KIA left-hander rookie Yoon Young-chul (19) started the second half refreshingly with flawless pitching. Yoon Young-cheol started as a starting pitcher in the match against Lotte in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 29th.
Yoon Young-cheol, who made his first start in the second half, pitched 6 innings, allowed only 1 hit and allowed only 2 walks, and pitched well with no runs. 80 pitches. 스포츠토토 The maximum speed of the fastball was 139 km, but Lotte batters could not budge. On this day, Yoon Young-chul threw 38 fastballs, 25 sliders, and 17 changeups. Lotte, conscious of Yoon Young-chul as a left-handed pitcher, built a lineup mainly for right-handed hitters, but Yoon Young-chul did not care and pitched almost perfectly. Yoon Young-chul’s batting average against right-handed hitters is .199, which is close to the extreme. Rather, the batting average against left-handed batters is high at .304.
Previously, Lee Eui-ri, a left-handed fireballer, appeared as a starting pitcher against Lotte in Gwangju on the 28th and calmed the Lotte lineup with a fastball that reached up to 150 km. Yoon Young-cheol’s maximum speed was 139 km, but he overpowered the Lotte batters with one hit with fearless pitching along with control power unmatched by his age at the age of 19. Again, velocity is not everything for a pitcher. KIA won 4-1 and Yun Young-cheol was given his 6th win of the season. Yoon Young-chul looked back on the game, saying, “I think I was lucky to hit the pitches to a certain extent, and most of the balls went to the front of the fielder in the beginning.”
If he continues pitching like this, it is worth aiming for the rookie of the year award. Following Lee Ui-ri, who won the Rookie of the Year in 2021, this is an opportunity to continue the life of the Tigers Rookie of the Year. I think the most important thing is for the team to win. When the team goes to a higher place, I can get a lot of opportunities to win individual awards, so I’m focusing a lot on the team winning,” said Yoon Young-cheol, “I do well and the team too. I want to go higher,” he said.
Since he has already won 6 wins, he is in a position to aim for 10 wins in his debut season. However, Yoon Young-cheol promised that he would not be conscious of achieving 10 victories, saying, “If you look farther away, things often don’t go well. The feeling of disappointment grows.” Is it because he has already exceeded the goals he set for himself? “The goal was to win 5, but I’ve already achieved it, so I’m very satisfied,” said Yoon Young-chul.
KIA is a traditional house that has achieved ‘V11′, including the predecessor Haitai, but only two rookie kings (Lee Sun-cheol in 1985 and Lee Eui-ri in 2021) were produced. In particular, Lee Eui-ri won 4 wins and won the Rookie of the Year title, but if Yoon Young-chul wins 10 wins and even the Rookie of the Year King, he can decorate a page in the Tigers’ new history.