KT Wiz Director Lee Kang-cheol

The pitch clock, which places a time limit on the preparation process for pitching or batting, was the hottest topic in the KBO exhibition game that started on the 9th.

There are many voices on the field that are satisfied with the Automatic Pitching System (ABS), which will be applied upon the opening of the regular season on the 23rd, but there are sharply conflicting opinions on the pitch clock, which will be applied starting from this exhibition game.

According to pitch clock regulations, a pitcher must pitch within 23 seconds when there are runners on base and within 18 seconds when there are no runners on base.

The batter must be ready to bat at the 8 second mark.

Pitch clocks were installed throughout the stadium so that players could easily check the ‘countdown’, and in the Suwon LG Twins-KT Wiz match on the 9th, spectators looked at the pitch clock and counted down to put pressure on the opposing team’s pitcher.

The pitcher on the mound appeared shaken by the crowd’s ‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1’ count.

KT coach Lee Kang-cheol expressed concern about the full-scale introduction of the pitch clock.

Coach Lee met with reporters ahead of the exhibition game against LG to be held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 10th and said, “If you’re not going to do it anyway, I hope you don’t do it (from the exhibition game). It puts psychological pressure on the players for no reason.”

The KBO secretariat plans to pilot the pitch clock until the first half of this year and decide whether to officially introduce it in the second half of the year.

Each stadium where professional baseball games are held has completed the installation of a pitch clock at the stadium, regardless of the official introduction of the pitch clock.

The American professional baseball Major League (MLB) introduced a pitch clock last season and dramatically shortened the start of the game by about 24 minutes.

Coach Lee believes that if the introduction of the pitch clock itself cannot be avoided according to the trend of the times, suddenly introducing it in the middle of the season should be avoided.

Coach Lee asked, “I think it will be difficult to officially introduce the pitch clock this year. Why would a team that had good performance until the first half of the year support (the pitch clock, which could be a variable in the second half of the year)?”

Meanwhile, Coach Lee gave a favorable review of rookie right-hander Won Sang-hyeon, a candidate for the fifth starting pitcher, who will be starting today, saying, “He is a pitcher who has a good breaking ball and throws a fastball at 150 kilometers per hour. He is stabilizing a lot.”

Won Sang-hyun, who graduated from Busan High School, was selected by KT as the 7th overall pick in the first round in the KBO rookie draft held last year.

Coach Lee predicted, “Won Sang-hyun will throw about 40 to 45 balls.” 한국야동