“I feel so good.”
Kiwoom Heroes replacement foreign pitcher Ian McKinney started on the 1st in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League SSG Landers home game held at Gocheok Sky Dome. On this day, he recorded no runs in 6 innings, 3 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He pitched with a quality start (three earned runs in six innings) and led Kiwoom to a 6-3 victory, earning his first win in his KBO league debut.
After the match, McKinney was congratulated by his fellow players. The pitching staff waited for McKinney’s interview to end as they came out to the ground with water bottles. When McKinney got out of the interview zone, Kiwoom pitchers celebrated McKinney’s first victory by spraying water.
I was soaked in water, but I felt the best. McKinney said of his victory, “I feel really good. Today’s results were really good.” He made a lot of good plays on defense, and he worked well with catcher Kim Dong-heon. Today’s victory was achieved by all the players,” he said to his teammates.
There was a crisis until the 4th inning, but McKinney finished the 5th and 6th inning with a tripartite. . I didn’t listen to him anymore because I was too concerned about my own performance. Even after catching 2 strikes, I think I have to bet on the game as if I was playing on an early count.”
He looked back on the game situation. In the United States, pitching was usually done by covering the ball with mud. Korea throws a completely new ball. It has a more sticky feel. He said, “I’m using rosin every inning, and it’s working
.” Even at the time of recruitment, Kiwoom introduced McKinney’s main weapon as a curveball. However, in Korea, McKinney uses a changeup as his main weapon. I feel like it doesn’t go well. Rather, the changeup worked more efficiently. I think I can feel stronger if I use the fastball and speed difference,” he said, revealing strong confidence in his changeup.
Regarding Korean batters, he evaluated, “There seem to be a lot of contact-type hitters. He said, “Because American hitters have a big swing, they had a lot of miss swings and were able to strike out.” I thought that I should actively attack the strike zone in the KBO League. I think I need to make some adjustments,” he said, promising to work hard to achieve better results. He
also adapted perfectly to Korean food. McKinney said, “Ramen is really good. I like samgyeopsal or bulgogi, but I’ve already tried them in the US. Because it was localized, it was a little different from Korea,” he smiled.토토사이트
There are many cases where even those from the major leagues cannot adapt to the KBO league. It is a story that the past history is not everything. McKinney has been playing all along in the minor leagues, most recently in the independent leagues. Looking at his career alone, the weight may be a little off, but McKinney is determined to overcome preconceived notions.
McKinney said, “The independent league I played in was at the highest level. There were many players who were former major leaguers or played in Triple A. It was a league that was more competitive than I thought. I want to break the (negative) gaze toward me.” promised to