My ball is slow? Up to 151km of fastball → right-handed batters and full sweeper...Davison's confidence proved in practice [

Mar 02, 2025

My ball is slow? Up to 151km of fastball → right-handed batters and full sweeper...Davison's confidence proved in practice
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants



My ball is slow? Up to 151km of fastball → right-handed batters and full sweeper...Davison's confidence proved in practice
Davidson for the interview. Reporter Kim Young-rok
My ball is slow? Up to 151km of fastball → right-handed batters and full sweeper...Davison's confidence proved in practice
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants
"It came 149km yesterday in live pitching. If the weather gets hotter, the speed will rise further."

This is the confidence of Tucker Davidson (Lotte Giants) when they met in the spring camp. Davison is proving his fastball through repeated practice.

Davison pitched three scoreless innings against the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Miyazaki World Cup on the 1st.




It was not a perfect match. He allowed six on-base hits (three hits and three walks) and faced a crisis with two outs in the first inning. In the second inning, the first batter hit a double.

Still, there was no loss. Lotte lost 3-4 following the exchange match (1-3 loss) the previous day, but Lotte expressed hope for the new season by playing an equal game in pitching and hitting.

In particular, what stood out more than the crisis management ability was the powerful fastball that penetrated every corner of the zone.




My ball is slow? Up to 151km of fastball → right-handed batters and full sweeper...Davison's confidence proved in practice
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants
Initially, Davison was known in Korea as a pitcher with a 'changing ball and ball control center'. At the time of recruitment, Lotte introduced "Hide movements (deception) are good and have the ability to throw various pitches such as fastballs, sliders, curves, and splitters." The focus was on the fact that he was a "traditional starter" enough to exceed 600 innings in the minor league. Recently, attention has also been paid to the fact that the fastball speed has decreased compared to the past.

However, Davison, who met him in person at the camp site, had a different idea. He cited sweeper and slider (Davidson himself explained that a fast slider is close to a cut fastball) as his main weapons, but he did not hide his confidence in his fastball.

"Recently shot 148, 149 km in live pitching. be in very good shape. "If the weather gets hotter, the fastball speed will go up a little more..." he said. "Please watch Miyazaki (Guchun League). I'm looking forward to it personally," he said with a big smile.




My ball is slow? Up to 151km of fastball → right-handed batters and full sweeper...Davison's confidence proved in practice
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants
He is proving his confidence in practice. In his first appearance in the Guchun League, during the match against the Seibu Lions, he struggled somewhat with the referee's zone, not the ABS (automatic ball determination system), and added up to 148 kilometers of fastball with elaborate control.

In the match against Chiba Lotte, the maximum fastball speed rose to 151km. He added a sweeper with a large angle to the two types of sliders, and even made longitudinal changes with curves and fork balls. Davison's control in the third inning seemed to be good enough to play in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as well as Korea.

In particular, the utilization of sliders and sweepers was outstanding. Left-handers in the KBO League focus on the outer zone far from the batter by using splitter lines such as sliders for left-handed hitters and changeups for right-handed hitters. The body is mainly a fastball.

My ball is slow? Up to 151km of fastball → right-handed batters and full sweeper...Davison's confidence proved in practice
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants
Last year, Barnes' class-up was in a pitch that broke prejudice by changing up to left-handed hitters and often using sliders to right-handed hitters. It wasn't just a matter of unfamiliarity, but it was a decision made by Barnes, who was so confident in ball control and control.

On the same day, Davison was also impressive in using the sweeper as a decisive ball to both left and right hitters in addition to the fastball targeting both sides of the zone.

Davison is a replacement for Aaron Wilkerson, who finished second in the league in last year's WAR (contributions to victory over substitute players). Wilkerson never skipped the starting rotation from the opening to the end of the season with his outstanding hand fight and sophisticated control, and was responsible for 196 ⅔ innings.

Davison is expected to play a solid first-choice role based on his stronger pitching. So far, he has shown as much solid ability as his confidence.

My ball is slow? Up to 151km of fastball → right-handed batters and full sweeper...Davison's confidence proved in practice
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants




This article was translated by Naver AI translator.