There is a pitcher to watch in the SSG Landers. The protagonist is right-handed Jeon Young-jun (22), who joined the team in 2022.
Jeon Young-jun graduated from Daegu High School and was drafted by SSG in the second round, 9th pick (overall 82nd) in 2022. At that time, SSG had high hopes for Jeon Young-jun's potential. He is a sturdy pitcher standing at 190 cm, throwing heavy balls.
He quickly made his mark on the first team. After joining the team, he pitched in relief on May 28 against the KIA Tigers and took the mound as a substitute starter on June 12. In his first season, he appeared in four games. Two additional seasons have since passed.
Now in his fourth year as a professional, Jeon Young-jun has grown a step. In the meantime, he has completed his military service, having served in the Military Athletic Corps (Sangmu). This year, he also participated in a training camp in Florida, USA, preparing for the new season.
Although he has suffered injuries such as a hamstring issue, he has overcome them well. He is diligently working on his fitness in Ganghwado. He is gradually improving his condition while playing in Gyeonggi Province. He has reached a level where he could immediately join the first team.
Park Jeong-kwon, the second-team coach, said, "He is a pitcher who can join the first team right away. His pace was not at its best when he returned from the camp in the U.S.," adding, "He has been improving gradually since the first team camp. After the season started, he pitched, and his velocity is increasing."
Furthermore, Coach Park praised him, saying, "He has good stuff and a relatively long extension. From the perspective of opposing hitters, it creates an advantage by making the distance to the pitcher feel shorter. It causes hitters' bats to become late. He is a pitcher who can be immediately inserted when needed in the first team. If he can keep his control low, he will be a really challenging pitcher."
Jeon Young-jun is honing his skills by pitching longer in the Futures League. Among those performances, he showed his best pitching of the year on March 22. It was a game against Doosan's second team in the Futures League, during which he recorded two earned runs over six innings.
Then, on the 28th against Goyang, he pitched five innings with one earned run. During the first three innings, he aggressively targeted the strike zone with early counts, showing good pitch count management.
The second-team coaching staff noted, "There was a decline in velocity after 40 pitches, but even after 70 pitches, he showed ideal vertical movement (59 cm) without any reduction in velocity or stuff, which is a significant achievement in alleviating concerns about his pitching endurance," they observed positively, adding, "Both left and right-handed batters faced a high proportion of sliders, and his slider control was better than his fastball, making it effective as a pitch for counts and decisive situations."
Moreover, they said, "Compared to his previous game, his release height has improved by 6-8 cm. The improved release height leads to an increase in fastball quality and greater drop on his forkball. He possesses an extension of over 2 meters and an average vertical movement of over 50 cm, making his fastball formidable despite being in the low 140 km range."
In the game against Goyang, even after throwing 80 pitches in the fifth inning, his velocity, vertical movement, and arm height were maintained, dispelling concerns about the velocity drop he showed in his first game. There were even positive results indicating an increase in velocity after 80 pitches.
Jeon Young-jun, a pitcher who is garnering a lot of expectations, is passionately playing baseball. Having experienced painful times, he has worked diligently on his physique. He no longer has to worry about military service. What remains is the baseball he wants to show.
[OSEN]