Who set the 130-inning pitching limit for Moon Dong-ju, and why is it 130 innings instead of 100 or 150, is a question many baseball fans are asking these days.
Moon Dong-ju (20), the “future” of the Hanwha Eagles, started against the Doosan Bears on the 12th and pitched six innings of one-run ball. In his 20th game, he ended the team’s losing streak at five games and improved to 7-0. He had thrown 104⅓ innings in total before this game.
Whenever he takes the mound, the focus is on two things. His 160 kilometres per hour fastball and the number of innings he pitches.
On 12 April, against the KIA Tigers, he became the first Korean player to break 160 km/h. He threw a 160.1 kilometre per hour fastball against Park Chan-ho. He threw fastballs approaching 160 kilometres per hour throughout the season. In his second year as a professional, he has matured and established himself as a mainstay.먹튀검증
Hanwha announced before the start of the season that they would limit Moon to 130 innings pitched this season. This came from former manager Carlos Subero. He was injured twice in his first year. He said he started pitching in his second year of high school and his body shape and muscles were still growing, so he needed to take care of them. Roki Sasaki (22), a fastball pitcher for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Nippon Professional Baseball, is a similar example.
He said the programme looks at the future, not the present, and nurtures players while protecting them. It’s not an easy decision for a team that finished last for three years in a row.
Choi Won-ho took over after Subero was sacked. However, his approach was different. Instead of resting players unconditionally according to a planned schedule, he decided to give them natural breaks when they needed them. He acknowledged the innings limitation and tried to use it efficiently.
Recently, there has been another change in tone. Choi explains that the 130-inning limit was set without medical evidence. He believes it could be overprotection without a rational basis.
Moon Dong-ju pitched six innings of one-run ball against Dusan on 12 December. Photo courtesy of the Hanwha Eagles
Moon Dong-ju’s relief appearance against Doosan on 12 December.
Just a month ago, Choi said he would not use Moon if he reached 130 innings, including the Hangzhou Asian Games, even if the team made the postseason. Repeated questions from reporters put the nail in the coffin.
At this rate, Moon will have pitched around 120 innings by the end of August. He will take three weeks off to refine his pitches and compete in the Asian Games in September.
“We are discussing using him after the Asian Games if there are no medical problems through tests,” Choi said on the 13th.
The 130-inning limit was passed down as a club decision, but he said it was a difficult plan to justify. He also said that the number of innings was created by former pitching coach Jose Rosa. Choi, a former pitcher himself, took the helm of the Hanwha second team on 12 May.
Recently, the role of Moon Dong-ju has increased due to the faltering of foreign ‘one-two punch’ Felix Peña and Ricardo Sanchez, the fourth and fifth starters. The team, which was looking for a 5% chance of winning in the first half of the season, slumped in the second half due to a batting slump. The team’s situation is not unrelated to the discussion of limiting Moon’s innings.
6 August against the Gwangju KIA. Moon Dong-ju pitches against teammate Kim Do-young. Gwangju=Choi Moon-young 기자deer@sportschosun.com
Park Jae-man 기자pjm@sportschosun.com
If there’s anything irrational about it, it’s a quick show of hands. Hesitating over a decisive decision is detrimental to the team.
However, the case of Moon Dong-ju’s innings limit is different. Until a month ago, the club was in unison, but then it fell into a self-defeating rut. Even if Choi was not a party to the innings limit discussion, the decision was made by the club’s top brass, including general manager Son Hyuk, in consultation with the coaching staff at the time. The decision was not made by an outside group of experts.
If the decision to limit innings was made by former coach Rosado, without any medical evidence, and the club turned a blind eye to a decision that was not in the best interest of the club, then the club’s front office is guilty of dereliction of duty. It seems odd that a former Major League Baseball All-Star would be involved.
In the meantime, the club’s explanation that it is taking care of its treasured resources and nurturing them is a storytelling package for internal discontent.
Moon-Young Choi 기자deer@sportschosun.com
The manager’s explanation for suddenly changing his tune is also unconvincing because it comes at a bad time for the team, and it sounds like he was right then and wrong now.