The Sweeper is a breaking ball that has recently become a hot topic in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Sweeper, a type of deformation slider, is so named because it curves horizontally and is like sweeping home plate.
The stage where the sweeper stood out the most was the World Baseball Classic (WBC), which ended last month.
In the final match of the tournament, Japan’s Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) pitched and struck out Mike Trout (Angels), the last hitter from America, on a swing to win the championship.
Starting this season, MLB classifies the sweeper as a new pitch and counts it, and Ohtani fills more than half of his pitches with this pitch.
Ace Ahn Woo-jin (Kiwoom Heroes), who represents the KBO league, also joined the ‘sweeper craze’.
After the game against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 13th, Ahn Woo-jin said, “I’m practicing because I want to throw a sweeper like that these days, but it’s not going well.”
Ahn Woo-jin, who throws a fastball that reaches a maximum speed of 160 km/h, is also the best in the league in his ability to use sliders, curves, and changeups.
An Woo-jin explained, “These days, pitchers talk about sweepers. My teammate Eric Yokishi also recommends me to throw, and the hyungs who like Ohtani teach me a lot about grips and things like that, so I practice.”
The way the sweeper is thrown is different from the normal slider, from the grip to the rotation.
According to Ahn Woo-jin’s explanation, you should hold the slider grip and throw it as if you were scratching the ball in front of you as if you were throwing a curveball.
He said, “When I throw it, it doesn’t bend to the side but falls down,” he said. “But if you practice, it will happen someday.
NC Dinos Eric Peddy, who had a starter match against Ahn Woo-jin in Changwon on the 7th, is currently the best sweeper player in the KBO League.
At that time, Ahn Woo-jin became the losing pitcher with 12 strikeouts and 1 run in 7 innings, and Peddy became the winning pitcher with 10 strikeouts and no runs in 8 innings by sweeping Kiwoom’s batting line with a sweeper.
An Woo-jin expected, “If I have a chance to meet Peddy next time, I’ll have a chance to ask (how to throw the sweeper).”
When asked if he often referred to Ohtani’s pitching video, he said, “I know I can’t throw like that, so I don’t watch much.”
In fact, Ahn Woo-jin overwhelms batters with just the weapon he has now.
In 19 innings in three games this season,바카라사이트 he is cruising with a 0.47 ERA, giving up just one run while striking out 29.
Ahn Woo-jin said, “I still divide the slider into two types and throw it. Even if the speed and angle of the same slider are different, the opponent batter thinks it is a different ball, so I try to change it.”
The forkball is a secret weapon that Ahn Woo-jin knows how to throw but hides it.
He explained, “It would be easier to strike out if I threw a forkball, but I don’t throw it because my hands are sore.”