Veteran infielder Hwang Jae-kyun (37) of the KT Wiz in professional baseball suffered a severe slump early this season.
He fell into a deep hole as he failed to adapt to the automatic pitching determination system (ABS) introduced in professional baseball.
His batting average for the month of March was 0.172 and ranked 63rd out of 73 KBO league hitters who met the regulation.
Hwang Jae-gyun also expressed strong dissatisfaction with ABS in frustration. 먹튀검증
He was sent off after throwing his helmet when a low fastball was ruled a strike in an away game against SSG Landers on April 26, and later raised his voice in an interview, saying, “A ball that cannot be hit becomes a strike.”
The gaze around him was not good.
There were more voices blaming Hwang Jae-gyun for failing to adapt to the system than the problem of the system.
Hwang Jae-gyun was under extreme stress.
Hwang Jae-gyun said, “At that time, I couldn’t control myself properly,” adding, “I was so stressed that I even swung wildly.”
Hwang Jae-gyun was helped by the KT data analysis team.
“Data team officials helped me a lot,” he said. “When I looked at the data, the swing ratio of the ball flying outside the ABS strike zone was ridiculously high. Since then, I have given up on the ball crossing the strike zone.”
He erased the consciousness of ABS that had been filled in his head.
I focused on the ball that I could attack without thinking complicatedly.
He also reduced the amount of training he did. Instead, he focused on basic training such as weight training. It was a tactic to reduce stress related to hitting.
The performance improved little by little.
Since the end of July, he has produced hits with tremendous momentum.
Hwang Jae-gyun continued his multi-hit (more than two hits per game) streak for four consecutive games since the match against the Samsung Lions on July 27, and made four hits each against the NC Dinos on the 2nd and the KIA Tigers on the 7th.
In the game against Kiwoom on the 22nd, he hit his 10th home run of the season that determines the outcome.
He fired a high slider against Kiwoom’s second pitcher Kim Sun-ki with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning when he faced 2-2 and exploded a solo shot that hit the left pole.
KT beat Kiwoom 3-2 with this home run.
Hwang Jae-gyun went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, and his batting average was 0.337 since July 20.
“These days, I feel a lot that the hitting has revived,” he said, vowing to “do my best to perform better.”
