Won Sang-hyun revealed that his changeup mentor is Samsung Lions’ Won Tae-in.
KT won 9-0 against Hanwha in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League on Friday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea.
KT starting pitcher Won Sang-hyun pitched six innings of three-hit ball with two walks and three strikeouts to earn his first career complete game victory. It was his most innings of the season and the first quality start of his career (6+ innings, 3 runs or less). Her fastball reached a high of 148 mph and a low of 139 mph. She threw 83 pitches, including 38 changeups, 33 fastballs, and 12 curveballs.
“It means a lot to me,” Won told the media after the game. In fact, in Busan (19), I had the winning pitcher’s conditions (5 innings, 8 hits, 3 walks, 1 run), but I wasn’t satisfied. I had a hard time before that, so I was very happy today,” he said.
Won Sang-hyun earned his debut win in Game 4 of the best-of-five series. In his previous four starts, Won admitted that he had a very difficult time. “Honestly, it was very hard, and I cried a lot,” he said.
“I’m still a rookie, and I have a lot of baseball left, but I thought I should seize the opportunity now and work hard. I kept replaying the things that didn’t work, talked to the manager and coach a lot, and practiced my changeup a lot, and it led to good results,” he said encouragingly.
On the 13th, against SSG Landers, Won Sang-hyun pitched his worst game, giving up seven runs on nine hits in two innings. “I wasn’t in bad shape,” he recalled, “but I was frustrated because I thought, ‘This is my limit, I can’t survive in the pros with my fastball and curveball,'” he said.
“I thought, ‘If I do this, I might not be able to play baseball,’ so I increased the percentage of my changeup,” he said. Today, Won threw the most changeups since his debut.
“I know that my days as a starting pitcher are numbered,” Won said. Even if I go to the bullpen, I always have to be confident, so I thought I should get my first win while I’m pitching, and I’m glad I did today,” Won said.
The changeup was his choice. “After about two or three innings, I realized that my fastball was getting too high, and if I went with my fastball and got into an 카지노 unfavorable count, I would get hit again. I told him, ‘I like the changeup, so let’s make it easy with the changeup and my main weapon, the curve,'” Won said.
His changeup teacher is Samsung’s Won Tae-in. “I saw him once and kept asking him about the changeup, and I also asked him on social media. Since I’m a starting pitcher, I thought I should contact a senior who throws the changeup well, so I got a lot of advice and learned from him.” Won Tae-in explained his grip and throwing method to Won Sang-hyun in detail.
When asked if he wanted to ask Hanwha’s Ryu Hyun-jin, he laughed shyly, saying, “I don’t think I can say something to Ryu Hyun-jin.”
As for his goal of becoming a rookie king, he gave up. Won Sang-hyun said, “My goal was to stay in the first team for a long time, and I was the rookie king from the middle, but I’ve given up on the rookie king. “I think it’s greedy to aim for the rookie of the year,” he said, emphasizing that his dream is to be a player who helps the team win, whether he starts or comes out of the bullpen.”