The physique of Korean baseball players is quite large. Recently, there is not much difference even compared to major league players. The average height of last year’s KBO League players was 1m82.9,
but there are still short players who do not reach 1m80. Short players often think of quick and agile fielders. Jung Geun-woo and Lee Yong-kyu, who hit the FA jackpot, were like that, and Samsung Lions infielder Kim Ji-chan is also short and has excellent quick feet and agility.
Short players stand out this season as well. However, it came with a tremendous ability different from before.
Park Myeong-geun, a high school graduate rookie pitcher of the LG Twins, is the only rookie participant in the first-team spring camp in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. It stands out when training in the pitching tank. He is 1m74 tall and has a small body. But when he hears the redemption, he is startled. He’s a sidearm pitcher, and he throws up to 150km. He plays catch with Jung Woo-young, a sidearm senior, and his pitches are also evaluated as good. He was also good at managing games during his Raon High school days, and LG coach Yeom Gyeong-yeop has been keeping an eye on him since his days as the KBO technical committee chairman. Among rookies, he is a strong candidate to enter the opening match.
The NC Dinos, which set up camp in Tucson, Arizona, also have a small player. He is a foreign player. Outfielder Jason Martin is the main character. His height is only 1m75. It is small for a foreign player. There is no doubt that he will show better slugging power than Nick Martini (0.296 batting average, 16 home runs, 85 RBIs), who played well last year but did not renew the contract due to his weak hitting power. 스포츠토토
However, it has a reversal punching power. Last year he hit a whopping 32 home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers Triple-A. If he adapts to the KBO league and develops his long hitting power in Korea, he could become a surprisingly popular man.
SSG Landers’ new foreign pitcher, Kirk McCarty, is only 1m73 tall. However, he throws a fast ball with a fastball of up to 150 km and an average speed of 148 km. In 2021, he steadily started in Triple A and digested 124 innings to prove his stamina, and last year his skills were recognized enough to play 13 games in the major leagues.
Will Park Myung-geun, Martin, and McCarty show this season that height is just a number? I wonder.