LG's 1st starter leap year...Fastball RPM 2600 Expectations for 'Korea's Best' Son Joo-young
LG's 1st starter leap year...Fastball RPM 2600 Expectations for 'Korea's Best' Son Joo-young
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Our team's goal for next year is for Son to take the mound and throw in the opening game."먹튀검증
LG Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yeop met with reporters ahead of a practice game against KT Wiz at Kinosa Stadium in Okinawa, Japan on the 2nd and mentioned pitcher Son Joo-young.
Son Joo-young showed off his overwhelming pitching in a practice game against the Samsung Lions at Akama Stadium in Okinawa, Japan on the 1st. He returned the opponent's batting line with two hits, two walks and one strikeout in two innings of final performance.
Son will start the 2025 season with high expectations. Starting the season as the fifth starter last year, Son recorded 9 wins, 10 losses and one hold, 144 ⅔ innings with an ERA of 3.79 112 strikeouts in 28 regular season games. He had the second lowest ERA after Won Tae-in (3.66 ERA) among Korean pitchers who met the regular innings, and will start the season with a guaranteed spot in the starting lineup this season by playing without any major injuries.
LG and Yeom have high expectations for Son. Rather than just starting in Korea, they plan to raise him as the first starter representing their team. This season will be a year to grow into the first starter. He will play a key role in the starting lineup, which consists of foreign pitchers Yoni Chirinos, Elijah Hernandez, Lim Chan-kyu and Song Seung-ki.
"Son Joo-young is a special player. She has certain strengths. Her four-seam fastball RPM (per minute) is 2,600, the highest in Korea. Even if she throws 143 kilometers per hour, she doesn't get hit. Numbers don't lie. Kim Young-woo is good, but not as good as Joo-young. If she acquires folk balls more clearly, her strikeout rate will increase significantly," Yeom said. "Our team's next year's goal is for Son to take the mound in the opening game."
"I hope this season will be a season where the first starting pitcher in Korea will be made through this year's process. We will fight as the second starting pitcher this year. Even if we can compete with foreign pitchers from other teams, I think our team can win if we strike and defend ourselves. We need to gain experience here to be able to compete with the first starting pitcher next year. We need to be able to compete with the first starting pitcher to become an ace. We need to overcome again to become the first starting pitcher of our team."
Son Joo-young is also fully prepared for the upcoming 2025 season.
"I was talking about a time when I did well," said Son, who heard Yeom's "plan to make Son Joo-young the first starter. "I think it's motivation to do well this year," Son said. "I feel comfortable (due to my stellar performance last year), but I have more responsibility. Last year, I thought that I could skip the first or second turn, but I can never leave now. I also feel that pressure. I need to pay more attention to my physical condition and improve my pitching capability to produce good results, so I have a sense of responsibility."