baseball manager-pitcher

▲ This file photo provided by the LG Twins on April 8, 2023, shows the team's reliever Jung Woo-young during a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game against the Samsung Lions at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

baseball manager-pitcher

LG Twins manager pushing struggling reliever to keep evolving

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- Once a struggling reserve with questionable work ethic himself, LG Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb knows firsthand what can happen to players if they get too complacent.

He doesn't want that to happen to one of his prized relievers, Jung Woo-young, who is working on adding a new pitch to his arsenal as he looks to get out of an early-season funk.

"Once you stop trying to evolve, that's when you start taking steps back," Youm told reporters before the Twins hosted the SSG Landers at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Thursday. It is the rubber match of the three-game set between the two best clubs in the Korea Baseball Organization this year.

"He is working on a changeup that is like a variant of a splitter," Youm said. "The grip is similar to his two-seam fastball, so he should be able to learn it relatively quickly. He has to start throwing that in real games and get knocked around a bit before he can get better."

Over his five-year career, the 2019 Rookie of the Year has been relying exclusively on his two-seamers and sliders. Last year, for instance, the sidearm pitcher threw his two-seam fastball 90.3 percent of the time and used the slider for the rest.

He has lost a little zip on both pitches this year, though, and he has already given up 10 runs -- five unearned -- on 12 hits in nine innings so far, compared with 18 runs in 58 innings all of last year. He has an unsightly 5.00 ERA over his 11 outings. On Sunday against the Hanwha Eagles, Jung gave up three runs on three hits and failed to record an out.

Youm held Jung out of the first two games of this Landers series, as the pitcher continued to work on his new pitch in the bullpen. Jung is available Thursday, the manager said.

"We're also getting him to work on a curveball and a four-seam fastball," Youm said.

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