Jang Hyun-suk (20), a right-hander who belongs to the rookie team under the Los Angeles Dodgers, once again showed off his amazing strikeout ability. He started the first game of the rookie league finals series and held a parade of eight strikeouts in three innings.
Jang Hyun-seok, a member of the Arizona Complex League (ACL) Dodgers in the U.S. Rookie League, took the mound as a starter in the first game of the final series (best of three) against the ACL Diamondbacks (under Arizona) at Salt Riverfields Complex in Scottsdale, Arizona on the 29th (Korea Standard Time).
Although it is a rookie league, you can guess how high the expectations of the Dodgers on Jang Hyun-seok are as high as he was selected as the starter in the first round of the finals. As expected, Jang Hyun-seok laid the groundwork for the Dodgers’ 8-1 victory by pitching no-hit, one walk, eight strikeouts, and no-hit ball in three innings.
Jang Hyun-seok, who started with a “KKK” inning by striking out Jackie Josepha, Alberto Bariga and Yassel Soler for three consecutive swings and misses in the first inning, sent the runner out due to an error by third baseman Eduardo Guerrero in the second inning.
Jang Hyun-seok, whose control was shaken by the wild pitch, allowed Alexander Benoit to walk, putting him on the verge of first and second bases with no outs. He struck out Yerold Nin with a swing and miss, but with another wild pitch, he continued with one out and runners on second and third bases.
Here, Jang Hyun-seok’s strikeout ability shone. He overcame the crisis without losing a point by striking out Adrian Rodriguez on a foul tip and striking out Juan Aparicio on a swing.
In the third inning, he struck out Jose Alpuria and Joshua struck out Josepha, striking out four batters in a row. He then handled Bariga to the right field and secured the last out with a flying ball, the only hit in the game. 메이저놀이터
Dodgers media “True Blue LA” also reported the game on the same day, saying, “Jang Hyun-suk, a 20-year-old right-hander recruited from Korea in August last year, struck out eight of 11 batters, marking a smooth start with three scoreless innings without a hit. I gave one walk, and another batter went out on an error,” referring to Jang Hyun-seok first.
Jang Hyun-suk, a right-handed orthodox pitcher who boasts a physique measuring 193 centimeters tall and weighing 90 kilograms, drew attention from Major League scouts by throwing fastballs up to 156 kilometers per hour when he was a sophomore at Masan Yongma High School. Jang, who increased his speed to 158 kilometers per hour last year, dominated the high school league with three wins, no loss, and an earned run average of 0.93 strikeouts in nine games (29 innings).
Jang Hyun-seok, who decided to challenge the U.S. without applying for the KBO rookie draft after much consideration, signed a $1 million contract with the Dodgers on August 9 last year. Since then, Jang Hyun-seok, who participated as the only amateur on the baseball team at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September, has received military service benefits with a gold medal, and was ranked 18th in the Dodgers’ promising rankings released by “MLB.com ” on March 7.
In this year’s rookie league, he pitched in 13 games (10 starts) and recorded one win, two losses and an 8.14 ERA. Although his ERA is very high, he struck out 49 times during 24 ⅓ innings, reaching 18.12 strikeouts per nine innings. With 19 walks and four hit balls, the number of walks he pitched in nine innings reached 8.51, showing overwhelming pitching performance with a batting average of around 10 percent.
He pitched three innings of one walk and six strikeouts against the Texas Rangers on April 18, and faced the San Diego Padres on April 23, blocking the Rangers with two strikeouts and no runs in one inning, drawing keen attention with his maximum speed of 99 mph (159.3 km). In the first game of the finals, which will be his last game this year, he also gave a strong impression by striking out eight in three innings.
