“I came here looking for an opportunity to start.”
The Doosan Bears replaced their late-season “ace. They released Raul Alcantara, who won 13 games last year and signed a $1.5 million contract this year, and brought in Jordan Balazovic, 26.
His fastball, which tops out at 156 kilometers from his 6-foot-1, 96-inch height, and his splitter, which sits in the mid-to-low 140s, are considered to be excellent.
Balajovic made his debut on April 14 against the Samsung Lions in Jamsil. He went 4⅔ innings, allowing one run on one hit with four walks and six strikeouts. He appeared in 24 games for Triple-A St. Paul Saints in Minnesota this year, but only made one start. Due to his lack of starts this year, he took the mound with a maximum pitch count of 80. He was steady until the fourth inning, when he started to falter after reaching 80 pitches. His fastball didn’t even top 150 kilometers per hour, and his changeup was shaky. Eventually, after 93 pitches, Balajovic had to leave the mound in the fifth inning. Despite the lack of a clean finish, Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop called it an “impressive pitching performance” and looked forward to the next one. Samsung’s Kang Min-ho, 파워볼사이트 추천 who faced Balazovic, was also impressed, saying, “The ball came out of the batting machine and stayed alive until the end.”
“It’s great to pitch in Korea,” Balajovic said of his debut in the KBO.
It was special to be able to play in front of so many fans and play with passion.”
“I wanted to help the bullpen, and He wanted to go five innings, but I was one out short. I haven’t pitched that much in a year. he should have been able to correct the drop and put it in the strike zone as much as possible,” he said, adding, ”I will try to throw a little longer next time.”
The KBO’s hitters and enthusiastic cheering culture were a bit foreign to him. “I didn’t face a lot of hitters and didn’t get to know them, but it was a little different than in the States. He think it’s awesome to play in a ballpark with such a loud atmosphere. As an athlete, it’s good to play in such a supportive atmosphere,” he smiled.
The ABS is also a bit of an adjustment.
“I think the ABS is lower than in the American zone,” says Balajovic. “I think in the U.S., a lot of high pitches that would be called strikes in the U.S. have been called balls since the start of the season. The trend in the U.S. is that they want to see a lot of home runs, so the zone itself is a little bit higher. I think that’s part of it.” ”That’s something I have to adjust to. I have to adjust to that zone, so I have to throw a little lower,” he analyzed.
“I’ve been using Pitchcom since last year in the U.S., so I’ve been using it for a little over a year. Honestly, it’s good to use Pitchcom. However, the atmosphere of Korean baseball, the cheering is loud, and I wonder if it’s possible to hear the signs on the Pitchcom in such a field. I think we should try it.”
The KBO will be both a challenge and an opportunity for Valazovic. “I chose Korea because I wanted to get a chance to be a starter, and I wanted to showcase myself as a starter. I’m lucky to be given the opportunity to be a starter for a team that wants to win. I didn’t start playing baseball just to be in Triple-A, I started playing baseball to go to a higher level, so I wanted to prepare myself to be a starter and that’s why I came to Korea,” he said.