“I felt that I was a frog in the well.”
Won Tae-in (23), the native ace of the Samsung Lions, moved to the United States at the end of December last year. With the help of Audrey Samer Despine, who had played for kt Wiz until last season, she worked hard in the United States for about a month with So Joon So and Young Pyo Ko.
Since I had to go to the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), I improved my condition faster than usual, and started pitching in the bullpen early. Since he trained in a warm area, he could feel his condition improving quickly.
Won Tae-in also got a valuable opportunity. Aruldis Chapman, who played for the New York Yankees, and Sandy Alcantara (Miami), the unanimous winner of the National League Cy Young Award last year, could see training and pitching from the side. It was an experience money couldn’t buy.
Won Tae-in arrived in Korea at dawn on the 28th after training for about a month in the United States. And two days later, on the 30th, he came to Incheon International Airport again to depart for Okinawa, Japan, where his team Samsung Spring Camp was set up.
Won Tae-in, who met with reporters before leaving the country, said, “I came back from feeling a lot in the United States. He felt that he was a frog in a well. So I think he trained harder.”
He continued, “Everything was satisfactory training. Apparently the weather was nice. Prepared without risk of injury. Also, weren’t Hyung-jun and Young-pyo the top 3 players in the domestic selection last season? I felt a lot,” he added.
As mentioned above, just watching major leaguers training and pitching was a great learning for Won Tae-in.
Won Tae-in said, “It is a great experience just to train with major league pitchers and receive the ball. He told me about the bad parts while training together, and he told me again. I felt that in the last week of training. He had it grafted on his pitch for about a week, and it felt good. I’m quite looking forward to it,” he smiles.
Won Tae-in played 27 games last season and recorded an average ERA of 3.92 with 10 wins and 8 losses. Although he recorded 10 wins for the second year in a row, something was missing by 2%. Most of all, I recorded 3.70 in the first half, but the part where the average ERA went over to 4.19 in the second half is a pity for the team and personally.
Won Tae-in said, “Coach Jung Hyun-wook called me. He said, ‘This year is an important year for you, so let’s try to build a good body. I hope I can show a good image until the end.” He needs to get a lot of exercise,” he said.
Then he said, “Last year and the year before last, I thought that way, but it doesn’t seem like it was good just because I was taking a break. He trained intensely in the off-season. This time, I trained 6 days a week, excluding Sundays. I thought that if you train with an increased intensity, you will have the strength to endure even if your stamina drops during the season.” 메이저놀이터
The pitching form is also slightly changed. It’s not a concept that changes and fixes big. I want to remove only the bad parts from my existing pitching form.
Won Tae-in said, “I’m trying to get rid of bad habits. I am thinking simply. A pitcher is a sensitive position. Even if the head wants to change the pitching form, there are times when the body refuses. I am trying to break my bad habits.”
He received a lot of help from Go Young-pyo and So-young Joon by his side.
He said, “I did a lot of training to sharpen my speed-up or breaking ball. Youngpyo hyung and Hyeongjunie helped me a lot. Since there was nothing to do in the US, we only talked about baseball for 2-3 hours. It was very helpful to play catch while giving each other feedback.”
How about the 2023 season of Won Tae-in, who came back from feeling a lot in the United States?