“The splitter was impressive.”
Park Joon-young (20) of the Hanwha Eagles took the mound four times in an exhibition game against the Samsung Lions held at the Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 27th, recording 1⅔ innings, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, and no runs. He captured the heart of coach Carlos Subero with impressive pitching in his first and last exhibition game of the year.
The next day (28th), coach Subero praised Park Joon-young’s pitching, saying, “The way Park Joon-young overcame the crisis on his own was very impressive. The splitter was amazing. It was a good use in the right place at the right time.” 안전놀이터
Park Joon-young, who heard what coach Subero said, said, “Thank you for liking it.” “In high school, I threw a lot of sliders as a deciding ball, but I didn’t feel the power of the deciding ball much. So I polished my splitter more. I caught it differently, and I tried to throw it like a forkball with a bigger drop.
It was the first appearance of this year’s demonstration game, but Park Joon-young was not very nervous. Even in the presence of his runners, he focused solely on his pitching. He continued calmly, saying, “I wasn’t nervous when I went up to the game. Even if I allowed on base, I thought of just blocking it from coming home. I didn’t give it up because I couldn’t control the walk. I think it was a meaningful walk.”
My goal this year is to go through the season without injury. Park Joon-young said, “I was injured last year. It wasn’t a big injury, and the hospital said that it would get better if I took a break. I really thought that I shouldn’t get sick,” he said, expressing his desire to play a season in good health.
Reaping the first win in the first team is a small wish. Park Joon-young’s career record in the KBO League is 10.64 ERA in 5 games, 11 innings, 1 loss. He said, “I only have 1 loss. My position has not been decided yet, but I want to be a winning pitcher in the game. If I am in the first team without getting sick, I think I will be able to seize the opportunity.”
Park Joon-young, a native of Sego-go, was nominated by the Eagles with the 1st pick in the 2nd round of the 2022 draft. Together with Dong-ju Moon, his motive for joining the team, expectations were raised as a promising player who would carry the mound of Hanwha in the future. Due to his injury, he did not perform well in his debut season, but he trained hard throughout the winter. Even in just one demonstration game, he received the eyes of the command tower. Park Joon-young is ready to take flight.