Foreigner Park Jung-jin's pitching form that looks like he's going to fall while throwing, and if he can control the 160km fastball

May 20, 2025

Foreigner Park Jung-jin's pitching form that looks like he's going to fall while throwing, and if he can control the 160km fastball
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants



I think I've seen this before...

Lotte Giants' new foreign pitcher Gamboa is a hot topic. Lotte Uniforms on behalf of Barnes, a 'long-lived foreigner'. The team's performance is so good that there is a great interest in Lotte baseball, and a player who can be the last puzzle piece of the championship challenge beyond fall baseball has come, so it cannot help but be an issue. Park Se-woong's pace is so good, and Davison is also pitching well, so if Gamboa bursts, Lotte's chances of a top-tier fight could be very high.

First of all, the signs don't look bad. Left-hander, famous for throwing fast balls. And when he actually entered Korea, he threw a fastball of well over 150 kilometers from bullpen pitching without properly adjusting to the time difference. Lotte fans cannot help but be excited because the player himself said he would challenge the 160km.




There are many videos of throwing balls in the U.S. You can tell at once that the ball is really good. Fastballs are fast and various breaking balls such as sliders, curves, and changeups are thrown.

Foreigner Park Jung-jin's pitching form that looks like he's going to fall while throwing, and if he can control the 160km fastball
The NC-KT match held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 9th. Starting pitcher KT Heyesus is pitching. Suwon = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.4.9/
The most unusual thing is the pitching form. It doesn't feel authentic. It feels kind of rough, but here the body leans slightly from the central axis to the right. Then, he uses his whole body and shoulders and sprays the ball wildly. When the batter looked at it, it was a form that could feel very daunting. Would it be an explanation if Heysus, who plays for KT Wiz, leans 45 degrees and throws it.

If you look for a more similar example, you can think of Park Jung-jin, a left-hander who played for the now-retired Hanwha Eagles. Park Jung-jin was also the type of throwing fastballs with all his body in a slightly bent position.




Foreigner Park Jung-jin's pitching form that looks like he's going to fall while throwing, and if he can control the 160km fastball
Sportschosun DB
What is more important than anyone else is how to deal with the fastball in the mid-150km range from this strange (?) pitching form that batters feel unfamiliar to anyway. It's hard to hit even a fast ball from an ordinary form, but if the form is weird, hitters have no choice but to get the timing right.

In the end, the key is control. No matter how many players are good at baseball, there is a reason why a pitcher who sprays a ball close to 160km to the left-hander only moves around in the minor leagues. It can be inferred that there was a problem with the control. In fact, there were many such evaluations. The foam itself is not a form that can be precisely controlled.

Foreigner Park Jung-jin's pitching form that looks like he's going to fall while throwing, and if he can control the 160km fastball
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants
However, as mentioned above, it also means that if that ball is controlled to some extent, it can be a scary harness. Heysus is a good example. Heysus is not a pitcher with a good control. However, he is considered to be a player who benefited a lot from ABS after coming to Korea for the first time last year. It is a case where the ball to the outer corner of the zone, which would be a ball for a human referee, is caught with a strike and the power is added. Heysus also said during his time in Kiwoom Heroes, `Rather than trying to throw accurately with a target, I pitch with the mind of throwing the zone a little wide and throwing it hard.'




Will Gamboa bring hope to Lotte as a left-hander of 'Unheated', or will he be remembered as a foreign player who only plays fast. I'm already so curious about the ending.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.