‘1000 Inning Submarine’ Park Jong-hoon’s fate is 5 cm, 6.5 billion depends on it

There are countless pitchers who have gone through the KBO league, but the players who threw more than 1,000 innings are worth counting on one hand. Among them, there are few players of the underhand type, which can be called authentic submariners.

SSG coach Kim Won-hyung said ahead of the match against Suwon kt on the 19th, “One reason is that there are not many players who have played as a starting pitcher for a long time. You can succeed by throwing 1-2 innings later, but if you want to throw long innings, you need a solid weapon.” should have,” he says. There is a perception that the underhand type is short-lived as a starting pitcher. In addition to the technical aspect, there is also an influence that there are many players who suffer chronic back and knee injuries due to their pitching form.

In that respect, SSG submariner Park Jong-hoon (32) is an unusual player. He was steadily developed as a starting pitcher, and he consistently played as a starting pitcher. Park Jong-hoon, who has a total of 69 wins, threw 6 innings against Hanwha in Daejeon on the 7th, surpassing the 1,000th innings mark in his personal career. It is a number that is possible because it is backed by thorough self-management and its own performance. He is an orthodox underhand pitcher and is also one of the few players currently circling the starting rotation.

Park Jong-hoon is the player who releases the ball at the lowest point in the league. When he was younger, he would sometimes scratch the back of his hand on the mound and bleed. The lower he is, the more effective the ball disappears from the batter’s field of vision. Unless you look low in the zone, you won’t see a two-seam (sinker) stuck at knee level. And the combination of a curve flying from the low side and suddenly rising into the field of vision was the main driving force behind Park Jong-hoon’s 1,000 innings.

But recently, this height has been shaken. Of course, it still maintains the lowest release point in the league, but it has become more common to release the ball a little higher than before. Although it is a subtle difference, it is clearly revealed in the data. This is a more noteworthy factor because it can affect the contents of Park Jong-hoon’s pitching.

According to the tally of ‘Trackman’, which provides tracking data to 9 KBO league clubs, Park Jong-hoon put his fastball (four-seam + sinker) on average 37 cm above the ground in 2021, right before he had elbow surgery. 2020 was 35 cm. Even after his return last year, his release point was as low as 32 cm. But this year, it has risen to an average of 41 cm. Sinkers with a release point of 55 cm or more, which were difficult to see in the past, are also caught quite often.

A difference of about 5 cm may seem insignificant, but it is never so. It is the same reason that an overhand pitcher’s arm height is lowered by 5 cm. This can lead to completely different results from previous ball movements.

SPOTV commentator Jeong Min-tae diagnosed, “As the height of the ball is increased, the movement of the sinker and curve has decreased.” In particular, the movement of the curve, which can be seen as Park Jong-hoon’s strength, has changed. Commissioner Jeong said, “If the ball soared upwards in the past, now it comes back to the side.”

It was confirmed in the Suwon KT game on the 19th that the difference in movement can lead to an enormous butterfly effect. Of course, there were long hits, but many of Park Jong-hoon’s hits that day were not so well matched. Rather than being a regular hit, slightly missed or eaten balls led to hits, which bothered Park Jong-hoon.

Especially the 3rd was like that. As the sinker and curve release points increased, the movement of the ball did not come out as usual. In other words, if the movement was slightly better than this, it could have resulted in a miss or a weaker hit. The difference of half a ball is this big. On the contrary, from the 4th episode, the release point of most sinkers fell below 40 cm. It may not be that problem for everyone, but unfortunately, Park Jong-hoon endured well with no runs from the 4th to the 6th inning.

It is an explanation that the release point was not intentionally adjusted. However, the aftermath of the elbow surgery is still there. Park Jong-hoon said, “I didn’t do it intentionally, but when I was looking for a way to throw without pain after elbow surgery, there was something that went up without my knowledge. In that situation, it’s true that the curve comes back.” It got better as we went. If it’s a fundamental problem, we should fix it quickly, but that’s not the case, I think it’ll be fine.”

Park Jong-hoon is also in his 30s,토토사이트 and it is impossible to throw dramatically faster velocity from now on due to the nature of his underhand. However, he could be a more competitive starter if he could refine his main weapon movement from his characteristic low release point. It is possible for Park Jong-hoon, who is confident that his knee or back has never hurt. Ups and downs are unavoidable, but there should be twice as many good days as bad days. This will be the factor that determines the success or failure of the five-year, 6.5 billion won contract.