After the end of the 2021 season, Baek Jung-hyun (Samsung) smiled brightly as a FA, the best moment in his life. However, he had a hard time last year when he became the joint most losing pitcher in the league. That’s why Baek Jung-hyun poured everything into preparing for the season ahead of this year, and finally tasted the fruits of that.
Baek Jung-hyun started in the 2023 KBO League home game against the LG Twins held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 12th and showed the season’s best fight with 3 hits in 7 innings, 8 strikeouts and no runs, and harvested his 2nd win (3rd loss) of the season.
Thanks to Baek Jung-hyun’s strong pitching and Pirella’s hard hitting, Samsung beat LG 4-0 and raised the ranking to 5th place. Baek Jeong-hyun as an individual also dropped his season ERA to 3.19 and was close to entering the 2-point range, winning. was added to shake off the unfortunate early flow.
Baek Jung-hyun, who went through a difficult period after becoming the joint most losing pitcher last year after the FA jackpot, was striving to revive this season. Photo (Daegu) = Reporter Kim Won-ik
Baek Jung-hyun, who we met after the game, said, “There was a good defense and there was a crisis, but I am glad that it was a good finish and the team was able to win.” I mentioned the situation first.
On the 12th, Baek Jeong-hyun’s fastball against LG had a maximum speed of 141 km and a minimum speed of 135 km, but he freely used the body (9 pitches)-middle (9 pitches)-outside (23 pitches).
In particular, his breaking ball control on the outer course showed overwhelming power. He aggressively mixes slider (29 pitches), changeup (20 pitches), and curveball (10 pitches) that stab at the corners of the strike zone.
Homemaker Kim Tae-gun, who worked together on this day, said, “The power of the fastball was very good, starting with pitching in the bullpen. Since he has a good fastball pitch, he seems to have been able to play the game comfortably,” he explained. I was able to come out with a little more strength while taking the mound in 10 days due to cancellation of rain.
Baek Jung-hyun said, “(The fact that the break was long) didn’t bother me. He thought that if I trained, he would get my pitches. He explained the background of the good fight that day, saying, “I didn’t think about the pitch, I focused on the first pitch, and when I was in the game, the beomta came out and I played more aggressively.”
8 strikeouts is the most strikeouts in a game this season. In particular, he eliminated strikeouts in each crisis, and effectively used various deciding pitches such as fastball, slider, and changeup.
Baek Jeong-hyun led the team to a complete victory against the Daegu LG Twins on the 12th with an 8K scoreless reverse pitch in 7 innings. Photo = Samsung Lions
Baek Jung-hyun said, “Rather than trying to strike out and catch it, I think it came out (a lot) because I tried to throw it according to the situation.” It seems that the effort I put into making it was connected a lot with the swing.”
The most encouraging thing about Baek Jeong-hyeon’s pitching that day was that he blocked 7 innings with a no-four pitches.
Regarding this kind of pitching, Baek Jeong-hyun said, “During the game, I didn’t pay attention to pitching the Musa Ball. This is because it is the result of competing against others. He is just doing what he always practiced,” he said. “Leave the results to heaven. Last year, a lot of miscasts came out, so thinking about that, I’m trying to make as few miscasts as possible this year, and I’m practicing in that direction as well.”
It was also meaningful in that it escaped bad luck. Baek Jeong-hyeon showed a good pitching average of 4.13 in 4 games before this game, but he only won 1 win and suffered only 3 losses. He also had a 3.46 ERA, far lower than his field average, that he did not receive defensive support even though he pitched not badly. The lengthy content of the ill-fated early season can be hard on yourself too.
However, Baek Jeong-hyeon said, “I don’t care about that, and I’m only thinking about what I have to do as a starting pitcher, such as leading the game and allowing the least runs,” he said, focusing more on the content.
Photo = Samsung Lions
After signing a 4-year, 3.8 billion won free agent contract right after the 2021 season, Baek Jung-hyun accepted the shocking results of 4-13 and an average ERA of 5.27 last year. It was the joint record for most losses last season with a total of three pitchers. The start of this season has been going smoothly, breaking away from the sluggishness of last year.
Nevertheless, Baek Jung-hyun found meaning in last year’s slump. Baek Jung-hyun said, “Last year’s results were not good, but there were also good parts in my own way, and I studied a lot.” Every time he goes to a game, I try to do what I can,” he said calmly.
However, he gave up his hobby of taking pictures for propaganda since last year. He usually likes to take pictures and is often called a ‘artist’ because of his excellent skills, but he put down that hobby for a while to focus more on his main job.먹튀검증
Baek Jung-hyun said, “I rarely take (photographs) these days. It seems that he has hardly been filming since he signed a free agent contract. Because he came to Samsung to play baseball. I think I need to be more careful about that,” he said.
He is Baek Jung-hyun, who has long liked and even put down his hobbies that will not greatly hinder him in order to perform well. And if he shakes off his long mental struggles last year and continues his good performance this year, the Samsung starting lineup can become more solid.