"0.093+16K hit rate." Surprised by Ryu Hyun-jin's control, why didn't he win 100 games? ..."Winning the first ball." It's more futile

Hanwha Eagles pitcher Moon Dong-ju (21) has been admiring and admiring the pitching of ace pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin (37) every day. This is because Ryu is the most ideal ball-control pitcher that pitchers think of as a pitcher. With the introduction of ABS (automatic ball judgment system) starting this year, different ball zones are arranged in different ball zones, and some say that a high ball judgment is a random chance, but Ryu sticks the ball in the borderline as if throwing a ball at an imaginary strike zone. This is why players of the Hanwha Eagles and its other teams, including Moon, keep their tongue down, saying, "It feels like watching a baseball game."

Ryu Hyun-jin also displayed his best pitching this season at the NC Dinos in Changwon on Tuesday. While holding out 98 pitches in seven innings, he had three hits (one homer) and two walks, eight strikeouts and three runs. Although his chance to win 100 games was far from perfect as his cutter's mistake and throw to Kim Sung-wook in the fourth inning became a come-from-behind three-run shot, the remaining 97 pitches were close to perfect. NC won the game 4-3 against Hanwha, with only three hits on the team. Had Kim Sung-wook missed one of Ryu's mistakes, NC would have lost no matter what.

Ryu Hyun-jin became a 180 degree different pitcher starting with the game against the Kiwoom Heroes in Gocheok on the 5th. In the first three games until the game against Kiwoom, he had only two losses, 14 innings and an ERA of 8.36. The batting average was very high at 0.359. Although he suffered a nine-hit in the game against Kiwoom, which collapsed due to nine runs, the batting average was high in the remaining two games.

However, after the game against Kiwoom, Ryu has become a pitcher who throws balls that few players can hit. He had one win in two games, recording 13 innings of ERA of 2.08. Notably, his batting average dropped sharply to 0.093. He posted a total of 16 strikeouts, displaying better strikeout capability than in the previous three games (11 strikeouts).

The change that Ryu himself revealed is changeup. If he had a hard time controlling his main weapon changeup in the previous three games, he corrected his changeup starting from the game against Kiwoom and became satisfied with the content of his pitches. "Changeup was a problem in Korea, but I'm satisfied because I think I threw and caught it differently. The grip was the same and he threw faster. He also had more speed than the previous game. As he went in a similar angle to fastball, he swung and missed many times.

In fact, in both games, Ryu Hyun-jin used his fastball and changeup at the same rate of more than 30 pitches, adjusting only the rest of the pitches, the cutter and curveball ratio.

Although he hit a home run to make Ryu Hyun-jin cry, Kim Sung-wook put his tongue on his first experience of control. "First of all, he kept throwing a lot of changeups on the outside at the first batter's box, so I definitely felt that he had good control. So I felt a little that I could play a little bit, so I thought that one mistake would come, but I think I didn't miss that one ball came as a mistake," Kim Sung-wook said.

Except for the at-bat that hit a home run, Kim could not hit Ryu's ball. He grounded out to shortstop for the first time in the second inning, and hit a double play for the pitcher for the last time in the seventh inning. "Players seemed to have focused a little on changeups and fastballs while sharing how the ball flew. Should I say this is confusing? I think the line between strike and ball was really confusing. The first pitch became a strike and the second pitch definitely came the same, but when I looked at the tablet, I felt that at least one ball was missing. I definitely felt that he was good at controlling the ball," Kim said.

Even before experiencing Ryu Hyun-jin's ball at bat, Park Kun-woo said, "I analyzed it, but I couldn't hit it. He seemed to throw it while looking at the borderline. When I was about to throw the ball, I could see the borderline. So, wasn't it because Yang Eui-ji, the top batter, was dumbfounded? In the past, I heard that there are cases where people throw slowly to induce a ground ball when there are no runners, but the previous game didn't have such a ball at all. Throwing 148km and 150km each made it different. The curve is really big, the cutter is good at changeups, and the body and the outside, so it's not easy." I was worried, but I managed to pick one walk in the last at-bat in the seventh inning.

The bigger problem was the Hanwha Eagles' ability to support the team's scoring ability. While NC's batters were barely trying to target Ryu, the Hanwha Eagles produced as many as 12 hits. Nevertheless, the Eagles scored only three runs. NC had only one base, while Hanwha had eight bases left. If the latter had reduced the base, Ryu could have achieved 100 wins, but in the end, only one of Ryu's mistakes was highlighted.

Lim Jeong-ho, who was the fourth pitcher of the NC Dinosaurs, threw just one ball and became the winning pitcher, making Ryu even more frustrated. In the top of the eighth inning, when Hanwha's Hwang Young-mook's timely hit tied the game 3-3. Lim took over Han Jae-seung's ball with two outs and a runner on the first base, ending the inning with Moon Hyun-bin's first pitch as a liner to shortstop.

The scoring scene in the bottom of the eighth inning made Hanwha even more frustrated. It was when Choi Jeong-won, the leadoff hitter, attempted a sacrifice bunt for the next batter, Kim Ju-won, after getting on base with a walk. Suddenly, Choi turned around the second base and went to the third base. While defending ahead against bunt, Hanwha third baseman Roh Si-hwan did not miss the gap that left the third base empty. With one out and third base on the ground, Park easily scored the finishing point by hitting a sacrifice fly to the center fielder. It was NC's victory in which Park scored one point without a hit. Thanks to this, Lim became the 25th winning pitcher in KBO history.

Choi Jung-won said, "I knew that Hanwha's defense has a lot of pressure defense. First of all, I liked (Kim) Ju-won's bunt. When I was running at second base, I saw that the third base was empty, so I thought to run boldly, and I'm glad that the score became an important point for my team to win. Coach Lee Jong-wook always asked me to run when I had a lot of thoughts. As I am a pinch hitter and a pinch runner, I think I should contribute to the situation as a specialist."

Ryu will take charge of the longest innings since his return to Korea and challenge himself to win 100 games again, leaving behind the disappointment of displaying good pitching. If there is no change in his starting rotation, he will take the mound as a starting pitcher at the upcoming match against the Wiz at the Suwon KT Wiz. It will be his second showdown with the KT Wiz this year.

BY: 스포츠토토

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