Another 150km pitcher comes to Hanwha, which has transformed into a ‘fastball army’. The return of right-hander Park Sang-won (29), a potential closer, is imminent.
In Hanwha, the number of fastball pitchers throwing more than 150km increased rapidly this year. In the exhibition game against Kiwoom in Daejeon on the 18th, four pitchers, Dong-ju Moon (157 km), San-heum Yoon (150 km), Seo-hyun Kim (156 km), and Seung-hyeok Han (153 km) 메이저사이트 threw more than 150 km with the highest restraint standard. Jang Si-hwan also covered nearly 150 km at 149 km.
Youngguns Moon Dong-ju and Kim Seo-hyun, who joined the team as the first pick and first overall pick for the last two years in a row, Yoon San-heum, who were recruited from the independent league two years ago, and Han Seung-hyuk, who were brought in as a trade after the season last year, quickly emerged as the best fastball team in the league.
Among the existing pitchers, Jang Si-hwan, Kim Bum-soo, and Nam Ji-min throw 150km fastballs. Foreign pitchers Felix Pena and Birch Smith also recorded their highest speeds at 152 km and 154 km, respectively, in the demonstration game. So far, nine out of 18 Hanwha pitchers who have pitched in demonstration games can throw more than 150 km.
Here, another 150km pitcher, Park Sang-won, is about to return to practice. Park Sang-won, who was unable to attend the second Okinawa camp in Japan due to a bruise on his right arm at the end of the first spring camp in Arizona, USA, joined the first team ahead of the demonstration game. On the 20th, he checks the condition of the batter by throwing live pitching. Coach Carlos Subero said, “The condition has improved a lot. He will check his condition before starting the game.”
Park Sang-won, a member of the bullpen Pilseungjoo who led Hanwha’s fall baseball in 2018, recorded a total of 224 games (210⅔ innings), 6 wins, 6 losses, 1 save, 36 holds, an average ERA of 3.55, and 182 strikeouts in 5 seasons in the first team. He returned to the first team in August of last year after completing his military service as a social worker, and announced his good health with an ERA of 2.25 with 4 holds in 14 games.
Despite a hiatus of two years, he showed off his ability to hit 16 strikeouts in 12 innings by throwing a fastball of up to 152 km. Last year, at the end of the season, due to the injury of his father and a broken arm, the season ended a little early, but he showed competitiveness as a candidate for the finisher.
During the Arizona camp in the United States, coach Subero’s first name among the candidates for closer was also Park Sang-won. During the camp, Park Sang-won said, “I am grateful for being viewed favorably as a finalist, but I have to show a performance that matches that. Since there is no one behind the finish, there should not be an inch of error. He has to be perfect as he is a position with a sense of weight that needs to be good at ending,” he said.
Although he leaves for a while due to a bruise on his arm, he returns without delay. He goes through the remaining demonstration games and joins the finishing competition again. In the exhibition game, Hanwha is being tested with veteran Jang Si-hwan and left-hander Kim Bum-soo as finishers.