Park Jong-hoon, a proud man, said, "I've been wearing clothes that don't fit me, I want to throw them without being ashamed."

Park Jong-hoon, a proud man, said, "I've been wearing clothes that don't fit me, I want to throw them without being ashamed."

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Park Jong-hoon, who is currently digesting the Florida spring camp, is exercising his training schedule as a rookie. He can even digest more than 100 pitches in bullpen session. He has elevated his sense of play in real games faster than anyone else.

Park Jong-hoon is the representative starting pitcher of the KBO League. He has led the SK Wyverns (current SSG) starting lineup by completing the regular innings (144 innings) for four consecutive years since 2017. He won 47 games during the period, ranking second in the league after Yang Hyeon-jong (60 wins). In December 2021, he and his teammate Moon Seung-won won the first multi-year contract as a free agent in the league. The conditions are up to 6.5 billion won (5.6 billion won in total annual salary, 900 million won in option) for five years. In June that year, he was out of the lineup after receiving Tommy John Surgery meant to link tendons in his elbow, but SSG, which highly valued his sincerity and consistency, boldly opened its wallet.먹튀검증

Since returning from injury in July 2022, however, his performance has been minimal. In the last season, he played in 10 games in the first division, with one win, four losses and an earned run average of 6.94. He has been hampered by chronic weak control of his ball. His performance in the second division (7 wins, three losses and an earned run average of 1.95) is stable, but has collapsed once he moves to the first division. SSG coach Lee Sung-yong categorizes Park Jong-hoon as a candidate for the fifth starting pitcher of the 2025 season. He has lost ground compared with the past when he was only guaranteed a starting position. "I'm doing everything I can now so that I don't regret it later," Park said in an interview with this newspaper.

-The pace of the spring camp is fast.
"I'm in good shape. It's light. I want to throw more, but the training parts and coaches won't let me throw more. I wanted to throw a little more than training in the middle, so I made that plan in the first place."

-It's a structure where you compete with juniors for the 5th selection.
"While I was in the 2nd tier for a long time last season, I thought to myself, 'Let's exercise so that you won't be embarrassed'. I kept throwing in the 2nd tier with the mindset that I won't regret it. I agree. Competition is a given."

-Last year, he repeated his slump when only the first team came up.
"In the early days of the season, I had a hard time throwing the ball, maybe because I lost a lot of weight. I had lost about 20 kilograms year-on-year. As I gradually got used to it, I started to feel comfortable when pitching from May to June. I received a lot of help from talking with younger (captors) including (Cho) Hyung-woo and (Shin) Bum-soo."

-Has anything changed since the surgery.
"I gained a lot of weight. Most of all, now that I've come back from injury, I've tried to add a lot of skills to show a new side of myself. I don't think that was the right fit for me. If the clothes don't fit me, I have to know how to take them off quickly, but I couldn't. If I judged that I lacked strength, I gained more weight and did a lot of weight training. Even if I tried to fit more clothes that I didn't fit with, I didn't fit in the end. I think I took off that clothes and came back to normal."

-Will it have a sensory effect.
"My arm (release point) has decreased a lot. I couldn't have tried to lower it before, but now it naturally does. When I was working out wearing something that didn't fit me, I didn't lower it because of my (inappropriate) physical condition. Naturally, I lost confidence. Foreign pitchers say, 'As long as I feel good, it doesn't matter what the outcome is.' That's right. There is nothing I can do when the ball goes out of my hand, but I couldn't do that. It's so comfortable to take off the clothes that didn't fit me well. I don't know how hard it is to throw a lot."

-The coaching staff gives a good evaluation.
"Last year, I was anxious even if people around me said it was good. Now I'm satisfied because I feel like I'm going the way I thought I would."

-What do you care about in the camp.
"Of course, it's control. In the past, if Kim Kwang-hyun is good at set position, control, and defense, he can reduce his ERA by one point each. If he reduces his ERA by three points like that, he can become a pitcher with four points, three points if he is good, and two points if he is good at it." He repeatedly trains to control, quick motion (slide step), and good defense. In the past, I didn't have "mine" because I only practiced throwing without thinking about my feelings or senses. Not now

-Wasn't it a dart instead of throwing a ball.
"Not only darts but also shooting and archery are important. I tried to throw strikes even though my score was not right. I am practicing to adjust my score to zero (in the camp). I am satisfied."

-What's your personal goal for this year.
"What I want to do the most is full-time. And when I play full-time, I throw it without shame. I want to spend a season that I don't regret. That's my biggest wish."