“I want to pitch in big games, big situations.”
It’s the bullpen at Narabunda Ballpark in Canberra, Australia. Lim Ki-young, 31, pitched first and watched the other pitchers throw. “I just want to see how the other pitchers throw,” he said. “They’re all so good. (Yoo) Seung-cheol is good, (Yoon) Joong-hyun, (Park) Jun-pyo, (Kwak) Do-gyu…” he said.
Lim said he’s happy with the pace of the relievers who didn’t make the 2023 pitching rotation. He humbly said that he was lucky to be the main setup man last year. Of course, he embraces the competition this year as well.
Left-handed sub Kwak Do-kyu (20), who we met on the 10th, a day before Lim, was also competitive: “I want to be in a situation where I can win or lose,” he said. Kwak threw the third bullpen pitch of the day to check his condition.
He was drafted in the 5th round, 42nd overall, in 2023 out of Gongju University. His pitching form is quite unusual. It’s a left-handed submarine with a slightly higher arm height than the third-place Kim Dae-yoo (33), which gives him a very unique trajectory among baseball players around the world. Even his speed is competitive. He averaged 144.7 kilometers per hour in the 2023 season, according to baseball stats site Statistiz.
In the second division, he thrived. In 37 games, he had a 6-1 record, six holds, five saves, and a 2.89 ERA. However, once he reached the first team, his pitching balance was unstable. In 14 games, he had an ERA of 8.49. “I heard from coaches Jung Jae-hoon and Lee Dong-gul that I needed to be more confident. I was shy,” he said.
This winter, Kwak was assigned to the Canberra Cavaliers of the Australian Professional Baseball League, the organization’s spring training home. He continued to spend time in a very familiar place. He pitched six games and had a 3.12 ERA in those six appearances.
“I think I did well in Australia because I felt comfortable on the mound,” Kwak said. “This season, the most important thing is not to get hurt, and I will try to stay in the first team. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and try to compete for the (must-win) group.”
Good mentality and confidence come from competitiveness. Kwak is a competitive pitcher. Coach Jung Jae-hoon also explained that Kwak was sent to Australia because he believed that practice was more important than training. Kia sent Do-gyu back home after he showed good pace in Australia and sent him to Driveline in Seattle, USA.
It was a move to analyze him closely and use him properly in the bullpen. So this offseason, Kwak lived in Australia and the U.S. before returning to Australia for spring training. His time abroad is overwhelmingly longer than his time in Korea.
“Australia was good, and the U.S. was good. I analyzed the parts I was curious about and knew what I needed to 토토 work on.” He added, “I learned new pitches. It’s a cutter and a changeup. My form is unusual, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need a changeup,” he said.
In Seattle, Kwak had a pitch tunnel analysis of his drive and concluded that his cutter and changeup worked well together. He threw a slider last year, but it had a low command rate, and his secondary pitch to pair with his two-seam was a curve. A changeup that flows outside for right-handed hitters is a must, and if the slider doesn’t work, I’m not afraid to throw a messy cutter. He’s identified the pitches that work for him, but it’s up to him to master them.
Kwak is known for his routine of shaking both shoulders three times as he enters his pitching motion. It remains to be seen if he will scale back this routine once the pitch clock is introduced. A former manager once described him as having a “fighting chicken” temperament.
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