“It gets better when you apply a lot of cosmetics.”
‘Gocheok Haribo’ Kim Jae-woong (Kiwoom) is a reverse man. He shows off his thigh muscles that are about to explode, but his face is ‘soft’. In particular, he captures the hearts of women with his immaculate skin. Some things are innate, but as it turned out, it came from ‘thorough management’. He was quite enviable for a somewhat dull-skinned reporter.
Kim Jae-woong recently told Kiwoom’s spring camp magazine Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, “The more cosmetics you apply, the better your skin gets. Skin, lotion, serum lotion, moisture cream. Keep doing this. My skin has been good since I was young, but after applying it like this, it got better.”
In fact, there is no occupational group that needs to pay as much attention to skin care as baseball players. This is because he lives exposed to the outdoors all year round. Of course, Kim Jae-woong uses his covered dome stadium (Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul) as his home, but his 72 games are played at an outdoor pitch. Considering that he trains from the afternoon even for night games, not to mention daytime games, skin care is a must.
In Arizona, the sun is especially hot during the day. Sunscreen must be applied at all times. On this business trip, the reporter serves as a ‘skin protector’ by taking plenty of sunscreen and distributing it to seniors from other companies. However, it is unlikely that the dull skin will become ‘plush’ like Kim Jae-woong’s. It’s already late. He hasn’t even married yet, but he’s worried.
Kim Jae-woong is highly likely to be the finisher this season as long as there is no change. He was the 8th inning main setup man in the first half, the finisher in the second half, and he played a big role as an all-weather reliable man in the postseason. In particular, the driving force that overwhelms hitters even with a fastball in the early 140km range is high-level RPM and vertical movement. For hitters, he feels heaviness more than speed.
Moreover, Jaewoong Kim is not the type to avoid or run away from a crisis. “The finish is more fun than the setup man. He definitely feels that hitters are more focused. If you are a person, the title is regrettable, but the team finished the season well, so it’s okay. He doesn’t make a lot of blown saves, and he wants to increase his save count. I want to go on a long run like Jung Woo-ram (Hanwha) sunbaenim. Of course, if (Cho) Sang-woo comes back, he just needs to go back to being the setup man in the 8th inning.” 안전놀이터
He focuses on his changeup and high fastball. Kim Jae-woong said, “I practice throwing a highball more accurately. Then, a low-dropping changeup seems to be effective. He said, “I think it would be nice to throw a ball that splits (meaning the deviation of the impact force is longer).”
Such Kim Jae-woong was not selected for the WBC national team in March. Looking at his abilities alone, he’s good enough for a spot, so he vows to upgrade. He eventually decides that he was not picked because of restraints. Kim Jae-woong said, “He knew he would not be selected for the WBC. He needs to increase his speed. He wonders if the speed will increase if he spins with his right leg a little longer. He is also doing a lot of long toss. He seems to have to come out until 145 km.”