"Getting the ball and confidence back"...LG's Light Speed Side Arm's Strong Resolution to Rebound

"Getting the ball and confidence back"...LG's Light Speed Side Arm's Strong Resolution to Rebound

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"The first (goal) is to regain my ball power and confidence on the mound, regardless of my performance."먹튀검증

Despite sluggish performance over the past two years, Jung Woo-young of the LG Twins was not swayed. He was not in a hurry and preparing for the 2025 season.

Jung Woo-young, who is playing the LG spring camp at Glendale Camelback Ranch in Arizona, USA, delivered his current status during the inactive period and his aspirations for the 2025 season through the club on the 2nd (Korea time).
Jung Woo-young, who wore LG's pin-strip uniform as the 15th overall in the second round in 2019, is a right-handed sidearm pitcher whose strength is fast two-seam fastballs. Until last year, he had 24 wins, 23 losses, eight saves and 112 holds with an ERA of 3.33 in 345 games (337.2 innings).

In particular, Jung Woo-young shone the most during the 2022 season. In 67 games (58 innings), he won 2 wins, 3 losses, 2.64 ERA, and 35 holds to become the hold king. Based on this performance, he played with the national flag at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which took place the following year.

However, he failed to smile these days. He played in 60 games (51.2 innings) in the 2023 season, but only posted five wins, six losses and 11 holds and an ERA of 4.70. Since then, Jung has failed to rebound in 27 games (22.2 innings) in the 2024 season, while posting a ERA of 4.76 with two wins, one loss and three holds.

As a result, Jung could not avoid a severe blow in the salary negotiations. He signed the contract for 180 million won (180 million won), a cut of 140 million won (43.8 percent) from 320 million won (320 million won) last year. In desperate bid, he was spending an off-season busier than anyone else to revive himself.

"I wanted to know more clearly what I was lost in baseball for two years after the season was over," Jung said. "I went to a place called Tread Athletics in the U.S. early to learn more about my baseball. I had been thinking about it for several years that I wanted to learn about advanced U.S. baseball. I wanted to go there all the time, but I couldn't go there due to WBC and bone fragment surgery. I thought I should go there this time."

"Our coaches are good at teaching, but I was wondering what direction they are teaching in advanced baseball and the mainland. I've been watching treads for a year through SNS, and I wanted to experience them firsthand. After visiting the training center late last year, I built up my body for about two weeks at Jamsil Baseball Stadium and immediately moved to train on the treads for about six weeks," he added.

Of course, he was not in a hurry. "When I had my first interview on the treadmill, I told him that I would not be able to achieve 100 percent of results in the short term. I came to find a form to throw strong balls again and correct wrong thoughts," Jung said. "Rather than getting results in the short term, I learned from what I learned here to focus on areas that I can continuously fix throughout the season. I am still training with feedback."

"(Trade coaches) also saw my past two years in a very sad way. Just because my baseball is not going well doesn't mean I'm quitting it right now, so the words "Let's not rush it" came to my attention the most as he clearly caught on to my problems. "Trade coaches saw me pull it up slowly without being impatient throughout my training period, and they gave me a very positive assessment that I am good at controlling myself. They also cheered me a lot," he said with a smile.

One of the advantages of Tread Athletics is that you can give and receive feedback for a year.

"I chose Tread because I heard that Tread is the only center that gives feedback for a year in a baseball team," Jung said. "This place has a separate application, so I can send videos and data after I play. I like the part where I give feedback and manage the results the most, so I decided on Tread. Compared to the past two years, my speed has increased a lot. It covered 92 miles (147-148 kilometers)."

Jung, who wore No. 16 last year, will wear No. 18 this season. No. 18 was Jung's uniform number for the 2022 season, when he became the hold king.

"After the season, (Baek) Seung-hyun and I talked about changing the uniform number when we were good. Finally, Seung-hyun was using my uniform number (No. 18). I said I would change it. I also wanted to change it. I wanted to go back to the good times. Seung-hyun also had the same idea, so I changed it."

Jung Woo-young said, "I have to do really well this year, but I don't think I can go back to the time when I did the best," adding, "I have the mindset that I can go back to the time when it was better slowly. The first (goal) is to leave my performance without feeling impatient and regain my ball power and confidence on the mound."

Finally, he said, "I had a hard time for two years, and there are still many fans who are looking forward to it. Thank you," adding, "Now I will go back to my good days and play baseball where fans can watch it comfortably without anxiety."

Meanwhile, Jung made his second bullpen session since joining the camp on Jan. 30 local time. He threw a total of 15 pitches, including 13 pitch fastballs and two curveballs, and measured the average speed of his fastballs at 140.1 kilometers and the maximum speed of 142.8 kilometers.