“I thought it was a hidden camera that was trying to cheat me.”
For LG Twins right-hander Lee Jong-jun, 23, the move in the second round of the 2024 KBO Draft on Nov. 22 last year was a surprise. LG selected the NC Dinos pitcher with the 20th overall pick in the third round. After graduating from Gunsan Sangho High School and being drafted by NC with the 81st overall pick in the ninth round of the 2020 second round, Lee had never played in a first-team game and only appeared in the Futures League in 2021 (8 games, 3 wins, 19⅔ innings of scoreless relief).
Everyone was surprised to see him selected by LG because he had just returned from military service and was an unknown player with no name recognition. Lee Jong-joon felt the same way. “I wasn’t even thinking about going in the second round of the draft,” he told me last month at a camp in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. I wasn’t an officially registered player, 카지노사이트 and I didn’t have a Futures League record after 2021. I was thinking about it as if it was just another day, and I was just hoping that the same pitcher wouldn’t come to NC,” he recalled.
Then LG surprised him with a roster spot.
In October of last year, I saw him pitch in the education league and saw the potential. He made an immediate impression, striking out six batters in two innings with a fastball in the low 140s. “That was the best time in my baseball career,” he said, and LG never forgot that game. The NC, which was not expecting the nomination, was also very disappointed.
When he received the news of LG’s nomination, Lee was dumbfounded. “I thought it was a hidden camera that my brothers were congratulating me,” he said. “LG is a team known for its pitchers, so I was also confused. I thought I would show something from the education league in the NC, but I was also worried that I would have to start from scratch in a new team,” he recalls.
But now, he feels fortunate to have come to LG, saying, “I’m glad I did.” LG lost closer Go Woo-seok (San Diego) to the major leagues, and Ham Duk-ju underwent pin fixation for a microfracture of the olecranon bone in his elbow, making it difficult for him to pitch in the first half. Jung Woo-young, who underwent surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow, could also struggle in the early going, leaving the team in need of new bullpen depth, and LG manager Yoon Kyung-yeop is eyeing Lee Jong-jun as one of several options.
He’s 6-foot-3 and has a mid-to-high 140s fastball that comes from a low arm angle.
“He’s one of the pitchers I’m excited about. I want to give him a chance because I want to develop him.” “His arm angle is low, so the ball has tailing. He maximizes his low arm as an advantage, not a disadvantage. I’ve designed his pitches so that his fastball is inside to righties and outside to lefties, and his changeup is outside to sliders and curves.” Rather than asking for a lot of pitches, he decided to utilize his short inning advantage by dividing his pitches between the inside and outside.
Lee was encouraged by Yeom’s attention. “From my first bullpen pitch, the coach has been behind me. I’m grateful for his interest,” he said. “He told me that it’s good to take advantage of the tailing on the ball. I’ve always had tailing on my pitches, 메이저 토토사이트 but I think it’s gotten more effective as I’ve gotten faster. I started throwing with my arm low because I had shoulder pain when I was younger. The arm height I have now is good for power,” he explained.
“It was great to pitch live against seniors who I only watched on TV at LG,” said Lee, who revealed that it was his first time in the U.S. as well as the first-team spring training. “Every baseball player dreams of the first-team stage. I feel like I’ve reached the starting point of the moment I’ve been dreaming of. I want to do well and not be intimidated.”