For the first time in nine years, the KBO has a “mental armor” prospect to lead its bullpen.
KT Wiz’s Young-hyun Park has become the youngest player in KBO history to record 30 holds in a single season. Young-hyun Park pitched the bottom of the eighth inning of a 5-2 away game against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park on the 13th, striking out three batters in a scoreless inning to record the hold. It was his 30th hold of the season, making him the first pitcher to reach the 30-hold mark this season.
Park was 19 years, 11 months, and 2 days old when he became the 11th player in history to reach 30. This is the youngest 30-hit game in history, beating the previous record of 21 years, 3 months, and 20 days set by Han Hyun-hee of the Lotte Giants on October 15, 2014 against the Busan Lotte while playing for the Nexen Heroes by more than a year. It took him nine years to break the record. Despite her young age, she boldly defended her team’s lead.
He took the mound with a three-point lead, so of course he knew he had a shot at 30 holds. “I was a little nervous,” Park said, but not on the mound. He threw the pitches he was most confident in to his seniors. He threw a five-pitch, 148-kilometer fastball on a 1B2S count to leadoff batter Park Gun-woo for a swinging strike, and a six-pitch changeup on a 2B2S count to No. 4 Jason Martin for a fly to right field. Han Seok-hyun, the No. 5 left-handed hitter, also struck out the side with a 146-kilometer fastball down the middle in 2B2S.
“I think I pitched a little more confidently today because the ball was good,” Park said, “I like fastballs better than changeups, so I threw a lot of fastballs and the results were good.”
With 30 holds, he is close to becoming the hold king. Even though he has to miss the Asian Games, he is only six points behind SSG Landers’ Noh Kyung-eun (24). He doesn’t know what will happen during the Asian Games, but he has come this far and is eager to win the title. “I have about seven games left before I’m called up to the national team, and I’m determined to throw better until then,” Park said. But when asked about his number one goal, he said, “Asian Games gold.”
After making his debut last year and pitching 51⅔ innings in 52 games with a loss and two saves, Park quickly became a must-win pitcher this season and has already pitched 64 games and 68⅓ innings with a 3-3 record, four saves, and 30 saves. His record has improved tremendously, but the number of innings has also changed. Fans are actually worried about the high number of innings he has pitched.
“They’re taking good care of me, and I’m taking good care of myself,” Park said, reassuring fans that they shouldn’t worry because he’s doing well. 안전놀이터
He mentioned Samsung Lions’ Oh Seung-hwan as a role model since he joined the team, and Park Young-hyun, who was close to him, said, “I still contact him occasionally and listen to his advice when I’m having a bad day.”
He is still young, not even 20 years old, and is there any pressure on him as a set-up man? “I don’t really pay attention to that,” Park said coolly. From his heavy fastball to his mindset. It’s a natural future closer. In fact, his first save was last year’s key