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The Art of Slow? Now an Innings Eater! Second-year hopeful, first QS perfect game of the season!
'The aesthetics of slowness'. These are the words that describe Yoon Young-cheol (20), a second-year pitcher for the Kia Tigers.
Yoon's average fastball is only around 140 kilometers. In the era of fastball pitchers that exceed 150 kilometers, the second-year pitcher's velocity seems slower than normal.
However, Yoon's razor-sharp delivery, which is rare among fastball pitchers, helped him win eight games in his rookie year. In addition to his fastball, Yoon has a wide variety of pitches, including curveballs, sliders, changeups, and cutters. His ability to stay calm and not falter at any point in the game has earned him another nickname, “the old man.
One of Yoon's weaknesses has been his ability to stay in the innings. Although he has the ability to locate his pitches near the strike zone, his slower pitches are often taken advantage of by hitters, and his natural pitch count naturally increases, making it difficult for him to complete innings. “My velocity will come naturally as I gain experience,” Yoon said, making it clear that he would focus on his strengths.
Against the Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes on April 24, Yoon proved his innings of durability by utilizing his strengths of pitching and game management.
Yoon started the game with a walk to leadoff hitter Lee Yong-kyu in the top of the first inning, but Dawson and Song Sung-moon popped out, and catcher Kim Tae-goon prevented Lee from stealing, saving his pitch count. In the second inning, a walk and a single threatened to put runners on the corners, but Kim Hwi-jip got out of the jam with a strikeout. After giving up the first run in the bottom of the third inning, she gave up another hit and was in danger of giving up another run, but she remained steady and got the final out. From the fourth through the sixth innings, he faced 10 batters and issued just one walk while piling up outs to complete a quality start (6+ innings pitched, 3 earned runs or less). In the bottom of the seventh, he walked the leadoff hitter, Ko Young-woo, but Kim Hwijip caught the ball himself and threw to second base for a double play. The total pitch count was 88. As Yoon walked off the mound, the crowd gave him a standing ovation and praised his performance.
Yoon's fastball had a maximum velocity of 141 kilometers and an average velocity of 139 kilometers. However, Yoon's performance was enough to prove that velocity is not everything for a pitcher.