“I have nothing but gratitude. To be honest, I didn’t think I would be selected 70% of the time.”
LG Twins Jung Woo-young (24) was selected for the Hangzhou Asian Games baseball team. He will wear the Taegeuk mark again following the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).메이저사이트
Jung Woo-young went to Hangzhou with teammate pitcher Go Woo-seok and infielder Moon Bo-kyung.
In particular, Jung Woo-young is the only sidearm in the national team. Ryu Joong-il, the national team coach, said, “I tried to pick one between Jung Woo-young and Park Myeong-geun. I chose it because I thought it might not work,” he said, revealing the background of his selection.
Jung Woo-young won the hold title last season with an average ERA of 2.64 in 67 games, 58 innings, 2 wins, 3 losses, and 35 holds. Thanks to this performance, he boarded the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team held in March, but the speed was seldom raised, and in the end, he left 1 hit and no run in ⅔ innings against Korea and Japan.
Even after returning to Korea, Jung Woo-young’s pace did not increase as quickly as he thought. In the exhibition game, he recorded only 4 games (4 innings) 1 loss and an earned run average of 4.50.
He posted 6 holds in April but suffered 3 losses. His earned run average was not good at 4.22.
It came to life little by little in May. I found a sense of stability by increasing the curve ratio. From KT on the 18th to Lotte on the 30th, he recorded 7 consecutive scoreless games and earned 4 holds. He lowered his earned run average to 3.60 in May. It was shaken for a while in early June, but it is on a three-game scoreless streak.
Jung Woo-young thinks that he couldn’t hope for the Asian Games because his performance was not good compared to last season.
He honestly said, “It would be a lie if I said it wasn’t influenced by the Asian Games. On the one hand, I was very nervous. I was very nervous until yesterday. I thought I might not be able to go. Almost 70% of the time I thought I couldn’t go.”
Jung Woo-young looked back, saying, “I wanted to do it until I could because it didn’t hurt. The director helped me a lot, and I was able to do it with a sense of purpose.”
Jung Woo-young, who looked through the list, caught his role. He said, “There weren’t many pitchers in the middle. That’s why I think I’m going to play a lot of games. This time, I want to not be a nuisance to the team.”
Above all, I got to meet the leaders who ate together at LG, such as manager Ryu Joong-il, operational coach Ryu Ji-hyeon (former LG manager), pitching coach Choi Il-eon, and coach Kim Dong-soo.
Jung Woo-young smiled, saying, “I don’t think it’s unfamiliar. I think I’ll be able to play baseball comfortably because we’ve been together.”
Twice a year he was called up to the national team. Jung Woo-young said, “Becoming a national representative is what I’ve been dreaming of. It’s an honor because it’s a competition that a player wants to set a goal for and enter.” I will do well,” he repeatedly emphasized.
