"The second Goo Chang-mo" is coming up! Jung Koo-beom, who has become stronger in the JSA, has good pitching → MVP... "Promise to put your health first"

*This content was translated by AI.

NC Dinos' sore finger Jung Koo-beom (26) is raising expectations as a secret weapon this season.

Jung Koo-beom pitched in the bottom of the eighth inning as the third pitcher of the Blue and White team in NC's Blue and White match at Tucson Enex Field in Arizona on the 23rd (Korea time) and pitched 25 pitches in two innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts.

The maximum speed of the fastball was 141 kilometers per hour. Jung Koo-beom, who grounded out Ko Joon-hwi to shortstop in the bottom of the eighth inning, was hit by a double by Yoon Joon-hyuk, but he finished the eighth inning by dealing with Lee Hee-sung and Hong Jong-pyo consecutively.

The ninth inning was more perfect. After striking out Kim Han-byeol and Ko Seung-wan in a row, he gave up a walk to Shin Jae-hwan, but he grounded out Kwon Hee-dong to second base to tie the game with his team's 6-1 victory.

Jung Koo-beom is one of the young pitchers NC is paying attention to in this camp. Jung Koo-beom, who went through Deoksu High School, wore an NC uniform as the No. 1 overall pick in the second round of the 2020 rookie draft, but was hampered by injuries. He couldn't throw the ball properly for three years after joining the team due to shoulder pain, and eventually headed to the military as an active duty soldier after the 2023 season.

Jeong Gu-beom, who was deployed to the Joint Security Area Gyeonggi Battalion (JSA), also known for his films, had an unusual experience working at the Panmunjom conference hall, which was only seen in movies and news. Although the training time was inevitably low, he exercised hard and increased 6-7kg.

There were many injuries and he went to the army without playing in the first team properly, so his desperation for baseball grew even more. Jung Koo-beom, who met with reporters before leaving the spring camp earlier, said, "There were minor injuries before I went to the military, so I thought it would be better for me to play baseball only when I quickly solve the military problem," adding, "Rather than organizing my thoughts in the military, I've been away from baseball for the first time in a long time and doing something different, so I've missed and been desperate for baseball."

He was chosen by director Lee Ho-joon. Coach Lee Ho-joon picked Jung Koo-beom as one of the five starting candidates. Jeong Gu-beom puts health as his top priority. It reminds me of Koo Chang-mo, a senior member of the team. Chung Koo-beom is also said to have enough of those qualities. Koo Chang-mo, who suffered from frequent injuries, also gives a lot of advice to Jung Gu-beom and shows special affection.

I am gradually building up my body in the camp. According to NC, Jung Koo-beom said, "Today's game actively tried to make strikes against batters, and tried to manage the game by paying more attention to commands," adding, "I still feel that I am in the process of fully raising my sense of play because it was my second game after returning from military service." Rather than having any particular differences, we are focusing more on the details to regain our old senses as soon as possible," he said.

The idea is to maximize the advantages. "We are particularly focusing on finding a sense of stability in ball control and course targeting, which I think is my strength," said Jung Gu-beom. At the end of the game, there was a scene that was somewhat disappointing physically, but I don't think the overall flow and direction were bad, he said. "The goal is to finish the camp well by raising the pace step by step while putting health first above all else in the future." We will continue to prepare for the season with better performance, he stressed.

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*This content was translated by AI.