It wasn’t bad. First of all, the speed of fastballs is noticeable. In July, the bats of the team’s No. 1 batting average (0.290) hit the bottom of the ball. That’s why there are so many pop flyers.
Lotte’s new foreign pitcher Aaron Wilkerson (34) has been unveiled. Wilkerson made his KBO League debut in an away game against Doosan at Jamsil Stadium on the 26th. Lotte manager Larry Sutton said, “It hasn’t been long since I entered the country, and the key is when my physical strength will fall due to factors outside the game such as jet lag,” adding, “About 70 to 80 are set as the number of marginal pitches.” “I will talk to myself and decide when to replace it,” he said.
He said, “Basically, it has high-quality control. He was reported to be a pitcher who has good breaking ball movement and can throw strikes at any count. “I’m also looking forward to what kind of pitch I’ll pitch because I’ve watched it through the video,” he said.
Wilkerson, who took the mound in the bottom of the first inning, announced his entry into the KBO League with a four-seam fastball (145 kilometers per hour) in the middle. The match against Doosan’s leadoff Jung Soo-bin ended with an infield hit that brushed past first baseman Mitt while throwing a slider. When the fast runner was at first base, the quick motion was not bad from 1.28 seconds to 1.32 seconds. The two movements were combined: slightly lifting the free leg and sliding. The quick check was measured at 0.97 seconds, and the quick pitch to keep the runner tied was 1.10.
A strange pitcher has many advantages. It is possible to pitch aggressively because the batter does not know the pitching tempo, timing, and안전놀이터ball trajectory. Wilkerson, who threw a high cut fastball outside to Huh Kyung-min at first base with no outs in the first inning and caught it with a foul fly to right fielder, threw a fastball to Kim Jae-hwan to induce a double play that rolled in front of the first baseman.
Until the fourth inning, he ate the inning without any major crisis. As he actively targeted the strike zone, the number of pitches was quite small. He finished the inning with 12 innings in the second inning, with seven in the first inning and one walk. Doosan’s batters also fought for timing by actively sticking out their bats without waiting, and Wilkerson’s fastball was better than expected.
Wilkerson’s fastball RPM (rotations per minute) measured by a trackman installed at Jamsil Stadium was measured at a maximum of 2,616 times. The fastball thrown with less strength came out at 2,352 times, and the average was measured at 2,489. Ahn Woo-jin (Kiem), a “fastball pitcher,” comes out 2,582 times and KIA Lee Eui-ri 2513 times, which can be seen as the league’s top class. Considering that the highest fastball speed was 149km per hour, and the average speed was 144-145km, it means that the power to push into the catcher’s mitt is good.
As coach Sutton worried, his strength has been reduced since he pitched more than 60 pitches in the bottom of the fifth inning. After pitching, his left foot, which held out like a solid wall, began to rotate toward first base around 65 pitches. He has a high RBI and a typical pitching form with good up and down movements, and when the kick begins to collapse, the release points are bound to be jagged. With two outs and runners on first and second base, the 144km fastball thrown to Huh Kyung-min flocked to the center and turned it into a two-run timely hit in the middle of the right-center field. If he adapts to the league’s strike zone and batters’ cut skills, he is expected to pitch easily.
It is not without weakness. He stepped on the end of the third base of the pitching board and threw it, but it was exposed that he had difficulty controlling the outer fastball (based on right-handed batters). Throw the fastball deep into the body and throw the breaking ball outward to distract the eyes. He induces a swing with a cut-fast ball on the body, and he threw a change-up outside to replace the disappointment of fastball control. To the left-handed batter, he threw an outer cut fastball with a high fastball to draw a swing. Paradoxically, the key seems to be whether he can freely throw a left-handed batter’s body change-up.
Wilkerson said, “I was worried that I would slip because I sweated a lot, but I had a good change-up control. He threw with confidence. The slider is adjustable. He explained, “I think it was difficult to predict the pitch type by mixing it with the cut fast ball.”
The curve movement was pretty good, too. It started from a height similar to the fastball and sank quickly. It worked by throwing it in the form of a decisive ball to the left-handed batter’s body. It seems to have a good sense of fingertips because it has good wrist flexibility.
His official record before his debut was 76 pitches in 5 innings, 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 2 runs. Considering that it was his first appearance, it was easy.