Study, athleticism set these three apart
Why have these young pitchers been successful to start their second year? Hyundai Unicorns’ manager Kim said it’s the players who bask in their rookie success that suffer from a sophomore jinx.“Smart players, or smart pitchers in this case, study opposing hitters in the offseason, and prepare themselves for new challenges,” Kim said.
So are Ryu, Han and Jang that much smarter than their predecessors? Not likely, but the fact that they are all pitchers is an important factor to their early success this season.
In Korean baseball, scouting reports on hitters are much more detailed than those on pitchers. In other words, it is easier for pitchers to study hitters than the other way around. That means young pitchers, as long as they’re willing to work on this preparation, are more likely to avoid a sophomore jinx than hitters.
Of course, it’s not as though there haven’t been pitchers victimized by the second-year curse. The Unicorns’ Oh Jae-young, the 2004 rookie of the year, won 10 games in his first season and just two games over the following two years. The 2003 top rookie, Lee Dong-hak, also with the Unicorns, hasn’t won a game since getting eight wins in his first year.
What’s special about this year’s trio is, quite simply, their talent level.
Ryu appears to be benefiting from the five-day breaks between starts, and his fastball, which had lost some zip in last year’s playoffs, is blazing once again. His slider, which drops in on the right-handed hitters, is as nasty as ever.
Han’s aggressive, all-out style of pitching seems perfect for the closer’s assignment. And being young shouldn’t preclude anyone from being a closer ― think Huston Street of the Oakland Athletics, who is 23.
Jang is a finesse pitcher who doesn’t overpower batters to get outs, meaning he can pace himself through the long season. And thanks to the team’s strong bullpen, Jang doesn’t have to pitch seven or eight innings every start.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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