Professional baseball Kiwoom Heroes Jang Jae-young (22) once again showed off his potential by hitting a huge home run at Jamsil Stadium.스포츠토토
Jang Jae-young started the game against the LG Twins in the “2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League” at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 26th and played 2 hits, 1 home run, 2 RBIs and 1 run in 4 at-bats. At Jamsil Stadium, a pitcher-friendly stadium, he hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the top of the 8th inning, but Kiwoom lost 3-6.
Jang Jae-young, who joined Kiwoom as the first draft pick for the 2021 rookie draft, has high expectations as he can easily throw fastballs with speeds of over 150 kilometers per hour. He also received a down payment (900 million won) for rookies, ranking second in the KBO League and first in the club’s history. However, his performance as a pitcher was disappointing. During the three seasons, he only posted one win, six losses and an ERA of 6.45 in 56 games (103 ⅓ innings).
Jang, who had been in the starting rotation plan as the third starter this season, was out of his team even before the start of the season due to an elbow injury. After receiving the opinion that he needed surgery while rehabilitating, Jang decided to switch to a batter after much consideration. Jang, who played as a batter for the first time against Doosan Bears in the Futures League on May 21, recorded a batting average of .23 (five homers, 14 RBIs, eight runs and an OPS of .783) in 21 games in the Futures League.
Jang Jae-young, who was called up to the first team faster than expected, made his batter’s debut on June 20 by recording one hit, one run and two walks in two at-bats against Hanwha. He has shown good performance since then, shooting his first home run in three games, but he had to take a break from the game against KT on July 17 due to an injury in his right thigh during defense.
After returning to the first team on Aug. 30, Jang has been receiving opportunities to play in games since then. He has posted a batting average of 167, three homers, nine RBIs, 13 runs scored, and OPS.564, in 35 games. Although he has performed poorly since returning from injury, he has posted five hits, one homer and three RBIs in recent four games, displaying his potential to rebound.
Jang Jae-young, who said in an interview on the 24th, “It’s nice to be able to play in the game like this,” said, “I’m actually receiving a lot of opportunities, but my performance is not good right now. Still, I want to do better because I want to contribute to the team because I keep going with the starting. There are a lot of frustrations because it’s not going well.” He said, regretting his recent slump.
Jang Jae-young, who is now wrapping up his first year as a batter, said, “I think it’s been about two months since I hit the batter properly except for the injury gap. I was almost getting used to it before I got hurt, but I feel like I got back to square one because I got hurt. I threw the ball all the time, but this is the first time I hit the ball, so it’s not easy to adjust to timing or something like that. Coach Oh Yoon and other older brothers around me are helping me a lot, so I need to adapt as soon as possible and show good performance. I think competition will be fierce next year, so I want to adapt as soon as possible.”
Kiwoom has selected six infielders in this year’s rookie draft. It is a massive reinforcement of the fielder’s depth. With fierce competition expected next season, Jang said, “I am not showing enough skills to compete. I have better players than myself, so I have to work harder. I think there are still six to seven players who are registered as outfielders, and I have to compete with them as well. All the players are on the same team as competitors, but I will do my best to win. I will prepare well so that I can secure a spot with the same mindset.”
Jang Jae-young, who has been steadily building up his experience in defense in the outfield, said, “I think it will be helpful to watch a lot of balls and chase after them. However, it is not easy due to the schedule because there is time for batting training. And batting during practice and during matches also have a slightly different feeling. It is difficult because pitchers throw strong pitches and batters also throw strong pitches. (Lee) Joo Hyung-hyung has also turned from an infielder to an outfielder, and is teaching many teams, but he said, “I will try harder because I have to adapt myself.”
“I can’t judge the ball yet,” Jang said. “I can predict the ball from the front to the back, but I think I’m covering the line drive or curved balls with running. I have to go to the spring camp and get more balls. If I can see both center field and right field, it will be a plus for me, so I want to do my best in both games as much as possible. Rather than thinking about next year’s position, I feel that I will do my best in the given position,” he said. “Since I’ve also been a pitcher, I know how pitchers feel when a ball that I think was caught in the outfield becomes a hit. For now, I will focus on the outfield rather than thinking about shortstop or other position.”
Jang Jae-young, who started the season as a third starter and spent a turbulent season turning into a batter, said, “I had a lot of difficulties and difficulties because I was a pitcher and turned into a batter. I was stressed out, but I made the decision considering that. Rather than making the decision because my elbow hurt, I felt that I could not do better considering the future, although it may not be a long time since I showed myself for three years.