It is no longer a ‘beginner selection’. In fact, it’s not inferior to being an ace.
LG Twins Lee Jeong-yong put up a good pitching show and won three games in a row. In the home game against the Hanwha Eagles held in Jamsil on the 1st, Lee Jeong-yong showed off a perfect pitch of 5 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, and no runs in 6 innings, leading the team to a 10-0 victory.스포츠토토
It was his eighth game as a starter and he had already made his third quality start. Lee Jeong-yong, who recorded his first quality start in his debut with 6 scoreless innings against Jamsil Kiwoom Jeonseo on August 2nd, recorded his first start in his debut with 2 hits and no runs in 5 innings against Gwangju KIA Jeonseo on the 9th. On August 16th, against Samsung in Daegu, he won 2 consecutive games with 6 hits and 2 runs in 6 innings, and on this day, his first appearance on the mound in 16 days, he won 3 games in a row with 6 scoreless innings.
Since August, he has made 3 quality starts in 4 games and has allowed only 2 runs in 23 innings, resulting in an ERA of only 0.78.
While other domestic starters such as Choi Won-tae and Lim Chan-gyu have been pitching erratically recently, Lee Jeong-yong is continuing to pitch very steadily.
Lee Jung-yong showed off an amazing pitching performance by allowing the lead infielder Jeong Eun-won to hit second baseman in the top of the first inning and then hitting 11 consecutive batters until two out in the top of the fourth inning.
At the beginning of the 4th inning, after 2 deaths, the first run was in danger. After allowing a shortstop infield hit to Chae Eun-seong in number 4, the ball faltered for a moment. He gave up a straight walk to No. 5 Kim Tae-yeon. 2nd 1st and 2nd base, 6th Jin-hyeok Jang struck out with a forkball on a swing. Even at the beginning of the 5th inning, Choi Jae-hoon allowed a hit after 1 death, but caught the follow-up batters as a hitter.
With a big lead of 4-0, Lee Jeong-yong came on the mound in the top of the 6th inning. As he came up, he was hit by successive hits from Mana leader Lee Do-yoon and Noh Si-hwan at number 3, and was in danger of reaching first and second base with no outs. But he was calm. He catches No. 4 Chae Eun-seong on a fly to center field, with one out and 1st and 3rd bases. He struck out No. 5 Kim Tae-yeon with a missed swing with a forkball that fell 130km at a ball count of 2B2S, and No. 6 Jang Jin-hyuk was thrown out with a fly to right field, finishing with a scoreless score.
The highest speed of fastballs, which he threw 33 out of 86 pitches in a game this season, was 145km, but he cooked up Hanwha’s batting lineup by appropriately mixing forkballs (25), sliders (17), and curves (11). He struck out 5 times, 2 each with a slider and a forkball, and also got a looking strikeout with a fastball. In other words, any pitch can be used as a winning shot to strike out.
Lee Jeong-yong expressed his feelings about winning, saying, “I won a lot on the day I played, and I wanted to give good energy to my teammates today as well.”
In fact, Lee Jeong-yong was LG’s ‘victory fairy’. LG had a good record of 7 wins and 1 loss in 8 starts. Lee Jeong-yong said, “I want to spread the idea that if Jeong-yong throws, the team wins. Even if I can’t throw, the team can win. That’s why I think I’m trying to do my best,” and hoped that he would become the team’s victory fairy.
Regarding his first appearance on the mound in 16 days due to rain cancellation, Lee Jeong-yong said, “I continued to exercise and there was nothing difficult during the preparation process,” and “It’s not that I didn’t think about losing my sense of the game. I thought the first inning was more important, but it was more important than I thought.” “It worked out well,” he said.
Lee Jeong-yong was able to firmly establish himself as a starter when he was equipped with a forkball and a curveball as his weapons. Lee Jeong-yong threw a forkball as an amateur, but became a bullpen pitcher after becoming a pro and pitched mainly fastballs and sliders. He started throwing forkballs again when he switched to a starting role, and also learned the curveball from Chan-gyu Lim and is using it to good effect.
He revealed to reporters at this year’s spring camp that he had a secret weapon, and that was a forkball. Lee Jeong-yong himself said, “‘Lee Jeong Yong’s claw’ is a forkball thrown with a dragon’s claw,” making the reporters burst into laughter.
However, he said he pays more attention to fastballs than forkballs. Lee Jeong-yong said, “Still, I think the fastball is No. 1. I think that the other pitches can only be improved if the fastball is good, so I’m focusing more on the fastball.”
He said his chemistry with catcher Park Dong-won is getting better. Lee Jeong-yong said, “I thought Hanwha would be aggressive today because their batting skills have not been good recently, so I asked Dongwon to throw more aggressively.” He added, “I owe a lot to Dongwon. We talk a lot, so we are getting better together.” “We are losing,” he said.
It is true that the pressure on the starting lineup has increased as Adam Plutko, who played the role of ace, is out due to injury. Lee Jeong-yong said, “Honestly, I think there is some pressure. Still, I just want to give good energy on the day I throw.”
It has already been confirmed that he will join the Sangmu military service next year. The eagerness for the remaining games this season is even greater. Lee Jeong-yong, who said, “I really have to go to Sangmu next year,” said, “I hope good results continue. I really want to achieve the end result. I want to wear a (champion) ring.”