“A pitch is honestly a batted ball, and it’s a little embarrassing.”
LG Twins reliever Kim Jin-sung, 39, has had an unusually twisty baseball career. He has been released three times. He was drafted by the SK Wyverns (now SSG) in the sixth round (42nd overall) in 2004 after graduating from Seongnam High School, but was released in 2006 without a chance to pitch in the first team. After completing his military service, he tried out for the Nexen Heroes (now Kiwoom) in 2010 and joined the organization as a developmental player, but was released a second time without ever taking the mound for the first team.
Jin-sung Kim wore his third professional uniform in 2011, when he was selected by the NC Dinos in a tryout organized by the upstart team. Over the course of nine seasons from 2013 to 2021, he appeared in 470 games, compiling 32 wins, 67 holds, 34 saves, 494⅔ innings pitched, and a 4.57 ERA as a key part of the NC bullpen. He has been with the organization since its inception and is often referred to as its “founding father,” but after the 2021 season, the organization cleared out a number of veterans, and Kim was placed on the release list.
LG is the club that grasped the outstretched hand of Kim, who is in his late 30s, to save him from the brink of retirement. After being notified of his third release, Kim called all nine clubs except NC, and was able to secure a contract from LG, which needed to bolster its bullpen. He has been with Jamsil since 2022 and is now in his third year.
The longer he’s been with LG, the better he’s been performing. In 2022, he had 67 games, six wins, 12 saves, 58 innings, and a 3.10 ERA; last year, he had 80 games, five wins, four saves, 21 saves, 70⅓ innings, and a 2.18 ERA. This year, he has been a solid anchor in the middle of the LG bullpen. In 25 games, he has one win, one save, 10 holds, 24⅓ innings pitched, and a 1.85 ERA.
Against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on April 23, Kim repaid the bench’s faith in him by coming in when the team needed him most. Leading 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, when starter Lim Chan-kyu’s fastball faltered sharply and left the bases loaded, and he gave up a wild pitch to Kim Kang-min to cut the deficit to 5-2, LG turned to Lee Woo-chan. Lee gave up a pushing double to Choi Jae-hoon in the first inning and another when Lee Do-yoon grounded out to shortstop to make it 5-4. With runners on second and third, LG brought in Kim Jin-sung. He walked the first batter, Park Sang-un, but quickly retired the next batter, Kim Tae-yeon, on a grounder to second base.
Kim stayed on the mound until the seventh inning. He got leadoff hitter Choi In-ho to fly out to center field and gave up a single to Noh Si-hwan in left field, but he was out of trouble. He retired Hanwha center fielder Ahn Chi-hong and Chae Eun-sung on a foul fly to third base and a 사설토토 swinging strikeout, respectively, to complete his 1 1/3 innings of 23 pitches, one hit, one walk and one strikeout. Kim reached 10 holds for the third straight year and 110 for his career, and LG snapped a three-game losing streak with the 8-4 victory.
Against Hanwha in Daejeon on April 22, Kim had to pitch 1⅔ innings as the second pitcher after starter Dietrick Enns was pulled after just 4⅓ innings. “It was a little tough today,” Kim said of pitching multiple innings for the second straight day, “but I had to come out as a senior in a tough situation and show why the team needs seniority. So I think I pitched with a little more focus.”
As for handling crunch time, he said, “Ever since I was in NC, when you’re in a bases-loaded situation, something just comes out of your chest. I think about the faces of the younger guys a lot these days. When I’m on the mound, I think of (Im) Chanyu’s face, and (Lee) Chan-yi’s face is also on my mind a lot these days. Normally, I don’t think about it, but lately, I’ve been thinking about it a lot because I’ve been concentrating a little bit more and throwing harder for the juniors and trying to block them,” he said.
There’s no special recipe for crunch time. He just goes in with the intention of striking out. “I try to get strikeouts. I’m not going to get a strikeout anyway, but when you go to the mound with the mindset of getting a strikeout, you can’t help but focus. It’s not like, ‘I’m the No. 4 hitter, what am I going to do?’ It’s more like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to strike out. I’m going to strike out every single one of you,” he emphasized.
“I think the results are good because I’m more focused. Honestly, my pitches are batted balls. I look at the middle of the plate and 온라인카지노사이트 just throw a 140-mph ball, but I’ve been focusing a little bit more and going in with confidence, and it’s paid off. It’s actually a little embarrassing. I’m a little embarrassed because I’m throwing 140 kilometers and I’m throwing it in the middle, and I’m thinking about what the batsmen are going to think of me,” he said humbly.
This mindset is often shared with his juniors when they ask. “I tend to talk to my juniors if they approach me first. If I talk to them first in a difficult situation, I’m just nagging them. Rather, I am cautious. When I was warming up today (23), (Yoo) Young-chan asked me once, ‘You’re the closer, why do you keep trying to win with a changeup when you’re throwing a ball over 150 kilometers per hour. You’re the pride of the team, so don’t ever let him see you running away. “But I said, ‘You can’t be the first one to say, ’You have to do this.
He shook his head when asked if he was leading the bullpen by himself. “No, I don’t. I have a lot of good defenders behind me, so I trust them. It’s not just me. I’m throwing confidently because I have a lot of good defenders behind me,” he said, vowing to continue contributing to the team’s victories.