Professional baseball player Im Chan-kyu (33) of the LG Twins wiped his surprised heart at an absurdly low speed.

On the 1st, Im Chan-kyu started in a practice game against the Samsung Lions at Akama Stadium in Okinawa, Japan, recording 2 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 Samjin while keeping a scoreless record.

After allowing a hit to leadoff batter Kim Ji-chan in the bottom of the first, Im Chan-kyu struck out Kim Hun-gon but walked Koo Ja-wook, putting him in a 1 out, 1st and 2nd base dilemma. He induced a 3-4-3 double play against Lewin Diaz, escaping the crisis without a run. In the second inning, he neatly retired the Samsung lineup of Kang Min-ho, Lee Jae-hyun, and Cha Seung-jun in order. In the third inning, with LG leading 1-0, he was replaced by Song Seung-ki, finishing his appearance for the day. LG won decisively with a score of 5-0.

Im Chan-kyu threw 28 pitches, utilizing fastballs, sliders, curves, and changeups. His maximum fastball speed reached 142 km/h, while his average speed recorded was 138 km/h.

After finishing his appearance, Im Chan-kyu noted, "I was a bit unstable in the first inning since it had been a while since I played. The mound is different from the one in Korea, so I faced some difficulties, but I think I managed it relatively well overall. I threw with the same feel as during the season, and the ball tended to slip a bit to the right, but I corrected just that and finished well."

In the 1 out, 1st and 2nd base crisis in the first inning, Im Chan-kyu, who induced a 3-4-3 double play against Diaz, responded to the question of whether the final pitch was a fastball or changeup, saying, "It was a fastball. I threw it the hardest." When he mentioned that the speed displayed on the scoreboard was only 134 km/h, he added, "The scoreboard at this stadium shows speeds about 4-5 km lower."

"I was also surprised," said Im Chan-kyu. "I threw the first pitch, and it only came out at 136 km/h. I thought I hadn’t prepared my body well this year, but the performance analysis team noted it reached up to 142 km/h, so I guess my condition is okay." He continued, "Speed is important, but if it doesn't show, it doesn't matter. Even if it goes up by 1-2 km, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm pitching well."

Im Chan-kyu also threw an 82 km curveball that day, saying, "At that point, I really felt that the scoreboard speed was low." He laughed, adding, "I had never thrown a pitch as low as 82 km before. My minimum is generally around 89-91 km. But since it showed 82 km, I took comfort in the fact that (the scoreboard speed is low) and moved on."

Testing his slider in the practice match in Okinawa, Im Chan-kyu said, "During the season, I mix different pitches, but this time I wanted to practice more, so I threw sliders consecutively in Kang Min-ho's at-bat. I aimed to throw the slider lower, but it went into the strike zone and was contacted. Thankfully, it hit the tip of the bat and resulted in an out. The movement of the ball seemed good. (Park) Dong-won also said it was good. I think it will be fine once I can throw to the desired location."

"I need to gauge how much average speed I'm throwing and at what timing to use it. I was trying to use it a lot against left-handed batters, but mixing it with the curve could also work well with high sliders against right-handers. Since the value of the pitch type itself is not high, I often used the timing of throwing sliders in conjunction with curves or changeups during the season. Now, since it's a practice game and there won't be situations to try it out soon, I plan to gradually increase the frequency," he explained. He added, "I've been investing a lot of time in the slider, but it's really difficult. Ultimately, the goal is to get batters out, so I hope the slider gets a bit better to help me get batters out more effectively. That's all I need."

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