Korean right-hander Jang Hyun-suk (20) of the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes under the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched well for two consecutive games. He pitched four innings this time.
Jang Hyun-suk started the game against Lake Elsinore Storm (under the San Diego Padres) at Lonmart Field in Rancho Cucamonga, California on the 23rd (Korea Standard Time), and gave up only two walks in four innings, striking out three and blocking a scoreless no-hitter. It was a pitch that served as the foundation for his team’s 9-2 victory.
On the 16th, when he took the mound, he allowed one hit, two walks and seven strikeouts in three innings against Visalia Rojide (under the Arizona Diamondbacks), and he showed impressive pitching in two consecutive games. His ERA in the single-A season was lowered from 6.23 to 3.24.
Jang Hyun-suk, who started the game by catching Kai Roberts to ground out to the first base in the top of the first inning, gave up a walk to Jack Costello. Prior to the third pitch, an automatic ball was declared due to a pitch clock violation.
Jang Hyun-seok, who struck out Brendan Duffy with a low breaking ball, made a wild pitch in the first pitch at the Lamar King Jr. at bat. The straight walk caused a crisis with one out and runners on the first and second bases, but he finished the first inning without a run by dealing with Braden Capecios on a fly ball to left field.
In the top of the second inning, he retired after Brandon Butterworth was thrown to center field, Choi Byung-yong was struck out swinging with a low outside breaking ball, and Sean Barnett was lightly used as a foul fly to first base.
In the top of the third inning, he struck out Colton Vincent through an outside breaking ball, grounded out Roberts to first and handled Costello to left field, creating a series of three-out innings. It was a missed hit, but left fielder Zaire Hope ran out and helped Jang Hyun-suk with a sliding catch.
He also had three outs in the top of the fourth inning. He grounded out Duffy to second, King Jr. to right field, and Cappecios to shortstop. He ended the game happily by throwing out 10 consecutive batters.
With 51 pitches, the team garnered 31 strikes and 20 balls. Except for the shaky control of the ball in the first inning, the pitching was impeccable. Although the number of strikeouts decreased compared to the previous game, the team managed to properly guess and display efficiency. Not only powerful fastballs but also the breaking ball movement near the strike zone was impressive. The opposing batters failed to respond at all.
Jang Hyun-suk, a 193-centimeter-tall and 90-kilogram right-hander, threw a fastball up to 156 kilometers per hour when he was a sophomore at Masan Yongma High School, heralding the birth of a monster. When he became a high school senior, he raised the maximum speed to 158 kilometers per hour, receiving a lot of love from scouts in the Major League last year, and decided to take on a challenge to the U.S. without applying for the rookie draft of the KBO. He signed a 900,000-dollar contract with the Dodgers in August last year. He was the only amateur to be selected at the Hangzhou Asian Games that took place in September, and was given a gold medal in military service.
After resolving military issues, Jang easily took a flight to the U.S. and made his debut in the rookie league as a member of the ACL Dodgers this year. He had one win and two losses with an earned run average of 8.14 strikeouts and 49 strikeouts in 13 games (10 starts, 24 ⅓ innings) for this season. He had 19 walks and controlled ball control, recording an earned run average of around eight points, but displayed strong pitching with 18.1 strikeouts and a hit rate of around 10 percent per nine innings (.189). 메이저사이트
He was recognized as the ace pitcher in the team as he started Game 1 of the Rookie League Final Series (best of three games) on April 29. Jang gave up only one walk during three innings on the day, and led his team to an 8-1 victory by pitching no-hitter with eight strikeouts and no runs. The ACL Dodgers, which took the first game thanks to Jang’s good pitching, also came from behind to win Game 2 7-6. It won the title with two consecutive wins over the ACL Diamondbacks (under Arizona).
Jang did not end the season after winning the Rookie League title in his first year. After winning the title, he was promoted to the lowest ranking single A Rancho Cucamonga. Having shown rapid growth, the Dodgers has elevated Jang to a higher level, accelerating its development. His performance in three games of Single A has been better than that of the Rookie League with eight ⅓ innings, three hits, six walks, 13 strikeouts, three runs and an earned run average of 3.24.