‘STUDY IN PARALLEL MINOR’ LG JIN WOO-YOUNG “YOU CAN SUCCEED IN BASEBALL EVEN IF YOU STUDY”
LG Twins’ 2024 season rookie pitcher Jin Woo-young (22) has taken a very different path from others. Unlike other players his age who only focused on sports, he attended Global Advanced School, an alternative school, and studied baseball and studied at the same time .After graduation, he decided to go to the United States and joined the Kansas City Royals’ minor league team .In the 2019 Rookie League, his first year, he got off to a good start with 14 games, 46 innings, 6 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 2.35. However, the following year, the league itself was not held in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).
Jin Woo-young failed to advance to the top league in 2021 and performed poorly with 3 wins, 3 losses, and an average ERA of 5.46 in 18 games and 31⅓ innings, and was eventually released from the team in September of that year. Jin Wooyoung returned to Korea without finding a new team, but he did not give up .While serving in the military, he continued to catch the ball for the independent team Paju Challengers, and at last year’s KBO Dream Cup independent baseball tournament, he led the team to victory and was awarded the honor of Most Valuable Player (MVP).Two months later, Jin Woo-young, who participated in the 2024 KBO rookie draft tryout, was selected by LG as number 38 in the 4th round .It was also the moment for ‘Ellin’ Jin Woo-young, who wore Lee Dae-hyung and Lim Chan-gyu’s uniforms as a child, to engrave his name on the LG uniform.
Jin Woo-young, whom I met on the 30th of last month on his way out of spring camp, felt both excitement and tension. Jin Woo-young, who was invited to spring camp as a rookie, heads to Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, where he had pitching experience in the minor league. Jin Woo-young said, “It’s a real honor to follow the first team’s spring camp since the first year. (In the past), when I went to the United States, I was in the minor league, but now I’m going as a first team member, so it’s a new feeling.” He confidently said, “I am excited and excited to go to the stadium where I played during the Rookie League as a Korean team player. I remember throwing well as a starter in the first season, so I will gain that energy and work hard.”
Jin Woo-young set his training goal to be equipped with a curveball and said, “I need to find a change-up ball other than the splitter (my main weapon). I plan to actively approach and learn from senior Lim Chan-gyu and Casey Kelly. “Regarding Kelly in particular, he said, “Since I have no experience in Korean baseball, I would like to ask Kelly how he adapted to Korean baseball as an American player.”Jin Woo-young, who combined baseball and studies during his school days, expressed his bold ambition to pioneer the path of a ‘studying baseball player.’ He said, “I want to show that you can play baseball while studying,” and “I want to show young people that you don’t have to just play baseball to be successful, 스포츠토토존 but that you can be successful in baseball while studying.”