“Fireballer” Moon Dong-ju (21) of the Hanwha Eagles suffered from severe slump in the first half of the season. He had a hard time as he played in the second division twice, with three wins and six losses and an earned run average of 6.92 in 13 games. His average fastball speed decreased slightly compared to last year, and his ball control was shaky, continuing to hit him in a monotonous pitching pattern.
However, the team made a perfect comeback in the second half of the year as if it never happened. By displaying robust pitching in eight games with four wins and one loss and an earned run average of 2.60, he is spearheading Hanwha’s advance to the fifth round. Moon, who already has seven wins (seven losses) in this season, has lowered his earned run average to 5.17. He ranks third in ERA among 25 pitchers in the second half of the season, shining up the top among Korean pitchers.
Moon Dong-ju’s pitch, which changed against Doosan in Daejeon on the 3rd, was properly seen. He was absolutely weak with three losses and an 18.56 ERA in three games against Doosan earlier, but he avenged himself with four hits, one walk, eight strikeouts and one run in six innings, leading Hanwha to a 7-1 victory. 메이저놀이터
Kang Seung-ho, Heo Kyung-min and Lee Yoo-chan allowed one run after three consecutive hits in the fifth inning with one out, but missed balls fell where no fielders were present. Moon Dong-ju, who struck out Cho and Jung Soo-bin in succession with one out and runners on the first and second bases, finished his duty with 84 pitches until the sixth inning. He threw a mix of sliders (19), curves, and fork balls (12 pitches), centering on powerful fastballs (41), which were up to 160 kilometers per hour and average 154 kilometers per hour based on the track man.
In the second inning, his fourth fastball against Kang measured 160.1 kilometers per hour. This was the fastest ball thrown by Moon Dong-ju this season based on the track man. He pitched fastball in the first half of the year, but his pitching performance was not as good as it is now. “I controlled my ball well to where I wanted to be, and displayed good performance in the count,” Moon said after the game. His fastball pitching got better. “The part that I thought I needed to improve the most was my fastball pitching, but as I got better at it, I got help from other breaking balls as well.”
The movement of folk balls that were newly introduced since August is also getting better. In the beginning, players threw folk balls in a way that shows one or two, but in the recent two games, the ratio has increased significantly with 14 and 12 pitches, respectively. Four of the eight strikeouts that Doosan had on the day were folk balls. Left-handed hitters including Jeong Su-bin, Kim Jae-hwan and Cho Ha-sung were fooled by Moon Dong-ju’s folk balls and struck out swinging. Jeong was defeated twice.
Moon Dong-ju, who threw folk balls in high school but sealed them when he came to the professional league due to nail problems, said, “I talked about folk balls with coach Park Seung-min since the first half of the year. I didn’t intend to throw folk balls this year, but as I practiced, I thought I wanted to throw them once or twice at games. As that idea was put into practice, good results came out, and as a result, the frequency of folk balls is increasing.”
Indeed, his pitching repertoire has diversified. Moon, who mainly threw fastballs, sliders and curves, had only high speed fastballs and sliders to attract batters. On days when he couldn’t control the curve, he was actually two-pitch, but when he was equipped with a fork ball, his aim became complicated.
However, Moon stressed that the reason for the rebound in the second half was the ball power of fastballs rather than folk balls. “Fork balls probably improved in the second half, but that’s not the answer. The biggest reason for this is that I gained fastball power more than folk balls,” he said, referring to the recovery of his scapular condition.
“Actually, my back was in a bad condition. There is no other reason than that,” Moon said. “My shoulder blade was not in perfect condition, but as I got better, I think I recovered my ball power.” The shoulder blade refers to the shoulder blade located under the collarbone, which is a part called the wing bone. It was not painful enough to throw the ball, but he had discomfort in his shoulder blade, and failed to display the best ball power, affecting his arm swing and pitch balance.
Even when he was sluggish in the first half, Moon did not make an excuse for his shoulder blades, but he was aware of the problem internally. With additional pitching possible in the first half of the year, Moon was excluded from the first division entry in late June, giving him time to recover. At the time, head coach Kim Kyung-moon said, “I hope all-stars come back healthy after the break.” This was the reason why.
Manager Kim Kyung-moon, who pushed Moon Dong-ju to the game on the 3rd despite the weakness against Doosan, said, “Dong-ju has more weight on the mound than before. He keeps throwing his ball these days, and the content is good.” “I can’t feel it myself,” Moon Dong-ju, who also found confidence along with fastball pitching, said about the weight that has changed on the mound. “I think fielders and batters who look at me will feel it when I’m on the mound. Unlike the first half of the year, the pitching that was good with good energy continues, so I think I’m getting confident in my actions without realizing it.”
