"Now I'm Covering Your Strength" SSG Special Trainer's Advice Realizes Value More Than 'Unfinished First Designated Submarine' Binding

*This content was translated by AI.

"I think your form is losing a lot of your strengths right now."

Kyung Heon-ho (49), the pitching coach who transformed the SSG Landers bullpen into the strongest in the league last year, carefully gave advice to the team's last first designated pitcher seeking to rebound this season. And Yoon Tae-hyun (23) has changed his mind and is stepping up preparations for the new season.

Yoon Tae-hyun pitched two strikeouts and no runs in one inning in the bottom of the eighth inning of a practice game against the Softbank Hawks in the second spring camp at Miyazaki Ivy Baseball Stadium in Japan on the 25th.

Yoon Tae-hyun, who struck out the first batter with three pitches, allowed one hit later, but ended the inning by groundballing and striking out subsequent batters. He showed aggressive pitches enough to throw nine strikes out of a total of 13 pitches and overwhelmed softbank batters with stable control without a walk even in the bases-loaded situation.

Given the expectations, this performance is not surprising at all. Yoon Tae-hyun is an underhand local boy who joined SSG as the last first pick of the 2022 rookie draft after going through Incheon High School.

However, he played only three games in the 2022 season, and since then, he has played only in the Futures League and failed to perform well and get a chance in the first team. Yoon Tae-hyun, who joined the active duty after the end of the 2023 season and fulfilled his military service obligations, was discharged from the military in May last year, but failed to fully improve his physical condition, leaving a regret.

For Yoon Tae-hyun, this spring camp is a turning point. No matter how high the expectation, the advice of a luxury pitcher trainer made Yoon Tae-hyun change at a time when he cannot even make the first team and will inevitably grow if he fails to instill a possibility.

At the Kagoshima closing camp after the end of last season, coach Kyung Heon-ho carefully talked about Yoon Tae-hyun's pitching balance. He said, "The way you are at the moment is covering up your own strengths. "Why don't you look for the feeling of the best time again?" he advised.

For Yoon Tae-hyun, who made changes to add strength to the ball before joining the army, it was an important decision to re-check his pitching mechanism. In addition, in the second half of the Florida camp, he accepted the coaching staff's proposal and began to return to his original sense of pitching well in high school and early rookies. As the original strength was maximized, the movement of the ball was revived, and the unique control of the ball was added to regain its best appearance.

Yoon Tae-hyun is also very satisfied. According to the club, Yoon Tae-hyun said, "First of all, it's good because I think I got the first step well. I was worried because I allowed some hits during the U.S. camp live pitching, but this time, I just thought that I would throw low and induce a ground ball (double play) as there was a runner," he said. "So I held it with my hands wider than my usual fastball grip, and there was a good result as it fell a little more." I felt good from the time I warmed up in the bullpen. I think it's better to change the form, and as a result, I think my control is getting better little by little," he said.

It is returning to the feeling of high school days when it received the first nomination from SSG. "I prepared to find the best feeling I had in high school and when I was a rookie as much as I could. Coach Kyung Heon-ho suggested a change from last year's closing camp, but I had a problem with the idea that I should start from scratch," he said. "Even after coming to the U.S., the coach recommended again, 'Your form seems to disappear a lot of your own strengths,' and the coach said the same thing, so I decided to think about it. From the second half of the Florida camp, I focused on reviving the feeling of the best times. When I liked it, I kept watching videos and did a lot of balance exercises. It's not perfect yet, about 60-70%, but I think I'm looking for it little by little," he said.

I am gaining more confidence through the reactions of batters. The movement of the ball has become sharper and I feel that it cannot respond easily compared to the past. "Since the fastball is moving at the end, there are a lot of swings and misses," he explained.

It was confirmed that fastball, who wriggled while facing tricky Japanese batters, worked. "The pitchers who went out earlier told me that the opposing team (Softbank) hitters seem to be coming in for a fastball. So my strength is the fastball, but I thought it had a movement, so I held it with a little more grip to give it a little more movement. It had a good result," he said.

Although he has a clear goal of starting in the long run, his top goal is to survive in the first team right now. "Whether it's a bullpen or a starter, I want to go to as many games as possible and pitch that the team and fans can have faith in," Yoon Tae-hyun said, "I will prepare step by step without rushing and show good performance throughout the season."

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*This content was translated by AI.