the slider and changeup was completed, but the angle of the wrist right before the release point was different, so it was a problem with the weakness that the batter could read the pitch.
Jang Min-jae, a 15-year veteran. Although his fastball average velocity is only 136 km, he has been a strong defender this season following his impressive performance last season with his forkball, his main weapon. Jang Min-jae has an average ERA of 1-2 and 2.81 in 5 games as a starter.
Jang Min-jae, who started against Doosan in Jamsil on the 2nd, gave up 1 run with 4 hits, 1 walk, and 2 walks in 5⅔ innings and kept the mound firmly. The lineup blocked by Doosan starter Raul Alcantara failed to score a single point, and the team lost 0-3, but Jang Min-jae’s reverse fight was brilliant. Jang Min-jae threw 49 pitches, more than half of the total 92 pitches that day, with forkballs. He threw 28 fastballs, mixed sliders (8) and curveballs (7) like seasoning and cooked Doosan’s lineup.토스카지노
A forkball thrown in the same form as a fastball, with a fastball speed of 138km, Jang Min-jae is the way to live. Hitters cannot tell the difference between a fastball and a forkball in Jang Min-jae’s pitching form. This is also the part that Jang Min-jae advised Kim Seo-hyun. Min-jae Jang advised that, just as he kicks the ball all the way like a fastball when he throws a forkball, when throwing a slider and changeup, the angle of the wrist should be kept as much as possible until the ball leaves the finger like a fastball. So that the batter can be fooled by the lie of ‘I’m throwing a fastball right now’.
The true dignity of a veteran was felt in Jang Min-jae’s efforts to generously inform him of his know-how while carefully adjusting Kim Seo-hyun’s fingers holding the ball. The passion for baseball between seniors and juniors with a 14-year age difference was equally hot. You can check it in the video.