His strikeout and walk numbers have noticeably improved. “He told me to hold the motion momentarily before I go out to stride,” Park recalled, “once I made the adjustment, I was able to throw more accurately towards the target.” Park also mentioned that he still strives to make tweaks “here and there.” In 2017, however, when the SK Wyverns had the former Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Jorn as their pitching coach, Park got a new homework assignment from him. Just like Bradford, Park threw from a very low arm angle, but Park also had a fast delivery tempo, again just like Bradford. When he got to the pros, he became aware of Chad Bradford and noticed a lot of similarities between them. He has also tweaked his delivery over the years – it’s still a work in progress. He was also introduced to American baseball coaching books, which he read and studied by translating. “I’m thankful for Kelly,” Park said, “he’s the reason why I came to appreciate and learn baseball deeper.” Through Kelly, Park learned new throwing routines, weightlifting methods, and mental approaches to hitters. Park is appreciative of the four seasons he spent as Kelly’s teammate. ![]() Kelly pitched for the Wyverns from 2015 to 2018, and earned a two-year major league contract with Arizona this past offseason. That season, by the way, happened to be current Diamondbacks right-handed pitcher Merrill Kelly’s first year with the Wyverns. He returned to the Wyverns in September 2014 and started to see more action in 2015. After the 2012 season, Park opted to serve his mandatory military service and was admitted to play for the army baseball team. From 2011 to 2012, he appeared in just 15 games and gave up 17 walks, four hit by pitches, and 18 runs in 24.2 IP. I wish I could get all that time back so I could have developed faster.” “I keep saying this over and over,” Park reiterates, “but it took so long for me to get to where I am. In high school, I didn’t get to learn stuff like how to use my back leg, position my pelvis, consistently slot my arm, approach hitters mentally, etc.” “Once I got to the Wyverns, I felt that there were a lot of things I lacked,” Park said, “I soon learned that there were flaws here and there. Despite his high draft slot, Park was far from feeling confident that he belonged there. In the second part of the KBO draft in 2009, Park was the ninth overall pick by the SK Wyverns. Unlike most other pitchers in the league, Park rose through the amateur system without any guidance of a pitching coach, which stunted his development until he went pro. “We didn’t really have a pitching coach in our team, so I had to figure that all by myself.” “As I kept lowering my body, I felt that the arm slot started to fit me better,” he said. “At first, it was a small tire, but as the time went on, they gradually switched to bigger ones.” Because the tires got too heavy for his original posture, he lowered his posture while doing the drill. “The training method in Korean amateur baseball is a bit old-school,” Park said. Once he got into the team, one of the drills he had to do required him to play catch while wearing a car tire on his back. “The team only had pitchers who threw with overhand or three-quarter slots,” Park said. The team’s manager asked his players to find the most flexible student they knew who was willing to throw a baseball. ![]() When he was attending Gunsan Middle, his school’s baseball team needed a sidearm pitcher. No one really starts out as a submarine pitcher. Originally, I intended to focus on his development as a submariner, but once he mentioned his big league ambitions, our conversation changed a bit. This week, I sat down with Jong-Hoon at the Munhak Baseball Stadium, the Incheon home of the SK Wyverns, to talk about his development, his delivery, his pitches, and his desire to go to the major leagues. However, it seems that he has set his sights on an even bigger future. He also made the Korean national team for the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and played a part in the Wyverns’ 2018 Korean Series championship. In 2018, he had his finest season yet, going 14-8, with a 4.18 ERA (125.8 ERA+) in 30 starts, striking out 133 in 159.1 IP. Not only is he fun to watch, but he is also one of the top Korean-born pitchers in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO). He is as true a submarine pitcher as one could be, which is quite rare in the current baseball landscape.
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