Intense first real battle KIA Mengden “I will throw a lot of innings with an offensive pitch” [MK톡톡]

Maekyung.com MK Sports (Suwon) Reporter Jisoo Kim

KIA Tigers’ new foreign pitcher Daniel Mengden, 29, made a strong impression on his first appearance in the 2021 season.

Mengden started on the 18th in a practice match against KT Wiz held at Suwon KT Wiz Park and recorded 4 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts and no runs.

Mengden faced a hitter in a real battle for the first time after entering Korea in January. Perhaps because of his less relaxed body, he was on the brink of conceding by 1st, 1st and 3rd base amid the hunt for the first inning, but he did not allow the goal by striking out kt Kang Baek-ho (22) and Jo Il-lo Almonte (32) in succession.

Mengden then quickly found stability. At the end of the second inning, after a tripartite treatment, Kang Baek-ho was caught with a floating ball in the outfield at the second and first bases of the third inning, demonstrating excellent crisis management skills.

After that, after the end of the 4th inning was treated as a tripartite, the team started defending at the end of the 5th, which was 1-0, and passed the mound to Kim Yu-shin (22) and finished the pitch.

He tested all the pitches he could play, including a fastball with a maximum speed of 148km, a two-seam fastball, a cut fastball, a curve, a slider, and a changeup.

As KIA manager Matt Williams (56) introduced before the game, he showed impressive pitching while using various pitches.

After the game, Mengden said, “I felt awkward at the beginning of the game because I hadn’t played for a long time.” “This made my pitch shaken, but as the inning passed, I found a sense and attacked the strike zone.”

Mengden also said, “I tried to pitch aggressively by throwing as many strikes as possible today. I think it was a satisfactory pitch overall.” I will try to throw more innings while pitching aggressively in the next start.” [email protected]

[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]