The infinite potency has been building. It’s finally breaking through.
Kiwoom Heroes fireballer Jang Jae-young earned his first win with a dazzling performance.
Jang threw 92 pitches in the first 5⅓ innings of the eighth game of the season against NC at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Friday, allowing just two hits, four walks, and seven strikeouts in a 2-0 victory.
After being replaced by Yang Hyun with one out in the top of the sixth inning with a 2-0 lead, the bullpen of Yang, Kim Jae-woong and Lim Chang-min pitched a scoreless inning to preserve Jang’s first win in 40 games.
In the midst of his dazzling performance, Jang set a number of personal records. The most innings pitched in a game, most strikeouts, and most pitches thrown in a game were all set at once.스포츠토토
The previous record was five innings against Doosan in Gocheok on April 23, the most strikeouts were five against KT in Gocheok on April 29 and SSG in Incheon on April 4, and the most pitches were 84 against Samsung Electronics in Gocheok on April 18.
He was dominant in his start against the best foreign pitcher in Korea, Eric Peddie. Pedi gave up two runs on five hits and four walks with eight strikeouts in five innings.
He threw 70 pitches with a top speed of 154 mph and an average of 150 mph. He mixed in 15 sliders and seven curves. With his secondary pitches, Jang was competitive with his fastball alone. He stayed focused in every pitch.
He struck out the side in the first inning with one strikeout. In the second inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Kwon Hee-dong and a walk to Martin to put runners on first and second, but Yoon Hyung-joon got Park Se-hyeok to ground into a K-K-K.
In the third, a walk to Kim Joo-won and a single to Son As-seob put runners on first and second with no outs, but Seo Ho-cheol got out of the jam with a strikeout in front of the pitcher. With one out in the fourth, he walked Martin but hit Yoon Hyung-jun with a 152-kilometer fastball for his second double of the day. With a 2-0 lead, he retired the side in order in the fifth with two strikeouts. In the sixth, he walked Seo Ho-cheol after a leadoff single and was replaced by Yang Hyun.
The fireballer joined Kiwoom as a first-round pick in 2021 after graduating from Duksugo. Despite having one of the best fastballs in the league, he has come a long way in two years due to his nagging pitching anxiety. He spent some time in the second team earlier this season to readjust.
In his second call-up, he has looked increasingly steady under the watchful eye of Kiwoom coach Hong Won-ki. The already strong Kiwoom starting lineup is expected to get even stronger.